Does this need replacing?

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted by Mr_Luke
I'll change it. This is dirtier than I've ever let air filters get in my cars that I've put new filters in.
I only drive 4 to 5k miles a year and the conditions around here aren't too dusty.

I think Federated auto parts has one made by Hastings for about $8.
I'll change it tomorrow, even though I doubt this one is letting dirt into my engine.

I wiped out the air intake chamber below the filter holder with a wet cloth when I checked this filter.
It was a little dusty looking but not bad.


Air filters (within reason) actually get more efficient with use. Every time you open the filter housing, you let a bit of dirt into the engine. So too frequent filter changes and frequent checks are actually of detriment, though I doubt it's at a level where it would be obvious over the life of the vehicle. That's one of the reasons OTR trucks and high dollar equipment utilize restriction gauges, to minimize the amount of times the air intake tract is opened and to provide an indication as to the filter actually needing replacement.

There are a few guys on here who have installed these gauges on their gassers, I think the most popular one is sold through K&N:
https://www.knfilters.com/filterminder.htm

Which pegs at 10 inches of water, significantly lower than the larger OTR diesel (turbo) ones, so it's far more appropriate for N/A applications.

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted by Mr_Luke
I'll change it. ...
Read dnewton3's lengthy post in the nearby Air Filter with Best Filtration thread before you do that. That's not new information, but many posters here haven't absorbed it yet.

The method of trying to see light through an air filter used to be semi-valid, but some of them now, probably including yours, have the pleats packed so densely together that one can't see much light through them even when they're new.

 

[Linctex]

NEVER change an engine air filter prematurely!

Changing the engine air filter too often is worse for your engine.

 

[Malo83]

Originally Posted by Linctex
NEVER change an engine air filter prematurely!

Changing the engine air filter too often is worse for your engine.

 

[The_Nuke]

Originally Posted by Linctex
NEVER change an engine air filter prematurely!

Changing the engine air filter too often is worse for your engine.


Worse than what??

...using diesel in a gas engine?
...drying the paint with steel wool?
...tinting the inside of the windshield?

What is it worse than?

Please, don't leave us hanging!!

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Originally Posted by The_Nuke
Originally Posted by Linctex
NEVER change an engine air filter prematurely!

Changing the engine air filter too often is worse for your engine.


Worse than what??

...using diesel in a gas engine?
...drying the paint with steel wool?
...tinting the inside of the windshield?

What is it worse than?

Please, don't leave us hanging!!

 

[Linctex]

Changing the engine air filter too often is worse for your engine.

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted by The_Nuke
Originally Posted by Linctex
NEVER change an engine air filter prematurely! Changing the engine air filter too often is worse for your engine.
Worse than what??
Worse than leaving it alone. Seriously, as has been explained many times.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted by Linctex
Changing the engine air filter too often is worse for your engine.



+1 The schedule 2 maintenance for my mazda is replace at 20k.

Changing / checking often nets more ingested dirt and dust into the engine.

When i do change an air filter, i wait until the day before an oil change.Drive it to work one day after the filter change, then change the oil then next day.

 

[Mr_Luke]

It doesn't "net more ingested dirt." The air is clean here.
I take the filter off carefully from my already clean filter chamber.
If the wind were blowing dust around that would be different but it rains here 2 or 3x every week.

I don't know but some of you seem more obsessed with me.
Microscopic particles that get into the engine will be caught in the oil filter.
You act as if you dumped a few TBS of beach sand into your engine.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted by Mr_Luke

I don't know but some of you seem more obsessed with me.
Microscopic particles that get into the engine will be caught in the oil filter.
You act as if you dumped a few TBS of beach sand into your engine.


Help me understand, why you post a thread with the question; " Does this need replacing?. Then argue about it. Sounds a bit like trolling.

Its your vehicle, do what you feel is right and be done with it.

 

[Olas]

The filter MUST be replaced because the seal around the edge ws comprimised when it was fitted. If you remove and refit a comprimised filter it may not seal correctly, amd a filter that isnt sealed isnt actually filtering anything.

Buy a new filter, AND buy a filterminder, and in the future you will always know when it is the correct time to change.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted by Olas
The filter MUST be replaced because the seal around the edge ws comprimised when it was fitted. If you remove and refit a comprimised filter it may not seal correctly, amd a filter that isnt sealed isnt actually filtering anything.

Buy a new filter, AND buy a filterminder, and in the future you will always know when it is the correct time to change.


Several of us have already advised that, he's now indicated that he really doesn't want advice, rather confirmation of what he's already planned to do.

 

[Job]

That Toyota/Denso Japan air filter probably was the original one with 108k on it. Me, I would get a new one from the dealer since it probably the last one needed, but the $8 Hastings will probably do fine.

 

[Mr_Luke]

That was supposed to say "more obsessed than me", not "more obsessed with me."

The air filter was changed at least once before according to the CARFAX.

I got the new Ecogard (for

 

[Mr_Luke]

Originally Posted by spasm3


Help me understand, why you post a thread with the question; " Does this need replacing?. Then argue about it. Sounds a bit like trolling.

Its your vehicle, do what you feel is right and be done with it.


The last time I went trolling was on the Connecticut River in a 14' fishing boat about 50 years ago.

 

[Dave9]

Originally Posted by Mr_Luke
It's a little dirty, though the Prius it came out of was carefully maintained all its life.



If you think it is too dirty then no, no it was not carefully maintained all its life.

If you don't think it is too dirty then why wasn't it slapped right back in the moment it was pulled to check?

Me, I'd wack it against a concrete surface a couple times and see what falls out, hold it up to light, see how clogged it looks then. If marginally good then I might even take a fine brush to it, unless I'd already bought a new filter and had it lying there so I might as well replace it then. Otherwise, pick up a new filter when it's convenient or low price. Vehicle won't implode from running it a bit longer.

When I change a filter I like to have a damp rag so I can wipe away any soot exposed from the filter change, so changing a filter doesn't introduce any additional soot into the intake.

 

[Mr_Luke]

The air filter in the Ford Fiesta I bought last Summer was much dirtier than the one in this car.

I don't know why this one wasn't changed in the last 2 dealer services it had, with the 2nd owner who put about 10k miles on it in a year.
Both owners are from the same city in PA and got the car serviced at the same stealership.

 

[Job]

If changed must have been dealer sourced. I doubt if the eco is as good as what you took off. Denso is a very good brand of air filter. Denso versus a private label importer wouldn't be a hard choice for me. Not sure why you needed advice but it's a free country.

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted by Farnsworth
... I doubt if the eco is as good as what you took off. Denso is a very good brand of air filter. Denso versus a private label importer wouldn't be a hard choice for me. Not sure why you needed advice but it's a free country.
Agreed.