PRODUCT DETAILS
Honda Civic Engine Air Filter K&N 96-00
Your 1996-2000 Civic uses a paper engine air filter in the factory airbox. When that filter is dirty, K&N 33-2120 is the washable Honda Civic engine air filter that drops in the same box on the CX, DX, and LX.
Read the trim and the year carefully, because this page is not every 1.6 Civic. A 1996 EX is on this filter at K&N. A 1997-2000 EX, plus the HX, the GX, and the 1999-2000 Si, uses a shorter, squarer panel that will not sit in this box.
What It Is and Why It Works
The trade here is paper against oiled cotton, and it is worth being honest about both sides. Honda paper filters fine, and you bin it every service. This is four layers of oiled cotton gauze that you wash and keep for as long as you own the car. K&N rates the media at up to 99 percent overall efficiency and says it only needs cleaning every 75,000 miles under normal highway driving, both per manufacturer. It ships pre-oiled, so it goes straight in the box out of the bag.
What you give up is the oil-free part, and that matters on this car. Over-oil a cotton filter and you can put oil film on a hot-wire sensor, and then you are chasing a driveability problem that the filter caused. Use the right amount, which K&N puts at 0.86 oz for this panel, and keep the oil off the gasket face. If you would rather not think about oil at all, buy a dry filter instead and stop reading here. If you will clean it properly, this is the correct CX, DX, and LX panel and it is the last one you buy for the car.
Set your expectations on power honestly. A panel filter sitting in a stock airbox does not make horsepower you can feel. The restriction on a D16Y7 is the box, the snorkel and the head, not the element inside it. Buy this because you are tired of replacing paper, not because you expect a dyno result. K&N backs stock-replacement High-Flow filters with a No-Hassle Lifetime Limited warranty, limitations apply.
Specs
| Manufacturer Part Number | 33-2120 |
| Hybrid Racing SKU | KNN-33-2120 |
| Line | K&N High-Flow panel engine air filter |
| Position | Factory engine airbox, one filter |
| Honda OE cross | 17220-P2F-A01 (K&N lists 17220P2FA01). Honda number supersedes 17220-P2A-005. |
| Other crosses | WIX 46358, Fram CA8040, Purolator A25148, Mahle LX1266, per K&N |
| Panel size | 8.813 in x 6.5 in x 1.125 in (224 x 165 x 29 mm) |
| Material | Cotton gauze, oiled, 4 layers, per manufacturer |
| Filtration efficiency | Up to 99 percent, per manufacturer |
| Re-oil amount | 0.86 oz (25 ml), per K&N |
| Service interval | Clean every 75,000 miles under normal highway driving, per K&N |
| Contents | 1 engine air filter, pre-oiled. No intake kit, no cleaner, no oil bottle, no cabin filter. |
| Warranty | No-Hassle Lifetime Limited, per K&N. Limitations apply. |
Fitment
| Year | Make | Model | Trim | Engine |
| 1996-2000 | Honda | Civic | CX hatch | D16Y7 1.6 SOHC |
| 1996-2000 | Honda | Civic | DX coupe, hatch, sedan, DX-VP | D16Y7 1.6 SOHC |
| 1996-2000 | Honda | Civic | LX sedan | D16Y7 1.6 SOHC |
| 1996 | Honda | Civic | EX coupe and sedan | D16Y8 1.6 VTEC |
| 1996-1997 | Honda | Civic del Sol | S | 1.6 SOHC |
Factory engine airbox only, and it is not a cabin filter. Honda 17220-P2F-A01 is the CX, DX, LX, and DX-VP element. Hatch, coupe, and sedan share this D16Y7 box. K&N lists 1996 EX on this page. Honda's 1996 EX catalog uses the VTEC element 17220-P2J-003, so measure a 1996 EX before you order. A 1997-2000 EX, HX, GX, or 1999-2000 Si takes K&N 33-2104, which is 7.875 by 7.563 by 0.938 inches. Honda also lists 17220-P2F-A01 on the 1996-1997 del Sol S, and that car is on this page. A del Sol Si or VTEC stays on 33-2047 (Honda 17220-P07-000), which is 8.375 by 7.438 by 0.75 inches. A 1992-1995 Civic is 33-2047. An 1988-1991 Civic or CRX is 33-2025. If you are not sure what you are holding, measure it: 8.813 by 6.5 by 1.125 inches is this one.
What to Know Before You Buy
Buy the right chemicals with it. This filter is oiled, so when it comes time to clean it you need K&N cleaner and K&N oil. Dry-filter cleaner is the wrong bottle for this media, so if you have an AEM DryFlow spray on the shelf from another car, leave it there. Wash it, let it dry all the way, oil it lightly, done. The most common way people ruin one of these is soaking it and putting it back in wet.
Confirm the engine before you order, not the badge. If the valve cover says B16, or the car is a 1999-2000 Si, or it is a 1997-2000 EX, HX, or GX, this is the wrong SKU. Those cars take 33-2104. If the car already has a cold-air intake, that kit came with its own filter and this panel does nothing for you. And if you came here looking for the thing that stops the cabin smelling like a wet dog, that is a cabin filter behind the glovebox, and it is a separate part.
While the airbox lid is off, spend two minutes on the rest of it. Check that the lid gasket is seated flat and the clips all latch evenly, because a warped lid on a twenty-year-old Civic leaks more air past the filter than any element flows through it. Look at the PCV plumbing that feeds this box too. A soaked elbow puts oil mist upstream of a brand new filter, and then people blame the filter. Snug the intake tube clamp on the way back together. That is the whole job.
Factory engine airbox only. 1996-2000 Civic CX, DX, and LX, plus 1996 EX at K&N and 1996-1997 del Sol S per Honda 17220-P2F-A01. A 1997-2000 EX, HX, GX, or 1999-2000 Si takes 33-2104. Measure the panel: 8.813 x 6.5 x 1.125 in is this one.