Weird Ford Focus 2007 Air Filter

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Ford Focus 2007 Air Filter

Has anyone seen this type of filter before? I was told by the dealership that it is good for 100,000 KM and there is no paper filter media inside. They claim it's an adaptation of a diesel engine filter.
 
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I am seeing a pressure drop meter. Just watch it and youll be fine - that is a great way to go, because ou know exactly how healthy the filter is...
 
Yup, leave it alone unless that meter hits the red or you hit the mileage cutoff. Its an expensive piece.
 
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Alright guys, but how does it work and how does it compare to the effectiveness of a paper filter? I noticed it had a reset button on the side of it. How would I know if the previous owner didn't hit reset? Is there any way to measure the current health of the filter? Suggestions on what terms I can search for on the Internet to get some engineering information about the filter would really help.

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Wix website does not list a filter for that car. Looks like it has bolts securing the two halves. Pop it open with it reaches the end of it's lifespan.
 
A guy I work with fabbed a new intake on his Focus. It had a similar setup as yours. You have to replace the entire unit which is 50 bucks or so. He claims he's getting about 100 miles more tank with the new setup.
 
Whoa.....hold your horses! This is a fabulously interesting air filter design that deserves a BUNCH of attention!

I could not come up with a direct link, but GOOGLE the words below to get to the SAE white paper that discusses these filters. The Ford Focus filter is discussed on page 12 +/-:

Google (Copy & Paste):
citeseerx 2005-01-1139 SAE Performance and Benefits of Zero Maintenance Air Induction Systems

ALSO CHECK OUT THIS VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE REGARDING NO FUEL MILEAGE LOST WITH CLOGGED FILTERS THAT I FOUND WHILE SEARCHING FOR THE ABOVE PAPER:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/pdfs/Air_Filter_Effects_02_26_2009.pdf[color:#CC0000][/color]
 
I'm not sure if you're saying he fabricated a means to connect this filter on a different Focus or if you're saying he removed this OEM filter. Apparently restricting air flow, even with a clogged filter does not affect fuel economy on a fuel injected engine. It affects throttle response and horsepower, but not fuel economy. Apparently, on a carburetor fuel system, a clogged air filter can reduce fuel economy by over 10%, but not on fuel injection engines. This report gets into these facts in detail:

Effect of Intake Air Filter Condition on Vehicle Fuel Economy (Oak Ridge National Lab)
 
Thank you for those excellent links. The google search yielded a link to this pdf:

Performance and Benefits of Zero Maintenance Air Induction Systems (SAE International)

It states these filters are good for 150k. They are essentially foam filters placed in the bumper area of the vehicle to avoid oil bleed into the Mass Air Flow Sensor.

Do you know what Figure 24: Overall Efficiency Performance of Long Life. Technology compared to Traditional designs.

"Average Overall Gravimetric Efficiency Measured @ 2.5 kPa
Terminal Restriction Rise Using ISO Fine Test Dust"

I'm assuming this is measuring air flow restriction, but I am not familiar with the term. The paper states the Filter Restriction is 1.13±.315 kPa. Does anyone know what kind of filter restriction is observed with treated paper?

I had no idea that changing a pleated paper filter early could harm your engine. I also learned that pleated paper filters permit more dirt into your engine when they are new, therefore changing your filter before it needs changing is actually going to allow more dirt into your engine.
 
Originally Posted By: AlanCanada
I had no idea that changing a pleated paper filter early could harm your engine. I also learned that pleated paper filters permit more dirt into your engine when they are new, therefore changing your filter before it needs changing is actually going to allow more dirt into your engine.


We have discussed here before that an air filter gets more efficient as it gets "plugged" up. I don't understand why all filters don't have the cheap plastic restriction gauges on them.

Here, from another thread: http://www.mombu.com/ford/engine/t-2007-ford-focus-air-filter-schedule-2864515.html
""The SAE paper by Marty Barris (SAE Technical Paper No. 952557 titled:'Total FiltrationTM: The Influence of Filter Selection on Engine Wear,Emissions and Performance' ) offers two important conclusions:

"The level of ambient dust concentration can easily overwhelm other factors in terms of influence on engine wear. It is therefore important to match the air intake filtration system design to the anticipated ambient exposure. And here's an interesting one-:

"Too frequent air filter change intervals can double engine wear rate,especially if changed within the first 30% of the air filter's life.

"The practice of removing an air filter element to blow it clean is plain stupid. This malpractice, which can lead to engine wear rates being trebled, still occurs on the false economy basis of trying to extend the service life of the air filter element. A well meaning but badly trained technician thinks he is being thorough in servicing the air filter, or replacing it prior to reaching the optimum life of the
element. This happens in workshops without supervisors even being aware of it."

I CAN'T BELIEVE WE SPEND SO MUCH TIME ON OIL FILTERS HERE, AND SO LITTLE ON AIR FILTERS.
 
Originally Posted By: doitmyself

We have discussed here before that an air filter gets more efficient as it gets "plugged" up. I don't understand why all filters don't have the cheap plastic restriction gauges on them.
...

I CAN'T BELIEVE WE SPEND SO MUCH TIME ON OIL FILTERS HERE, AND SO LITTLE ON AIR FILTERS.


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Of the two filters, air and oil, air filter is much more importance factor in protecting engines.
 
Yes, a good air filter can stop garbage from making its way into the engine in the first place. I have about 15k on my air filter with a restriction gauge much like that. Has not even moved.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: doitmyself

We have discussed here before that an air filter gets more efficient as it gets "plugged" up. I don't understand why all filters don't have the cheap plastic restriction gauges on them.
...

I CAN'T BELIEVE WE SPEND SO MUCH TIME ON OIL FILTERS HERE, AND SO LITTLE ON AIR FILTERS.


01.gif


Of the two filters, air and oil, air filter is much more importance factor in protecting engines.


I think this is because this site is bob is the oil guy and not bob is the air guy. People spend more time talking about oil rather than air. Oil filters deal with oil and air filters deal with well air.
 
Are they making the filter like this to get the total cost of ownership down?

Sounds like a terrible idea to me. Especially when a regular filter is 5 dollars.

Pretty soon cars will be pretty much maintenance free to 100k miles. We are getting very close to this already guys. Nothing but gas and oil changes.
 
Thanks for the links to the interesting articles. The fuel economy test results really surprised me. I'm going to be changing air filters much less often on our vehicles from now on! Typically I have changed the filter at 1/2 the vehicle manufacturer's recommended interval. Time to go back to by-the-book!
 
There's some interesting stuff in that paper, including that they consider the 97th (abusive?) percentile to be "normal", not severe, service.
 
Hi Alan!!!
My name is Marcelo I am from Orlando,Fl, I had a Ford Focus 2005 that have the same weird air filter, I've try to change the filter couple times but nobody know about, I've try walmart, advance, auto zone auto parts but they DO NOT know nothing about, when a have a chance I will try the dealership to see what's going on, if you have any notice about please let me know, Thank You.
 
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