How often do you check or replace your air filter ?

[MSCH]

Not often enough. I tend to think they're good for 100k alongside the spark plugs, and forget about it until then. I don't think so, but I have lots of lightly driven highway driving on my side--the higher one's mpg is, the less air going through the motor. I think 30k is the interval on all mine, and should (somehow) get into the habit of doing then.

yeah, they go a long time.. I put 300,000 miles on one of my cars and probably only changed the air filter twice.
pull it out and look at it, put it right back.
also depend on environment.
Buddy worked construction, had been a drought for the last 9 months.
says to me his F250 isn't running right, smoking a bit.
popped the air filter out to look at it and there was a half inch deep layer of sand and dust on it.
he drove around in a dust bowl every day.

I still remember working at a bus fleet in Detroit
and we leased 2 buses to Ford to use at the Rouge plant every day to haul foundry workers to the foundry.
oil bath air cleaners..
in a month those oil bath air cleaners had a inch of foundry dust sludge in the oil pan.

this air filter is from my Ram 3500, has about 40k on it, it is still good for use but some people think it is too dirty.
I think it still has some life in it

 

[FordFETruck]

It seems I can go quite a few years before having to replace my air filters. It's pretty rainy around here most of the year, though. About 4 years ago I made a foam pre filter for my 99 grand marquis as an experiment and lightly oiled it with bar and chain oil. I checked it for the first time a few months ago, and the foam had caught all the nasty debris and the filter itself still looks brand new. I noticed once I installed that pre filter, the engine oil seems to stay cleaner for longer I've. been meaning to make one for the rest of the cars, just never got around to it yet.

 

[dubber09]

Every 4th oil change, or 24k km. 'tage gets 3 OCIs a year, 'te - gets 2. Cabin air filter - once a year.

 

[OLEJOE]

When the check engine light comes on I know I’ve got all I can get out of it and it has filtered all it can.
I do inspect all of the hoses and clamps at every oil change and anytime the hood is raised. 1/8” hardware cloth keeps the critters out.

Well. After all of the issues people are having with the new Cummins Rams with regen and air filter related issues, I’m going to have to reconsider my opinion on this. The 19+ trucks seem to be pretty picky about intake air restriction so I’m going to try to make 15K miles and see how it works. Changed the last one at 6300 and it made a huge difference in the running and regeneration frequency.
I’m retired so 15K miles will probably take 2 years.

 

[wavinwayne]

Well. After all of the issues people are having with the new Cummins Rams with regen and air filter related issues, I’m going to have to reconsider my opinion on this. The 19+ trucks seem to be pretty picky about intake air restriction...

Is the theory that if the air filter is too restrictive, the engine then runs too rich, thus increasing the frequency of DPF regens?

 

[IcarusLSC]

Wait... they aren't lifetime use like my oil?

 

[fisher83]

I check it every year and shake it out and clean out the airbox but only replace as needed.

 

[OLEJOE]

Is the theory that if the air filter is too restrictive, the engine then runs too rich, thus increasing the frequency of DPF regens?

Yeah they (FCA) don’t have a clue as to why certain ones are having problems and they evidently don’t know how to diagnose exactly what the problem is. They did have an issue with the wrong air filter being specified for the 19+ trucks and put out a service bulletin stating as much but the tsb doesn’t come up when they are trying to find the part number and they’ve been installing the wrong filter with the glue strips. I don’t think a computer controlled engine should be that picky or sensitive to an air filter but they don’t seem to know how to diagnose exactly what the issue is.
I personally think it is a tuning issue. Too much EGR reducing exhaust temperature too low unless really working the truck hard or an over fueling issue.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Pretty important and cheap filter I change it out once a year. I'm currently driving about 6000 miles a year.

 

[TiGeo]

K&N. 50K.

 

[SevenBizzos]

Changed the Hyundai out today. Somewhere around 50k miles. While I take meticulous notes in a maintenance log, the information on it only becomes relevant if I read it! Oops. It didn't look too bad. Tomorrow is the oil at 11k OCI. #readingisfundamental

 

[OLEJOE]

Is the theory that if the air filter is too restrictive, the engine then runs too rich, thus increasing the frequency of DPF regens?

Well as of late, they (Ram) is replacing the MAF sensors in some of the trucks with the excessive regens. Also doing a MAF relearn but the jury is still out on that one since they are unable to source the replacement sensors.

 

[spasm3]

Leave it in there until you want to change it. 20k miles if you're in a dusty area, 40k otherwise.

Those of you blowing, vacuuming, or banging out your filters are doing nothing productive. Neither is "inspecting" the filter. They don't become spontaneously clogged.

I don't inspect mine either, if i touch it, its to replace it. I always felt that messing with the filter introduced dirt to the engine at the next startup. If i'm going to change air filters, i do it a few days before the oil change.

 

[TimeFlies]

Every summer I replace the engine air, and cabin air filter.
Doesn't matter what condition they appear to be in, they get replaced.

 

[nate379]

250hrs, if decent, let it go to 500. 500hrs on fuel filters, hydraulic filters, coolant filters, etc too.

 

[Toro50cutter]

I live in a suburb and drive half freeway. Not many miles per year. I find every three years I just replace my air filter and they never look really bad.. too much work to check them. Maybe I am just lazy. But I change my filters every 15 to 25 K mikes in any case. Purolater usually

Probably every 25K. When the Canadian fires made our air quality in the orange and red for a few weeks, I changed it right after it dissipated. So, I will probably stick with that mileage since the filter is, what, $20?

 

[TiGeo]

50K mi with my K&Ns.

 

[oil pan 4]

I try to check mine 2 or 3 times a year after I found a rip in the foam. My air filter had riped and collapsed, but was still providing a seal due to paper thin "foam membrane" that didn't rip all the way through.

 

[BrendanC]

every second OCI or 12k miles for fleet trucks and the woman’s car.

my truck has a 1’ diameter donaldson on it so i change it every two years.

 

[willbur]

Is the theory that if the air filter is too restrictive, the engine then runs too rich, thus increasing the frequency of DPF regens?

No- the ecm adjusts the mixture. Just will lose power