Wix makes a specific fire resistant air filter for my truck, the 42725FR; maybe for other applications as well.
Effect of forest fires on air filters
- Thread starter Snagglefoot
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Originally Posted By: Nyogtha
Wix makes a specific fire resistant air filter for my truck, the 42725FR; maybe for other applications as well.
Thanks. Looked it up. Fire embers will not damage the filter. Hope I don’t get that close!
Wix makes a specific fire resistant air filter for my truck, the 42725FR; maybe for other applications as well.
Thanks. Looked it up. Fire embers will not damage the filter. Hope I don’t get that close!
I don't think smoke particles or wood ash are very abrasive, so I wouldn't worry about smoke getting past the filter.
Volcanic ash however is.
Volcanic ash however is.
Like a Washington poster earlier in the thread alluded to, volcanic ash will run right through air filters. I was witness to GOBS of destroyed engines in SE WA (where I farmed) the year Mt. St. Helens erupted. Don’t know how abrasive forest fire particulate is in comparison, but I know a lot of it is also small enough to zip right through air filters.
Originally Posted By: bulwnkl
... volcanic ash will run right through air filters. I was witness to GOBS of destroyed engines in SE WA (where I farmed) the year Mt. St. Helens erupted. ...
Were they predominantly destroyed by ash "running right through air filters," or more by people removing air filters after they clogged with ash---allowing subsequent ash into the intake unimpeded?
... volcanic ash will run right through air filters. I was witness to GOBS of destroyed engines in SE WA (where I farmed) the year Mt. St. Helens erupted. ...
Were they predominantly destroyed by ash "running right through air filters," or more by people removing air filters after they clogged with ash---allowing subsequent ash into the intake unimpeded?
The air filters passed significant amounts of ash, as I already said. I am acquainted with zero people who removed the filters and then ran the engines without. Those who changed the filters, and cleaned up the intake tracts, and changed the filters again (maybe multiple times) also had engines fail, though fewer.
Looking at your photos, it seems to me Quite Dirty, since this is the EXIT side! (second photo). The visible dark tint means that the very fine smake particles DID PASS through the filter. As a matter of fact, 99% or air filters are a compromised "solution", as there are difficult penalties (limitations) in respect to the available space inside present day cars. The fact that with a half-used filter the engine does not receive the same quantity of air at full throttle (can be measured easily as Pressure Drop across the filter) means that most "modern" vehicles would benefit from significantly larger filters, so that enough area is realized, keeping pressure drop reasonable and using a finer pore "paper", so that more small particles are catched. But as those are now, the paper does NOT stop the very fine sizes of dust. The original factory air filter element in my Dodge Stratus R/T TURBO has a flow capability (printed on the plastic lid) of only about half the engine air demand at full throttle and full Boost... Go figure!
I live in Mexico City, and since 1997 we are seeing an augmented activity at the local volcano (Popocatepetl), that is located about 44 miles from Mexico City, and when the winds are from the east, we receive sizable quantities of "ash"... that in reality is nothing more than finely ground rock: a very hard and abrasive dust. That is the reason I stopped using a K&N oiled cotton gauze filter in one of my cars, as I found that those filters tend to develop numerous small "pinholes" after a few washing-reoiling cycles (can only be seen by putting a strong light behing the material). But even with a paper filter, we see that a lot of fines get into the engine when the wind carries the exhalations in our direction.
Therefore, I tend to change the oil at reduced intervals (2000 miles), even on synthetic; and perform a washing of the oil system by using either 'Wynn's Oil System Cleaner' or 'Engine Flush', to keep my engines as clean as possible given our circumstances. Amclaussen.
I live in Mexico City, and since 1997 we are seeing an augmented activity at the local volcano (Popocatepetl), that is located about 44 miles from Mexico City, and when the winds are from the east, we receive sizable quantities of "ash"... that in reality is nothing more than finely ground rock: a very hard and abrasive dust. That is the reason I stopped using a K&N oiled cotton gauze filter in one of my cars, as I found that those filters tend to develop numerous small "pinholes" after a few washing-reoiling cycles (can only be seen by putting a strong light behing the material). But even with a paper filter, we see that a lot of fines get into the engine when the wind carries the exhalations in our direction.
Therefore, I tend to change the oil at reduced intervals (2000 miles), even on synthetic; and perform a washing of the oil system by using either 'Wynn's Oil System Cleaner' or 'Engine Flush', to keep my engines as clean as possible given our circumstances. Amclaussen.
Originally Posted By: bulwnkl
The air filters passed significant amounts of ash, as I already said. I am acquainted with zero people who removed the filters and then ran the engines without. Those who changed the filters, and cleaned up the intake tracts, and changed the filters again (maybe multiple times) also had engines fail, though fewer.
bulwnkl: I believe you are 100% right! The filtering media ("paper") does indeed let a lot of fines get through. We are seeing moderate damage here in Mexico City, because fortunately, the nearest volcano has not made a strong eruption, nothing like Mt. Saint Helen. But he fact is that conventional air filters are a compromised design.
The air filters passed significant amounts of ash, as I already said. I am acquainted with zero people who removed the filters and then ran the engines without. Those who changed the filters, and cleaned up the intake tracts, and changed the filters again (maybe multiple times) also had engines fail, though fewer.
bulwnkl: I believe you are 100% right! The filtering media ("paper") does indeed let a lot of fines get through. We are seeing moderate damage here in Mexico City, because fortunately, the nearest volcano has not made a strong eruption, nothing like Mt. Saint Helen. But he fact is that conventional air filters are a compromised design.
Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
Also, I’m wondering if the yellow oil coated Fram Tough Guard Air filter could help.
Just ordered up Fram Tough Guard Air filters for my Burb and Taurus from Amazon.ca. Thanks for everyone’s kind interest.
Here they are.
Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
Also, I’m wondering if the yellow oil coated Fram Tough Guard Air filter could help.
Just ordered up Fram Tough Guard Air filters for my Burb and Taurus from Amazon.ca. Thanks for everyone’s kind interest.
Here they are.
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