I changed the air filter in my 2005 Impala (3400 6) today. What a PITA. Think I pulled a forearm muscle. Everything was stiff, could not get the cover off, not enough room. Finally got it done. Any suggestions for the future?
Changing air filter, 2005 Impala.
- Thread starter otis24
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Why couldn't you wait for warm weather ?
I always take the big flexible hose off between the airbox and the manifold first, then remove the filter.
I think its the same set-up on my 3100 Buick Century and yes it is a PITA. I also take off the big flexible hose to make it easier. I only change it every 30K thankfully.
Spray out the TB while you have the hose off...you'd be surprised how much black junk comes out.
Spray out the TB while you have the hose off...you'd be surprised how much black junk comes out.
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Why on earth engineers don't make changing the air filter easy. I mean as often as it needs to be done (more often in some areas) It should be so easy Helen Keller can do it. You know? Hope your arm feels better.
Jeff
Jeff
Check it after a while to see that it did not come apart. They have so little slack, that sometimes if the clip is not just right, it will open up a few days of driving later.
The big problem was that the big flexy hose thing wouldn't flex. Probably due to the sub-zero wind chills. Just purchased the vehicle a month ago and had time to check it on my day off. Pretty bad. Hoping to gain a mile or to per gallon. Driving 150 miles a day and with the price of gas going up, every little bit helps.
Originally Posted By: Jeffs2006EvoIX
Why on earth engineers don't make changing the air filter easy. I mean as often as it needs to be done (more often in some areas) It should be so easy Helen Keller can do it. You know? Hope your arm feels better.
Under normal circumstances, some owners might never have to change it, and many owners will only change it (or have it changed) once or twice over the life of the vehicle. 30-50k is an often-recommended interval these days. Obviously, more often in dusty conditions, but it's not something that needs to be changed annually...
Why on earth engineers don't make changing the air filter easy. I mean as often as it needs to be done (more often in some areas) It should be so easy Helen Keller can do it. You know? Hope your arm feels better.
Under normal circumstances, some owners might never have to change it, and many owners will only change it (or have it changed) once or twice over the life of the vehicle. 30-50k is an often-recommended interval these days. Obviously, more often in dusty conditions, but it's not something that needs to be changed annually...
Should be able to go a little longer on filter changes on my unit based on my driving conditions. Owners manual recommends 25k miles. Seemed to note a big difference in power today after changing the filter.
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Originally Posted By: Jeffs2006EvoIX
Why on earth engineers don't make changing the air filter easy. I mean as often as it needs to be done (more often in some areas) It should be so easy Helen Keller can do it. You know? Hope your arm feels better.
Under normal circumstances, some owners might never have to change it, and many owners will only change it (or have it changed) once or twice over the life of the vehicle. 30-50k is an often-recommended interval these days. Obviously, more often in dusty conditions, but it's not something that needs to be changed annually...
One time I went on a road call to a town is south Kentucky. They had strip mines, and big dump trucks rolling up and down windy roads on the mountains. There was so much dust in the air, that the air was brown, and this is when some of the roads were thick with mud from a recent big rain. I arrived there one evening, went to the location to fix something the next day, and spent the night there before leaving the next morning. When I got about twenty miles away, I stopped at the first service station, purchased a new air filter, scooped the dirt out by hand from inside the air cleaner section of my car, used up a roll of paper towels cleaning the air intake, and installed the new air-filter.
The service stations surrounding that town must make a fortune selling air cleaners.
If you lived there you would require a K&N cleanable air filter and have to service it twice a week.
Point of this story, the frequency of changing air filters depends on where you drive the vehicle.
The leaves that fall form the trees yearly in the northern states alone creates quite a lot of small particles that clog air filters.
Originally Posted By: Jeffs2006EvoIX
Why on earth engineers don't make changing the air filter easy. I mean as often as it needs to be done (more often in some areas) It should be so easy Helen Keller can do it. You know? Hope your arm feels better.
Under normal circumstances, some owners might never have to change it, and many owners will only change it (or have it changed) once or twice over the life of the vehicle. 30-50k is an often-recommended interval these days. Obviously, more often in dusty conditions, but it's not something that needs to be changed annually...
One time I went on a road call to a town is south Kentucky. They had strip mines, and big dump trucks rolling up and down windy roads on the mountains. There was so much dust in the air, that the air was brown, and this is when some of the roads were thick with mud from a recent big rain. I arrived there one evening, went to the location to fix something the next day, and spent the night there before leaving the next morning. When I got about twenty miles away, I stopped at the first service station, purchased a new air filter, scooped the dirt out by hand from inside the air cleaner section of my car, used up a roll of paper towels cleaning the air intake, and installed the new air-filter.
The service stations surrounding that town must make a fortune selling air cleaners.
If you lived there you would require a K&N cleanable air filter and have to service it twice a week.
Point of this story, the frequency of changing air filters depends on where you drive the vehicle.
The leaves that fall form the trees yearly in the northern states alone creates quite a lot of small particles that clog air filters.
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
Point of this story, the frequency of changing air filters depends on where you drive the vehicle
+1
The air filters in my cars look fairly clean after more than 30k miles, I didn't change any filter until about 45-50k miles. My brother in-law air filters were very dusty after 25-30k miles, he lives only 12 miles away, but he drove his cars to a fairly dusty area every to work.
Point of this story, the frequency of changing air filters depends on where you drive the vehicle
+1
The air filters in my cars look fairly clean after more than 30k miles, I didn't change any filter until about 45-50k miles. My brother in-law air filters were very dusty after 25-30k miles, he lives only 12 miles away, but he drove his cars to a fairly dusty area every to work.
You can't say you've had a difficult air filter change until you have replaced an air filter on a VW 2.0T FSI:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2547554-Howto-Change-FSI-%282.0T%29-Air-Filter-PICS
Did one of these in my carport and it took me almost an hour, and I still cracked the engine cover. Ugh.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2547554-Howto-Change-FSI-%282.0T%29-Air-Filter-PICS
Did one of these in my carport and it took me almost an hour, and I still cracked the engine cover. Ugh.
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