If air filter is the most important filter in your car...
- Thread starter wdn
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Originally Posted By: wdn
... then why does the oil filters forum have 10 times as many posts as this one?
Maybe because Air filters are boring compared to Oil Filters.
Plus guys like Car51 would be bored not being able to cut open Oil filters and we'd have nothing interesting to comment about.
... then why does the oil filters forum have 10 times as many posts as this one?
Maybe because Air filters are boring compared to Oil Filters.
Plus guys like Car51 would be bored not being able to cut open Oil filters and we'd have nothing interesting to comment about.
because you can buy a decent $10 air filter every 20k miles, and its hard for a smart person to screw up an air filter install.
Most postings are just regurgitating marketing claims or something read and regurgitated whether the truth or just an idea like Dr. Hass oil 101 series. People would repost no oil is too thin on start up like it was a fact. There is a handful of industry professionals either in the repair business or the oil business on board here those are the one to take advise from.
Just buy Fram or Wix for your air filters (or OE) and you will be fine. Change once a year and done.
Originally Posted By: JC1
Originally Posted By: wdn
... then why does the oil filters forum have 10 times as many posts as this one?
Maybe because Air filters are boring compared to Oil Filters.
Plus guys like Car51 would be bored not being able to cut open Oil filters and we'd have nothing interesting to comment about.
It's a fair question.
Spin-on oil filters have more complicated and variable design to debate than air filters do, and more potential types of manufacturing defects. That doesn't explain why we don't see endless arguments about the significance of air filter media efficiency, differences between brands of media, tales of spectacular air filter failures, etc.
Modern cartridge oil filters are about as simple and easy to inspect as air filters.
Originally Posted By: wdn
... then why does the oil filters forum have 10 times as many posts as this one?
Maybe because Air filters are boring compared to Oil Filters.
Plus guys like Car51 would be bored not being able to cut open Oil filters and we'd have nothing interesting to comment about.
It's a fair question.
Spin-on oil filters have more complicated and variable design to debate than air filters do, and more potential types of manufacturing defects. That doesn't explain why we don't see endless arguments about the significance of air filter media efficiency, differences between brands of media, tales of spectacular air filter failures, etc.
Modern cartridge oil filters are about as simple and easy to inspect as air filters.
Not to mention that some manufacturers seem to market based upon oil filter efficiency, but don't do so much marketing with respect to air filter efficiency.
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Originally Posted By: Garak
Not to mention that some manufacturers seem to market based upon oil filter efficiency, but don't do so much marketing with respect to air filter efficiency.
Indeed … most often I don’t use OEM branded oil filters … but certainly do with air filters …
Not to mention that some manufacturers seem to market based upon oil filter efficiency, but don't do so much marketing with respect to air filter efficiency.
Indeed … most often I don’t use OEM branded oil filters … but certainly do with air filters …
Yep, and we don't seem to see as much trumpeting of numbers on air filter boxes or on the websites, or extra efficient tiers of air filters. I'm not sure why. I suppose oil filters are easier to target that way, and filter manufacturers are simply hoping on an air filter change as an upsell at service time.
I think it's marketing, as well as the fact that an oil filter's complexity is easier to see from a cutout photo. Air filters all look pretty much the same. They're really not, but they look it.
I change the engine air filter and the cabin air filter twice a year, on the same days I change the oil and oil filter. It's pretty dusty where I live, and the filters usually don't make it through a year. It's easier to just change them all at the same time.
I always use Kia OEM oil filters, but I used to use Wix air filters. The nearest Kia dealership to me has good prices on parts, however; so nowadays I just use the OEM filters for all three. They're very good quality (especially the oil filters).
As an aside, I think the cabin air filter is the most neglected of the car's filters. Some people don't even know they exist, much less change them. Aside from all the pathogens that can breed in the schmutz that build up on the cabin air filter, badly blocked cabin air filters can cause premature failure of the blower motor resistor or possibly the blower motor.
Richard
I change the engine air filter and the cabin air filter twice a year, on the same days I change the oil and oil filter. It's pretty dusty where I live, and the filters usually don't make it through a year. It's easier to just change them all at the same time.
