My last air filter had about 60k miles on it and the restriction gauge still did not move. I changed it because upon inspection I discovered cracks in the rubber gasket.
When do you change your air filter?
- Thread starter jk_636
- Start date
- Status
I change mine every 40k kms and open the air box spring and fall usually to shop vac out all the dead horseflies stuck in the airbox from summer driving and to check the air filter in case the car ingested a large amount of snow from driving in blizzards all winter and the filter got wet.
you do wonder if in really wet weather that the "paper"media fails in some way.
seems with more pleats maybe they could make a 50 or 60k filter, using synthetic media.
Originally Posted By: edwardh1
seems with more pleats maybe they could make a 50 or 60k filter, using synthetic media.
Get a air filter restriction gauge and you would know when to change the filter out. I'll bet over 90% on here change the air filter to soon. And with out something to tell you how much restriction the air filter is causing, your just guessing.
I have over 85k miles on my Honda S2000 air filter and the only reason I'm going to change it out this next spring is because of the time(number of years) it's been on the car. It still doesn't go over 11" of restriction going WOT in third gear up to the 8200 rpm red line.
ROD
seems with more pleats maybe they could make a 50 or 60k filter, using synthetic media.
Get a air filter restriction gauge and you would know when to change the filter out. I'll bet over 90% on here change the air filter to soon. And with out something to tell you how much restriction the air filter is causing, your just guessing.
I have over 85k miles on my Honda S2000 air filter and the only reason I'm going to change it out this next spring is because of the time(number of years) it's been on the car. It still doesn't go over 11" of restriction going WOT in third gear up to the 8200 rpm red line.
ROD
When I first buy a car, and never again.
I look at the silicon levels on the lab reports. That tells me when to change them, if they don't tell you first.
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: jk_636
I have heard some people change them based on filter minders and some that say they filter better when dirty (makes no sense to me).
OK, you have pingpong balls and tennis balls floating down a river. (dust in air is the analogy). You install a net (filter) that lets pingpong balls through, but not tennis balls.
At first the net lets all the pingpong balls through, until some of the pores get clogged with tennis balls..then the tennis balls start catching pingpong balls and trapping them.
The net's efficiency at catching pingpong balls increases markedly as the net (filter) gets clogged.
Air filters do the same.
And the best part is that as you drive at part throttle anyway, your mileage doesn't change as it clogs (unless you have a carb)
soooo using this analogy I don't ever have to change my oil filter because it gets more efficient the dirtier it gets?
Originally Posted By: jk_636
I have heard some people change them based on filter minders and some that say they filter better when dirty (makes no sense to me).
OK, you have pingpong balls and tennis balls floating down a river. (dust in air is the analogy). You install a net (filter) that lets pingpong balls through, but not tennis balls.
At first the net lets all the pingpong balls through, until some of the pores get clogged with tennis balls..then the tennis balls start catching pingpong balls and trapping them.
The net's efficiency at catching pingpong balls increases markedly as the net (filter) gets clogged.
Air filters do the same.
And the best part is that as you drive at part throttle anyway, your mileage doesn't change as it clogs (unless you have a carb)
soooo using this analogy I don't ever have to change my oil filter because it gets more efficient the dirtier it gets?
Only if you want nothing to get through at all eventually, including air.
Originally Posted By: Garak
Only if you want nothing to get through at all eventually, including air.
Like I said, my trucks will literally suck the filter out of the mount before my UOA will tell me anything. No thanks.
Only if you want nothing to get through at all eventually, including air.
Like I said, my trucks will literally suck the filter out of the mount before my UOA will tell me anything. No thanks.
Well, that wouldn't be a good experience, either!
Based on the average KMs per year that we put on our vehicles (20-25K KMS) I change them every 24 months. I don't try to over think it.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Originally Posted By: phatcatz
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: jk_636
I have heard some people change them based on filter minders and some that say they filter better when dirty (makes no sense to me).
OK, you have pingpong balls and tennis balls floating down a river. (dust in air is the analogy). You install a net (filter) that lets pingpong balls through, but not tennis balls.
At first the net lets all the pingpong balls through, until some of the pores get clogged with tennis balls..then the tennis balls start catching pingpong balls and trapping them.
The net's efficiency at catching pingpong balls increases markedly as the net (filter) gets clogged.
Air filters do the same.
And the best part is that as you drive at part throttle anyway, your mileage doesn't change as it clogs (unless you have a carb)
soooo using this analogy I don't ever have to change my oil filter because it gets more efficient the dirtier it gets?
I don't think that's what is being implied here. Simply that changing it too early isn't beneficial. That's why the use of a filter minder/restriction gauge as has been advocated numerous times in the thread is beneficial.
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: jk_636
I have heard some people change them based on filter minders and some that say they filter better when dirty (makes no sense to me).
OK, you have pingpong balls and tennis balls floating down a river. (dust in air is the analogy). You install a net (filter) that lets pingpong balls through, but not tennis balls.
At first the net lets all the pingpong balls through, until some of the pores get clogged with tennis balls..then the tennis balls start catching pingpong balls and trapping them.
The net's efficiency at catching pingpong balls increases markedly as the net (filter) gets clogged.
Air filters do the same.
And the best part is that as you drive at part throttle anyway, your mileage doesn't change as it clogs (unless you have a carb)
soooo using this analogy I don't ever have to change my oil filter because it gets more efficient the dirtier it gets?
I don't think that's what is being implied here. Simply that changing it too early isn't beneficial. That's why the use of a filter minder/restriction gauge as has been advocated numerous times in the thread is beneficial.
