How to Change Air Filter and How Often?
Replacing the filters in your vehicle is crucial to its continued smooth operation. Both fuel mileage and engine performance can suffer from a dirty air filter. A clogged fuel filter can prevent your engine from getting enough fuel during peak demand. Sometimes your vehicle has filters where you least expect them.
Vehicles use different filters to clean fuel, air for the engine, and even the air you breathe. These filters must be changed at regular interval to maintain proper operation of your vehicle's systems.
A clogged air or fuel filter can cause poor engine performance. Dirty cabin filters can crate musty odors inside your vehicle. Don't wait until filters become blocked to inspect and replace them.
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Your car's engine can use more than 10,000 gallons of air for every gallon of fuel burned, so it's easy to see how big a job the air filter has.
Air filters are constructed with high efficiency and high capacity "dirt holding" media that traps contaminants while allowing maximum flow of air to the engine.
Always check your owner's manual and follow recommended air filter change intervals for better car care and proper filter maintenance to protect your vehicle.
Car care experts recommend changing your air filter every 12,000 miles to keep your vehicle running its best. Proper air filter maintenance can increase fuel economy by up to 10%* or up to $0.32 per gallon of gas according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
How To Change
Remove the air filter carefully from its assembly. It is usually found on a box or a circular container near the engine's intake system. It has a mesh-styled surface (like a screen) and it is smooth. If your air filter has a tube, make sure to remove it so that you can clean it as well. Make sure you keep the screws and locks in a safe place. You don't want to lose them as it's quite hard to find replacements because if you have a custom filter, its small parts may be specific only to that filter.
Now, at a Shell gas station where we usually go for tune-ups, the mechanic there told us that the best way to clean an air filter is through pressurized air. It doesn't leave residues and can easily clean through the filter. However, make sure that the pressure isn't too much or it may tear the filter itself. This did happen to our stock air filter so we had to replace it prematurely. Aside from pressurized air, you can use water. I was also told that gasoline would work since it can lubricate the filter making it easier to clean residues and dirt. I tried it and it was indeed easier to clean. It's risky though. I'm not sure but with gasoline and air mixing with the heat of the engine it may combust. So I stopped doing it immediately and went back to using pressurized air or water.
In any case, while cleaning your air filter, make sure that your intake is covered. You don't want to have foreign objects like small stones or stray insects get into your intake. I once had a small stone stuck inside the carburetor and the engine revved uncontrollable and we had to use a carburetor kit to fix it. Once you're done cleaning the air filter, make sure that it is secured firmly into your intake.
Replacement filters can last for a year or may go as far as 2 or more years. By that time, with the constant cleaning, you may need to replace the filter. But then, this may differ from filter to filter and from its use. There are some filters that are really heavy-duty and can even be used for racing. Air filters are more susceptible to wear and tear in cars that are used everyday compared to those that are occasionally or rarely used. But nevertheless, a cleaner free-flowing air filter will manage to suck in more air providing you more power and mileage per gallon with the same driving style and pattern.