Air filter change interval- are years important?

[Rachael]

In general, I am reading that the air filter should be changed every 15K or 1 year. I am curious if there are any risks to keeping in an air filter that has few miles on it but has been in for a long time, since people recommend to change it once a year regardless of mileage apparently.

My question is specifically for my 92 Bonneville SE. I changed the air filter in October '09, but the car ended up sitting a lot. It now gets driven all over the place, but since 10/ 09 it has only accrued 5K miles. So should I change the air filter or not, what do you think? 2 years old and 5K. The filter is like 6 bucks so I'm tempted to just change it. but I don't want to be wasteful either.

 

[jmsjags]

i would leave it in. if you really want to know exactly when to change your filters in the future you can pick up one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Wix-24801-Air-Filt...2066&sr=8-2

i have the k&n version on 2 of my cars and it works flawlessly.

 

[exranger06]

I can't see how time could be a factor in air filter life. I would replace it on strictly a mileage or "as needed" (until it's visibly dirty) basis.

 

[chubbs1]

Paper filters DO break down, especially in conditions when there are wide temp swings and humidity. I myself thought an air filter must be a "strictly mile only" replacement item until I pulled an old paper filter out of one of my vehicles. I would at least carefully remove and inspect it.

 

[oilmaven]

What a great car...the Bonneville may have been the best version of the Buick/Pontiac/Olds "full-size" front-drivers of that era (believe that was the first year for that generation Bonneville...the Buick Park Ave. and Olds 98 came out in '91 and the LeSabre and Delta 88 followed as '92 models along with the Bonneville). I had a 1992 Olds 98 and loved it. The car looked great when I sold it with about 103,000 miles (just broken in for that generation of 3.8's...before the gasket issues developed)until you opened the hood. The fender liners on either side of the engine were just about rusted out...could see day light through both of them. Funny thing is the rest of the car was pretty much rust free. Aside from a couple of wheel bearings and an a/c condenser the car was very reliable and would get an honest 31 mpg on the highway. I had NO trouble selling it and let it go cheap due to the rust issue. I still miss that car and get nostalgic when I see one on the road...great cars.

 

[Dan55]

Great car had a 95, traded it in at 80K with no problems.

 

[Rachael]

I have always loved Bonnevilles and I have owned several. I agree they are great cars- they ride great, parts are cheap, and compared to most cars of that age very reliable.

The air filter looked old, but had a normal light grey tinge to it. I will pick up a filter soon since they are so cheap. Can't hurt. Thanks for the responses!

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: chubbs1
Paper filters DO break down, especially in conditions when there are wide temp swings and humidity. I myself thought an air filter must be a "strictly mile only" replacement item until I pulled an old paper filter out of one of my vehicles. I would at least carefully remove and inspect it.

I agree. I changed the air filter in the E430 few months ago. It was about 2-3 years old and less than 40k miles. The filter media didn't much dirt but it was bristle, also the surrounding foam was falling apart at the first touch.

The recommended change interval for that car is 3 years/50k miles.

 

[law3500]

Some factory filters, especially for the Japanese makes use an oiled media. In these I could see extreme time accumulation as a detriment to performance if the element dries out but 2 years and 5k is just fine anyway.

 

[Jim Allen]

If a filter can't last more than one or two years, you should be using a different brand.The OEM filter in my 2000 Honda is going good four years after I needlessly replaced the original 2000 year filter that also looked fine.

 

[The motor guy]

Wish I could change my air filter. Won't get into why. But mine is 4 years old and looks fine and the uoa on my oil show 5ppm silicon showing it's filtering just fine.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: chubbs1
Paper filters DO break down, especially in conditions when there are wide temp swings and humidity. I myself thought an air filter must be a "strictly mile only" replacement item until I pulled an old paper filter out of one of my vehicles. I would at least carefully remove and inspect it.


Agreed. I can't see an air filter lasting "forever" even if it's just sitting there. In any case, Nissan, for what it's worth, specifies air filters as a mileage only issue.

 

[Jim Allen]

As with everything, this is a "case-by-case" deal. Old cellulose filters certainly did deteriorate with age. Old neoprene formulations deteriorated. Many filters now have evolved past all that and use a synthetic media filter with Buna-N or Viton rubber parts shouldn't go south before the filter reaches it's lifetime load of dirt (as measured by a restriction gauge). I don't know what all is out there, but much of what I look at in the name brand filters is a synthetic media or a blend. Would make an interesting research project to find the "norm" for 2012.