Are Premium Guard air filters good? And why are

[tommygunn]

air filters for the 3rd gen Integra so expensive? Double the price of most other air filters! Even the Napa Proselect is $18! (it's usually well under $10). Maybe that plastic cap thing on the end is worth $10 by itself!

I found the Premium Guard online for $10.95 shipped.

Napa Proselect 26398, Napa Gold/Wix (4)6398, Fram CA7600, Purolator A54855

[censored]?

 

[NHGUY]

Premium Guard comes from China and Korea.I guess their labor is cheaper than US/Mexico/Poland labor.

 

[y_p_w]

Back when I had my '95 GS-R I always installed aftermarket filters made in Korea or Thailand. All the aftermarket equivalents were sourced from maybe two suppliers.

 

[Lead Shoes]

I would have retrofitted a universal re-usable cone filter inside the box a while ago at those prices...

 

[fdcg27]

What change interval does Honda recommend for the air filter?
An air filter can be kept in service so long that paying a few more dollars isn't that much of an issue, IMHO.
If it makes you feel better, I paid more than that for an air filter for my old BMW. The one I replaced still looked quite good after at least 35K. If I have to spend a little money every 30-35K, I'm not mad.
Buy a known good brand and leave the off brand stuff on the shelf.
You're just not saving that much over the interval you'll run it.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
What change interval does Honda recommend for the air filter?
An air filter can be kept in service so long that paying a few more dollars isn't that much of an issue, IMHO.
If it makes you feel better, I paid more than that for an air filter for my old BMW. The one I replaced still looked quite good after at least 35K. If I have to spend a little money every 30-35K, I'm not mad.
Buy a known good brand and leave the off brand stuff on the shelf.
You're just not saving that much over the interval you'll run it.

30K/15K miles or 2/1 year for normal/severe service. The thing about this particular filter was that it was pretty weird looking with perhaps the most unique shape I've ever seen for an OEM air filter.

I would get whatever I could cheap. I remember I'd go to Pep Boys and pick up their Proline equivalent for $12.99. Everything else was more expensive. They were stamped "Made in S. Korea" along with the manufacturing date. I remember passing by a parts store that carried Wix filters, and I asked if they could order it. They said they could with no obligation to buy since they'd just put it in the back. When it arrived I noticed it was identical and probably just a standard filter where Wix had them print their name and part number on it. You know - where the name and part number are printed on the side in crude-looking dot matrix.

This is what it looks like:

http://www.autohausaz.com/acura-auto-parts/acura-air_filter-replacement.html

K&N has a drop in version, but I'm not sure if I'd get it. This one may also be the most difficult to clean and reoil. It's got a huge surface area in a long cylinder. Back then I was wondering if K&N was going to get around to it. It wasn't because I thought it would provide better performance (the stock filter has very little restriction) but that the disposable replacement filters all came with that expensive molded piece and it seemed a waste to toss it every time.

http://www.amazon.com/E-2427-High-Performance-Replacement-Filter/dp/B00062ZXMW

 

[fdcg27]

That is one strange looking air filter.
The last five Hondas we've had just took a flat panel air filter.
Our three older Civics used the classic round donut.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
That is one strange looking air filter.
The last five Hondas we've had just took a flat panel air filter.
Our three older Civics used the classic round donut.

The filter for my wife's Civic is a small flat panel, but with an odd looking frame. The sealing portion of the frame has an opening, but where it's diagonal from one corner of the panel to the other side of the panel. The frame is also oddly shaped. The other thing is that there are two air boxes under the hood. The one closer to the firewall is for the air filter. I'm not sure what's in the other box. However, it had no bolts so I figured I wasn't going to find my air filter there. I found a photo on the web of one for sale. It's got the same oil cap with the lavender lettering.

I've bought the version from Purolator.

http://www.purolatorautofilters.net/resources/Popup/Pages/PartDetailPopup.aspx?partnum=A35397

 

[rrounds]

It looks like the filter that is on the Honda S2000
http://www.wixfilters.com/Lookup/PartDetails.aspx?Part=49003

I have over 65k miles on my air filter on my S2000 and I think I'll have to change it out sometime around 80k miles.
I use a restriction gauge to tell me when I need to change the filter, not only miles driven.
http://filterminder.com/hfmw_air.asp
and here is where I bought it
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WIX-24801/

Here is what Jim Allen wrote about the air filter restriction gauge and how it can help you keep your engine cleaner.

"An air filter restriction gauge is the only reliable, objective way you can tell when the filter is reaching a point where it needs to be changed. Because the level of dirt in the air is constantly changing according to the driving environment, any other means of determination is just guesswork. It's really that simple. You make a valid point about the gauge cost vs filter replacement, but If it doubles or triples the working life of your filters, the gauge could pay for itself.

PLUS... you CAN change your filter too often and harm your engine in the long term. Air filters have two efficiency ratings, initial and final. The filter gets more efficient as it loads up. According to an air filter specialist at Parker Filtration I interviewed, 90 percent of the amount of dirt that will pass thru a filter in it's operational life will do so in the first 10 percent of use. A good filter might start at 97-98 % efficiency but in a few thousand miles, will reach 99% plus. One or two percent doesn't seem like a big whoop until you consider two percent is a 50% decrease in the amount of junk getting into your engine. Parker has a great training slideshow that shows the actual amount of dirt in this situation... sitting in a pile."

Saved me a lot of typing. LOL
ROD

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: rrounds
PLUS... you CAN change your filter too often and harm your engine in the long term. Air filters have two efficiency ratings, initial and final. The filter gets more efficient as it loads up. According to an air filter specialist at Parker Filtration I interviewed, 90 percent of the amount of dirt that will pass thru a filter in it's operational life will do so in the first 10 percent of use. A good filter might start at 97-98 % efficiency but in a few thousand miles, will reach 99% plus. One or two percent doesn't seem like a big whoop until you consider two percent is a 50% decrease in the amount of junk getting into your engine. Parker has a great training slideshow that shows the actual amount of dirt in this situation... sitting in a pile."

Saved me a lot of typing. LOL
ROD

Perhaps for dry type filters, but oiled paper is very different. All the dry filters I've seen load up evenly. The moderately oiled paper filters I've used load up heavily along the edges with little dirt trapped inside the pleat. The dirt seems to be attracted to existing dirt, and the oil in the filter migrates there.