I always use Kia OEM oil filters, but I used to use Wix air filters. The nearest Kia dealership to me has good prices on parts, however; so nowadays I just use the OEM filters for all three. They're very good quality (especially the oil filters).
As an aside, I think the cabin air filter is the most neglected of the car's filters. Some people don't even know they exist, much less change them. Aside from all the pathogens that can breed in the schmutz that build up on the cabin air filter, badly blocked cabin air filters can cause premature failure of the blower motor resistor or possibly the blower motor.
Richard
I don't doubt that the apparent simplicity of an air filter makes matters a bit more difficult. The ones who market most successfully do so as being significantly and obviously different (K&N drop ins, various cold air intakes). Telling the difference between a Wix or a Fram air filter by sight isn't easy, and I sure as heck couldn't tell you which is more efficient or longer lasting, and I use both interchangeably.
I agree with the premise that the air filter is the most important filter in your car. My take on the lack of trumpeting air filter efficiency is the fact that new air filters right out of the box have the lowest efficiency of their entire lifetime. Manufacturers have a hard time bragging about the performance of a new air filter. If the testing is extended to take advantage of an established precoat, then the word might get out to consumers that they should not be changing their air filters based on time or mileage. If it became common knowledge that the only effective way to judge air filter life is too monitor pressure restriction and consumers had filter minder gauges installed, the number of new air filters installed would drop to a small fraction of current usage and the manufacturers, quick lubes, and car dealers would suffer huge declines in business so there is no incentive to publish the entire truth about air filters.
That's probably true, too. Of course, though, with extended testing, as you indicate, it's not a great sales model for a filter manufacturer to tell you to double your interval for best results. That's one thing about the old Audi. Had I actually ever gone to a quick lube, I guarantee they wouldn't have been touching the air filter. No one would mess with it unless it was needed, given that it was around a two hour job. It's said that the valve cover gaskets and plugs and wires and so forth were only 1/8 of the time for completion.
1. Wider plethora of abilities and designs in oil filters.
2. The ability to explore the grand plethora without having to modify any portion of the vehicle.
3. More direct effect on the OCI when used properly. Nobody is going from a 5000 mile OCI to a 20000 mile OCI because of their air filter brand.
The idea that the air filter is the most important filter is based on the very true fact that it is the first guard the engine has. You could run an oil filter with nothing but a screen and get away with it under some very unusual circumstances, but try no air filter and you might be walking home the same day.
2. The ability to explore the grand plethora without having to modify any portion of the vehicle.
3. More direct effect on the OCI when used properly. Nobody is going from a 5000 mile OCI to a 20000 mile OCI because of their air filter brand.
The idea that the air filter is the most important filter is based on the very true fact that it is the first guard the engine has. You could run an oil filter with nothing but a screen and get away with it under some very unusual circumstances, but try no air filter and you might be walking home the same day.
Originally Posted By: GeekOnTheHill
As an aside, I think the cabin air filter is the most neglected of the car's filters. Some people don't even know they exist, much less change them. Aside from all the pathogens that can breed in the schmutz that build up on the cabin air filter, badly blocked cabin air filters can cause premature failure of the blower motor resistor or possibly the blower motor.
Richard
Guilty as charged - I just (in the last couple of months) changed the cabin air filters on both of our vehicles. The one was long overdue. Glad I did it, and will keep on top of them in future. (This is not typical of me; I've pretty diligent about oil and air filters.)
As an aside, I think the cabin air filter is the most neglected of the car's filters. Some people don't even know they exist, much less change them. Aside from all the pathogens that can breed in the schmutz that build up on the cabin air filter, badly blocked cabin air filters can cause premature failure of the blower motor resistor or possibly the blower motor.
Richard
Guilty as charged - I just (in the last couple of months) changed the cabin air filters on both of our vehicles. The one was long overdue. Glad I did it, and will keep on top of them in future. (This is not typical of me; I've pretty diligent about oil and air filters.)
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