120,000 mi Engine Air Filter change?!

[Corvette Owner]

I recently bought a new 2014 Chevy Impala with the 3.6 Liter (305 HP) engine. Looking at the maintenance schedule, it has engine air filter change at 120,000 miles!? That's unbelievably long! There is a pretty long description in the owners manual on how to change this. It appears quite large. I have never seen an engine air filter change this long, usually it is at 36,000 miles.

Cabin air filter change is at 22,500 miles, which seems reasonable.

 

[supton]

Seems long to me; if it was a turbo motor I could believe it. Or if this was using the same V8 filter on a V6--let's say it was an application where there was a 2x or more difference between smallest and largest available engines.

If it bothers you, change as often as you'd like. I'd be tempted to change after 50k. Then again, the last time I changed an airfilter I found the airbox packed full of acorns. I guess not all blockage comes in the form of dust particles.

 

[Corvette Owner]

Good point, Cadillac has a Twin Turbo version of this engine, maybe they use the same air filter.

I didn't realize that Turbo engines use large air filters, but it makes sense.

 

[901Memphis]

Doe it have one of those funky one piece filters that is really two filters plus the intake tube all together?

 

[tig1]

I have 120K on the air filter on the Focus. It's one of those so called life time filters. I may change it out soon, but to date there have been no problems with it.

 

[mount]

I don't even look at my air filters anymore unless I'm experiencing power loss.

Doesn't hurt a thing for them to get plugged up, which takes way longer than you think.

 

[Voltmaster]

I'd change it much before that.
Air filters are pretty cheap , and they effect performance so I'd change it at 60k and call it a day.

 

[901Memphis]

On a diesel it may affect some things but you won't notice or measure a plugged filter on an efi gas engine until it's epic plugged.

There has been plenty of data posted on this with a lot from Jim Allen, you could probably search for it on Google.

Filters are best left until they reach capacity due to the efficiency increase as they age. Also keep in mind seal deterioration too, I would probably change any filter after 5-7 years even with low mileage.

 

[Corvette Owner]

Whoa, the air filter is $28-32 at NAPA !

It does say to check it at 60,000 miles or every oil change if you live in a dusty area. This was buried in the owners manual, on the schedule it said 120,000 miles or 4 years.

 

[supton]

I was told on a different forum (and for a different filter, so it may not apply) that the memory foam seal around the filter would not reseal after it had been used for a while. Sorta makes sense to me, as it gets baked under the hood. Since then I generally don't inspect, I just replace.

 

[hattaresguy]

Sounds about right, I know a lot of guys get 100k out of them in the Silverados.

Modern cars require less maintenance these days.

 

[901Memphis]

If you leave the filter clamped in and don't disturb the seal it should last longer than if you inspect it and try to re compress the seal.

 

[Doog]

Ask Jim Allen. He is about the most knowledgeable person regarding filters I have ever seen. You may want to install one of those filter vacuum guage gizmos. Jim will know.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: supton
Then again, the last time I changed an airfilter I found the airbox packed full of acorns.


Watch out for the PO'ed squirrel. They can be nasty.

 

[bigt61]

Changed my son's '03 Cavalier filter not long ago after 60k miles. It didn't look that bad actually, but since I already had the new one it got changed.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Doog
Originally Posted By: supton
Then again, the last time I changed an airfilter I found the airbox packed full of acorns.


Watch out for the PO'ed squirrel. They can be nasty.

He's probably gone now. No seriously--around this time my wife went to church, and looked back at her car just as she was going in, only to see a squirrel come out from under her car. He/she/it looked around, and looked really really confused before scampering off... That's what you get for sleeping in cars!

 

[George7941]

The air filter element in my truck has been in there for the last seven years. I am considering changing it our this summer (or maybe next year) just because of age. I don't think it is anywhere close to being restricted. I plan on keeping the truck for fifteen years (road salt will have taken its toll by then, even with Krown) and it will see two filter elements during its entire life, the factory original and one replacement.

I added a restriction gauge to monitor the filter performance. Big diesel engine manuals always advice you not to disturb the filter element until replacement time as indicated by the restriction gauge. Just pulling the element out to check it could introduce dust particles into the intake. Leave that filter element alone!

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: George7941
The air filter element in my truck has been in there for the last seven years. I am considering changing it our this summer (or maybe next year) just because of age. I don't think it is anywhere close to being restricted. I plan on keeping the truck for fifteen years (road salt will have taken its toll by then, even with Krown) and it will see two filter elements during its entire life, the factory original and one replacement.

I added a restriction gauge to monitor the filter performance. Big diesel engine manuals always advice you not to disturb the filter element until replacement time as indicated by the restriction gauge. Just pulling the element out to check it could introduce dust particles into the intake. Leave that filter element alone!


While I agree and I do have a restriction gauge on my Cummins diesel, I live in the country and have found mouse nests in various places in my vehicles. Unfortunately the cat prefers inside in the winter.

 

[901Memphis]

7 years would be a good time to replace the filter due to gasket age. Make sure to post pictures into a new thread titled with the filter age and mileage so we can see. Get some closeups of the gasket if possible.

 

[George7941]

Will do.