I live on a dirt road so I go by 15,000 or 3 years I have been thinking of going to 20,000
Originally Posted By: Toto
I live on a dirt road so I go by 15,000 or 3 years I have been thinking of going to 20,000
Thats the best reason to run a filter restriction gauge. I use the grommet mount in my cars and '13 Jeep. I change the filter out when it gets to 15"H2o of restriction.
http://filterminder.com/products/visual-...mmet-mount.html
ROD
I live on a dirt road so I go by 15,000 or 3 years I have been thinking of going to 20,000
Thats the best reason to run a filter restriction gauge. I use the grommet mount in my cars and '13 Jeep. I change the filter out when it gets to 15"H2o of restriction.
http://filterminder.com/products/visual-...mmet-mount.html
ROD
when it gets dirty and I can no longer see the sun through it after I beat it out on the side of the house. seriously, this works fine so long as you are careful not to damage it. also if the clean side of the filter ever stops looking bleach-white, it gets trashed.
Last edited:
The Regal's OM says, "First Engine Oil Change After Every 80,000 km/50,000 Miles: Engine air cleaner filter replacement." I changed the filter at about 45K miles, not long after I got the car; so it's good, I suppose, until 100K or so. Since I don't drive in dusty areas, their instruction "If you are driving in dusty/dirty conditions, inspect the filter at each engine oil change" doesn't really apply.
Originally Posted By: jk_636
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
The Focus has a "life time" filter with a restriction gauge, so I hope I never change it. The other cars get one every 30-40k miles. None of them ever look like they are causing restriction as you can see that only one part of the filter is dirty.
Man I feel sorry for you. My mother in law has a focus of that era and one of those "lifetime air filters" with a filter minder. Have you ever looked inside one of those? The ones I have seen have a baffle system that is open and for all intensive purposes empty. It doesn't filter for sh*t. Maybe the ones in the Canadian market were different than the U.S. ones, but here is an 04 I believe and it desperately needs an air filter.
It was a terrible system and was never designed to last. I spoke to a mechanic who told me that the focuses of that era were never designed to last more than 5 years and that when people trade them in full of problems, ford doesn't even bother fixing them or take them to auction. They just crush them and sell them to annhueser-Busch to make beer cans.
I would pay extra to have a filter system like that on my car, the lifetime filters with multiple layers of foam filter excellent and will keep dirt out of your engine. The efficiency must be very high on these systems.
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
The Focus has a "life time" filter with a restriction gauge, so I hope I never change it. The other cars get one every 30-40k miles. None of them ever look like they are causing restriction as you can see that only one part of the filter is dirty.
Man I feel sorry for you. My mother in law has a focus of that era and one of those "lifetime air filters" with a filter minder. Have you ever looked inside one of those? The ones I have seen have a baffle system that is open and for all intensive purposes empty. It doesn't filter for sh*t. Maybe the ones in the Canadian market were different than the U.S. ones, but here is an 04 I believe and it desperately needs an air filter.
It was a terrible system and was never designed to last. I spoke to a mechanic who told me that the focuses of that era were never designed to last more than 5 years and that when people trade them in full of problems, ford doesn't even bother fixing them or take them to auction. They just crush them and sell them to annhueser-Busch to make beer cans.
I would pay extra to have a filter system like that on my car, the lifetime filters with multiple layers of foam filter excellent and will keep dirt out of your engine. The efficiency must be very high on these systems.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Originally Posted By: jk_636
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
The Focus has a "life time" filter with a restriction gauge, so I hope I never change it. The other cars get one every 30-40k miles. None of them ever look like they are causing restriction as you can see that only one part of the filter is dirty.
Man I feel sorry for you. My mother in law has a focus of that era and one of those "lifetime air filters" with a filter minder. Have you ever looked inside one of those? The ones I have seen have a baffle system that is open and for all intensive purposes empty. It doesn't filter for sh*t. Maybe the ones in the Canadian market were different than the U.S. ones, but here is an 04 I believe and it desperately needs an air filter.
It was a terrible system and was never designed to last. I spoke to a mechanic who told me that the focuses of that era were never designed to last more than 5 years and that when people trade them in full of problems, ford doesn't even bother fixing them or take them to auction. They just crush them and sell them to annhueser-Busch to make beer cans.
I would pay extra to have a filter system like that on my car, the lifetime filters with multiple layers of foam filter excellent and will keep dirt out of your engine. The efficiency must be very high on these systems.
Exactly. It was a multi-layer foam system, absolutely nothing like jk_636 is describing.
Actually, one was posted on here in this thread:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3366343/2007_Focus_air_filter_Pics
Originally Posted By: jk_636
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
The Focus has a "life time" filter with a restriction gauge, so I hope I never change it. The other cars get one every 30-40k miles. None of them ever look like they are causing restriction as you can see that only one part of the filter is dirty.
Man I feel sorry for you. My mother in law has a focus of that era and one of those "lifetime air filters" with a filter minder. Have you ever looked inside one of those? The ones I have seen have a baffle system that is open and for all intensive purposes empty. It doesn't filter for sh*t. Maybe the ones in the Canadian market were different than the U.S. ones, but here is an 04 I believe and it desperately needs an air filter.
It was a terrible system and was never designed to last. I spoke to a mechanic who told me that the focuses of that era were never designed to last more than 5 years and that when people trade them in full of problems, ford doesn't even bother fixing them or take them to auction. They just crush them and sell them to annhueser-Busch to make beer cans.
I would pay extra to have a filter system like that on my car, the lifetime filters with multiple layers of foam filter excellent and will keep dirt out of your engine. The efficiency must be very high on these systems.
Exactly. It was a multi-layer foam system, absolutely nothing like jk_636 is describing.
Actually, one was posted on here in this thread:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3366343/2007_Focus_air_filter_Pics
Interesting take on filtering air. Without a doubt.
- Status