I have an aem short ram filter and it's gone from red to brown and i decided to take it off and clean the filter. I ran the filter under my faucet and tons of dirt and depris came out and the water was brown and i ran water through it till it was clear. But i just read you are supposed to oil them or something because oil is what catches the dust... well about 1,500 miles later is when i read that. So have i been pulling in a bunch of dust and sand into my engine the whole 1500 miles after i cleaned it? Should i just buy a new filter or can i buy a cleaning kit? Thanks alot for your help

i dont' have the aem filter, but i cleaned my old k&n one with water then washed it down with gunk engine degreaser (tons of oil and dirt came out) let it dry, then oiled it with the k&n stuff. Seemed to work good.

just go to your local autozone or checker or just about any other autoparts store. they have the K&N filter recharger kits, its just a bottle of cleaner spray and a bottle of oil. Its usually right by the K&N filters and has instuctions on the box. costs about $10.
and doesn't the AEM intake come with a K&N filter? mine did.