Should you ever change your air filter?

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Originally Posted By: qnyla
I wonder how often I should be changing my air filter in these conditions?


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Sooner than Later
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Interesting question.

I don't know for sure. Possibly you could interpret from MAP readings if you knew the values at full throttle with a clean filter. Possibly the same from MAF. It could be figured out but with easy access to inexpensive restriction gauges, why bother unless it just wasn't possible to mount them.

You could probably use some measurable performance parameter too, such as a dyno, quarter mile or 0-60 times, but there are so many variable in those things (temps, atmospheric pressure, etc.) that I wouldn't consider them particularly exact or reliable.
 
Originally Posted By: Phishin
Originally Posted By: nickolas84
I am refering to stock type "paper" filters. It is common knowledge that the dirtier it becomes, the better it filters.
Should we ever change our stock air filter unless there is a reduction in power?

2.) air will begin to "channel" through the filtering media, finding a pathway of least resistence. Perhaps it starts at a small imperfection in the media. Once the air begins to channel through the media, the "hole" will expand. The air that passes through this channel isn't really filtered at all.

I previously had neglected to change an original air filter (~80k) and after running a OA and getting a rather high silicon reading, I changed it out and the next OA had one third the silicon level. That original filter did not look bad, so maybe it was channeling.
 
Originally Posted By: mr_diy
[
I previously had neglected to change an original air filter (~80k) and after running a OA and getting a rather high silicon reading, I changed it out and the next OA had one third the silicon level. That original filter did not look bad, so maybe it was channeling.


Possibly. Other possibilities are a poor fit in the housing (maybe from being removed a few times). It might have been cleaned at some point and damaged. It's also possible the filter you replaced it with is more efficient.

Most likely iIMO is just the variables of comparing only two UOAs. Unless the differences were significant (say over 25%) it could be simple testing variables. Comparing two tests does not result in very accurate comparisons. To "see" small differences, you need trending. Lots of UOAs in each condition.
 
Much of this talk has me wondering how I could fit a filter DP gage into my GL1800 ...

Why? two reasons:
1) the OEM filter FCI is a measly 12k miles. Seriously. And it's about as big as any filter I've seen in a Civic. Many of us suspect it's just a way for the dealer to get some money generated from service, because these bikes never break as a general rule. If it were not for valve clearance jobs and air filter changes, they'd never be in the shop. Air filter every 12k miles ... would you put up with that if it were your car?
2) they are STUPID hard to get to; it takes about and hour if you're good at it! You have to take off the tupperware (all the plastic) surrounding the top half of the engine, unhook the nav controls and radio, unscrew various stuff. Total PITB. When done, you have to reconnect the ECM and let the bike cycle to full temp and turn on the fans for goodness sake!

I have noted that even at 20k miles, there seems to be no real effect in performance or such. But I could really benefit from KNOWING when to change, rather than guessing.

I might experiment with a remote location filter minder. I'd have to plumb in a fitting, but then use hard line vacuum tubing to put the gage in a place where it could be read. After all, what good is having the gage installed if you cannot read it easily? Putting it under "hood" with all the other junk still would necessitate taking everything apart to get to it. And I'm not even sure it would fit under there.

Jim - got any suggestions for the plumbing fittings and line? I'd be willing to be a test mule here; it's worth the effort to save myself the grief!
 
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If you were to find a restriction gauge with a threaded female end, you could use push lock fittings and some 1/4" plastic air line from a truck repair shop and then you could mount it anywhere you want. We see Mack trucks from the factory with restriction gauges mounted in the dash and use the fittings and line I described to hook it up to the air cleaner. Sadly, I'm the only one in our shop that actually looks at the gauge. Everyone else just yanks the filter and replaces it because it looks dirty. I see Donaldson powercore filters get replaced all the time with only 30000 - 60000 miles on them.
 
What about weighting your air filter as a poor man's restriction gauge?
Assuming that the airfilters capacity is 300gr if one finds 100gr increase in weight, then he can keep the filter 50% longer, or install a new one and keep it 50% longer, and still be on the safe side.
 
If you're speaking of my situation, it's because of the incredibly difficult ingress/egress issues ...

If you've never worked on a GL1800 Goldwing, it's a total nightmare and I don't exaggerate when I say it's easily an hour job just to get in, and then about the same back out. I kid you not.
 
Originally Posted By: nickolas84
What about weighting your air filter as a poor man's restriction gauge?
Assuming that the airfilters capacity is 300gr if one finds 100gr increase in weight, then he can keep the filter 50% longer, or install a new one and keep it 50% longer, and still be on the safe side.



Not a good idea due to the gasket being disturbed even one time can lead to leaks after its been compressed for a long time then uncompressed and re-compressed.

Also i believe you will allow contamination into the system too often. My air filter is very hard to get out, i wouldn't want to open it unless i was changing it and i don't even like doing that.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Originally Posted By: nickolas84
What about weighting your air filter as a poor man's restriction gauge?
Assuming that the airfilters capacity is 300gr if one finds 100gr increase in weight, then he can keep the filter 50% longer, or install a new one and keep it 50% longer, and still be on the safe side.



Not a good idea due to the gasket being disturbed even one time can lead to leaks after its been compressed for a long time then uncompressed and re-compressed.

Also i believe you will allow contamination into the system too often. My air filter is very hard to get out, i wouldn't want to open it unless i was changing it and i don't even like doing that.


No no no! The filter would be removed only once for weighting and either establish it's replacement miles or replace it straight away and use the info to make an educated choice on the replacement of your next filter.
Then., based on the weight gain of every filter you replace you decide the replacement interval for the next filter!

It is far from perfect but it could help people who now change their air filter too early by a factor of 10X.
 
Originally Posted By: dnewton3
If you're speaking of my situation, it's because of the incredibly difficult ingress/egress issues ...

If you've never worked on a GL1800 Goldwing, it's a total nightmare and I don't exaggerate when I say it's easily an hour job just to get in, and then about the same back out. I kid you not.


I remember servicing my dads Suzuki burgman 600, that was not much fun either:)
 
Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
Originally Posted By: mr_diy
[
I previously had neglected to change an original air filter (~80k) and after running a OA and getting a rather high silicon reading, I changed it out and the next OA had one third the silicon level. That original filter did not look bad, so maybe it was channeling.


Possibly. Other possibilities are a poor fit in the housing (maybe from being removed a few times). It might have been cleaned at some point and damaged. It's also possible the filter you replaced it with is more efficient.

Most likely iIMO is just the variables of comparing only two UOAs. Unless the differences were significant (say over 25%) it could be simple testing variables. Comparing two tests does not result in very accurate comparisons. To "see" small differences, you need trending. Lots of UOAs in each condition.


I don't believe I ever removed filter prior to the change, and it still looked fairly clean when replaced. The SI dropped from 21 to 7 and the replacement filter was a Purolator classic. Civic OA
My advice if you are not doing regular OA's, is just change based on recommended schedule. Then is the filter or gasket is failing you get it replaced sooner than later. A restriction gauge would only seem to make sense for very dusty areas where filters fill up faster than normal. Would not warn of a small bypass or failing media.
 
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