The Importance of Air Filter Replacement
It’s easy to overlook your car’s air filter, but it’s an essential part of maintaining your vehicle’s health, performance, and efficiency. And despite being a simple filter, it does a lot of hard work — it filters 10,000 gallons of air for every gallon of fuel burned. Here’s a look at why you should pay attention to this simple, easy-to-replace car component.
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Four reasons to keep your car’s air filter in mind
Efficiency: If your car’s air filter is clogged, you won’t get the maximum performance or efficiency out of your vehicle. That’s because clean air is essential for proper combustion to occur — if your car’s engine is suffocating, it won’t burn fuel as well as it could. This benefit is especially pronounced on older cars, according to Cars Direct. Carburated vehicles can receive a 14 percent boost in efficiency thanks to a new air filter. That can translate to saving up to 15 cents per gallon on gas.
Ride quality: As mentioned above, a dirty air filter will keep your car’s engine from getting the oxygen it needs. An improper air-fuel ratio can seriously inhibit spark plug ignition and increased pollution output. It can also lead to rougher idling, engine misses, and even the dreaded “service engine soon” light.
Extending engine life: Air filters are designed to safeguard your car’s engine, but a dirty filter can’t do its job. If debris reaches the pistons and cylinders, it can cause severe, costly damage. And it doesn’t have to be a substantial amount of debris, either — all it takes is a speck the size of a salt grain to cause severe issues.
Easy to fix: While a fouled filter can cause some pretty serious issues, there’s some good news — changing an air filter is an easy, inexpensive DIY project. Just make sure you’re using the right filter for your make and model. On vehicles with fuel-injected engines, you’ll find the filter on top or front of the engine, near the throttle body. It’s housed inside of a black plastic rectangle that’s secured by clips or screws. Older vehicles tend to have round air filers, located by the carburetor.
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It’s a good idea to check your air filter every 12,000-15,000 miles, or as directed by your model’s manual. However, if you drive in dusty conditions, you’ll have to check and replace it more frequently. And even if the old filter appears clean, it’s a good idea to change it anyway — after all, air filters are cheaper to replace than engine components.
Kimiko Kidd is a native Daytonian. She graduated from Wright State University with degrees in environmental science and sociology. She loves her trusty old Honda Civic, but dreams of owning a 1974 Ford Falcon XB with a custom paint job and a vintage Kawasaki Z1000. In her free time, Kimiko can be found watercolor-painting, baking muffins, collecting rocks, playing old-school Nintendo games, writing her novel, sewing stuffed animals, and cosplaying as her favorite Mad Max characters. See more articles by Kimiko.