How do these filters look after 20,000 miles?

To a certain point. You can’t just say, “the longer you run the more efficient” as a blanket statement or we’d never change filters.
Right. At what point do you really start choking the engine? A little googling and 30,000 seems to be the longest Honda recommends.
 
Right. At what point do you really start choking the engine? A little googling and 30,000 seems to be the longest Honda recommends.
Unless one has an airflow tester they can put the filter to, it's up to each and every individual person to decide that. My point is 20-25k miles, in my conditions for my area. :D
 
I use a restriction gauge and change the filter when restriction reaches 11" water.
That is a loss of air density (and power) of a bit less than 3% at wide open throttle.
That includes restriction of the intake plumbing.

As an example my previous 2006 Toyota with a new OEM filter had 7" restriction.
It took 43k miles to reach 11" restriction.
The maintenance schedule called for 30k changes, so my driving environment was a little cleaner than Toyota's guess.
 
If you don't drive a lot of miles, there may come a point where the filter becomes brittle and despite being clean, should be changed out to avoid cracks or tears. If I drove 5k miles a year, I wouldn't let the filter go 20k miles because by then it would've been sitting in there for 4 years. I'd probably change it out after 2 years/10k miles.
 
Most folks are also idiots when it comes to preventative and regular maintenance. One guy on one of the Silverado forums I go to has over 100k on his stock brakes and was talking about how he might just see how long he can go on them before replacing them.
I don't see any point in replacing them if they're still good. I've got an '02 Ford that had just under 80K miles on it when I bought it in 2008. It now has over 210K and still has the brakes on it that were on it when I bought it. I recently checked them and there's still about an 1/8" of brake pad material left. In 45 years of driving I don't think I've ever replaced more than a couple sets of brakes that had less than 100K miles on them. I'm figuring I'll change the brakes on the '02 either later this fall or next spring when the weather is cooler.

As for air filters I've ran air filters in my driving environment 50-75K miles that weren't near as dirty as this one with 20K. Mostly my air filters just get a little dusty and seldom have large debris in them like the one's shown.
 
I don't see any point in replacing them if they're still good. I've got an '02 Ford that had just under 80K miles on it when I bought it in 2008. It now has over 210K and still has the brakes on it that were on it when I bought it. I recently checked them and there's still about an 1/8" of brake pad material left. In 45 years of driving I don't think I've ever replaced more than a couple sets of brakes that had less than 100K miles on them. I'm figuring I'll change the brakes on the '02 either later this fall or next spring when the weather is cooler.

As for air filters I've ran air filters in my driving environment 50-75K miles that weren't near as dirty as this one with 20K. Mostly my air filters just get a little dusty and seldom have large debris in them like the one's shown.

the issue with waiting until something breaks or wears down is that something breaks or wears down. Preventative maintenance is just that, preventative. Changing wear items before something goes catastrophic.

And if you’ve put over 130K on brakes, that tells me you’re one of those people that starts coasting to a stop from like 3/4 mi back. No thx
 
the issue with waiting until something breaks or wears down is that something breaks or wears down. Preventative maintenance is just that, preventative. Changing wear items before something goes catastrophic.

And if you’ve put over 130K on brakes, that tells me you’re one of those people that starts coasting to a stop from like 3/4 mi back. No thx
I keep good enough check on my brakes and most other wear items that I know well in advance before they need to be replaced. The hood on my cars are probably opened checking fluids, belt, hoses, etc. more often than 90% of the cars on the road and brakes, front end components are probably checked about every 6 months on average. There are very few times that I drive any of my cars that I don't glance at the tire condition for any abnormal wear patterns or excessive air loss. You're right when I know I'm going to be having to stop, turn or if the light coming up is red I coast as much as possible. It doesn't make sense to me to turn the gas I just burned to provide momentum into heat and brake dust.
 
Last edited:
Most folks are also idiots when it comes to preventative and regular maintenance. One guy on one of the Silverado forums I go to has over 100k on his stock brakes and was talking about how he might just see how long he can go on them before replacing them.
Honestly, some people that are highway commuters will get/can get over 100,000 miles on a set of brakes. I don’t have a problem with that if they are within specs, however I don’t think anyone should be going that far without pulling the wheels, taking the brakes apart and re-lubing all the pins and slides.
 
I keep good enough check on my brakes and most other wear items that I know well in advance before they need to be replaced. The hood on my cars are probably opened checking fluids, belt, hoses, etc. more often than 90% of the cars on the road and brakes, front end components are probably checked about every 6 months on average. There are very few times that I drive any of my cars that I don't glance at the tire condition for any abnormal wear patterns or excessive air loss. You're right when I know I'm going to be having to stop, turn or if the light coming up is red I coast as much as possible. It doesn't make sense to me to turn the gas I just burned to provide momentum into heat and brake dust.
I do a lot of gliding as well. There’s no need for me to give it gas while I’m going down a big hill. I’ll take the fuel savings if I can because I drive a lot.

My maintenance routine is pretty much this...

Oil every 5,000 miles, rotate the tires, check the brakes, suspension, axles, check for leaks. Look everything over. You’ll be surprised what you unfortunately might find (mice nests, torn axle boots, bad ball joint, whatever).

Coolant factory fill. 100,000 miles. Every 50,000 thereafter.

Transmission pan drop and filter between the first 50,000-75,000. Then simple drain and fills every 25,000 thereafter.

Plugs every 100,000 miles

One or two undercarriage rust prevention treatments every year. Usually Fluid Film, with a little touch up here and there at oil changes.

Air filter once a year. (25,000-30,000 miles for me)

Wiper blades twice a year. All fluids bought at Walmart, same for the blades and filters.

And that’s ^^^ it.
 
I'd change them out and then do it again at 20k. OP, you must live in a pretty dusty area. I've never seen mine that bad after 20k miles of normal driving. When I go off-road in a dusty place, like Moab, UT, I change them out before the drive home.
 
I do a lot of gliding as well. There’s no need for me to give it gas while I’m going down a big hill. I’ll take the fuel savings if I can because I drive a lot.

My maintenance routine is pretty much this...

Oil every 5,000 miles, rotate the tires, check the brakes, suspension, axles, check for leaks. Look everything over. You’ll be surprised what you unfortunately might find (mice nests, torn axle boots, bad ball joint, whatever).

Coolant factory fill. 100,000 miles. Every 50,000 thereafter.

Transmission pan drop and filter between the first 50,000-75,000. Then simple drain and fills every 25,000 thereafter.

Plugs every 100,000 miles

One or two undercarriage rust prevention treatments every year. Usually Fluid Film, with a little touch up here and there at oil changes.

Air filter once a year. (25,000-30,000 miles for me)

Wiper blades twice a year. All fluids bought at Walmart, same for the blades and filters.

And that’s ^^^ it.
I too usually do plugs around every 100K but have been negligent in changing them a few times and let them go for about 125K. Even at 125K they were still firing fine and I saw no change in fuel efficiency or performance after changing them. I just changed the CVT fluid/filters in my '16 Nissan Versa a few weeks ago at 029993 miles. When I went to get a new o-ring for the external filter housing the dealer had to order the part saying they never changed either of the two filters so I figure by doing the job myself I not only saved myself a couple hundred dollars but am one step ahead of the game. The oil change interval on 2 of my cars is 7500 miles and the other is 5000. We don't have enough bad winter weather where there's salt used on the roads to worry about undercarriage protection. As for wiper blades I usually keep a spare set in the trunk in case one tears or if they start smearing or scrubbing between uses. Coolant is one thing that I sometimes am a little negligent in changing but when I do change it I usually change the thermostat and radiator/heater hoses at the same time. Air filters I change when they look dirty which isn't too often anymore but years ago when I worked construction and was driving on dusty sites daily was pretty often. Maybe not as often as I should have but the engine in my work car from '91 until I became disabled in '00 lasted over 500K miles and was still running when I parked it. 500K+ miles hardly sounds like a car that has had lots of neglect.
 
Last edited:
I’m guessing those are fairly expensive air filters. Putting a restriction gauge in might be worth it if you drive a lot. If the air box is opened, dirt is getting in. I think it would be better to only open the box when it is time to change. I guess you could vacuum them out now, that’s a lot of large debris, and use them some more, but the gauge is the only way to really see what the restriction is.
The Honda one looks gone compared to the Napa. I wonder if that speaks to better filtration for the Honda with the oiled media?
 
Last edited:
I too usually do plugs around every 100K but have been negligent in changing them a few times and let them go for about 125K. Even at 125K they were still firing fine and I saw no change in fuel efficiency or performance after changing them. I just changed the CVT fluid/filters in my '16 Nissan Versa a few weeks ago at 029993 miles. When I went to get a new o-ring for the external filter housing the dealer had to order the part saying they never changed either of the two filters so I figure by doing the job myself I not only saved myself a couple hundred dollars but am one step ahead of the game. The oil change interval on 2 of my cars is 7500 miles and the other is 5000. We don't have enough bad winter weather where there's salt used on the roads to worry about undercarriage protection. As for wiper blades I usually keep a spare set in the trunk in case one tears or if they start smearing or scrubbing between uses. Coolant is one thing that I sometimes am a little negligent in changing but when I do change it I usually change the thermostat and radiator/heater hoses at the same time. Air filters I change when they look dirty which isn't too often anymore but years ago when I worked construction and was driving on dusty sites daily was pretty often. Maybe not as often as I should have but the engine in my work car from '91 until I became disabled in '00 lasted over 500K miles and was still running when I parked it. 500K+ miles hardly sounds like a car that has had lots of neglect.
500,000 miles?? Now, that’s a truck/car that you should talk about. Must have been some excellent maintenance to get it there.
 
Hello guys!
The air filter in the first 2 pictures are of a NAPA Gold 2412 used in a Volvo XC70 for exactly 20,000 miles and the air box was sealed and never opened the entire time. How dirty does this look? To me it does not look bad and I wonder if I could clean it with compressed and and run it for another 20,000 miles or is that not reasonable? Don't want to cause any problems and just curious on everyone's thoughts on this?
oucOFv4.jpg

VsEBdEd.jpg


This air filter is a factory OEM oiled air filter for a Honda Accord with a V6. Also ran exactly 20,000 miles and the air box never opened. Looks much dirtier and probably because of the oil. I imagen this is due to be changed and tossed in the trash?
UHqcE6U.jpg

KNPHlXd.jpg

GPyaloY.jpg
You've got them out....change them. They are dirty. My Mercedes says to got 30k miles but at 10-15k they are very dirty. They are a pain to get out so I chnge them if I open the air box.
 
I don't see any point in replacing them if they're still good. I've got an '02 Ford that had just under 80K miles on it when I bought it in 2008. It now has over 210K and still has the brakes on it that were on it when I bought it. I recently checked them and there's still about an 1/8" of brake pad material left. In 45 years of driving I don't think I've ever replaced more than a couple sets of brakes that had less than 100K miles on them. I'm figuring I'll change the brakes on the '02 either later this fall or next spring when the weather is cooler.

As for air filters I've ran air filters in my driving environment 50-75K miles that weren't near as dirty as this one with 20K. Mostly my air filters just get a little dusty and seldom have large debris in them like the one's shown.
This is the air filter thread!
 
Back
Top