New Air Filter

[Cristobal]

I replaced the Fram engine air filter on the Beast with another Fram. The engine was running rough on cold mornings, but somewhat better when it warmed up. It runs fine now.

The old filter had 29,000 miles on it and still looked very clean. But I figure it had trapped a lot of light-colored particulate matter that was not all that visible. The difference in engine performance was noticeable from the start.

 

[synthetic_crazy]

How many miles do you have on the Avalon?

We have about 126k on our Avalon; they are great cars!

 

[MarkStock]

I first did my Lexus and Taurus after about 30k (manufacturer interval) and was very surprised at the power difference it gave.

 

[The Critic]

For some reason I find this quite difficult to believe.

 

[Highline9]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
For some reason I find this quite difficult to believe.


well you are The Critic.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: Highline9
Originally Posted By: The Critic
For some reason I find this quite difficult to believe.


well you are The Critic.

 

[Highline9]

 

[Highline9]

Its the cool so cal fall air. My elantra laid rubber today... In my dreams. Just makes more noise when you floor it. I guess new filter could bolster the throttle response.

 

[bigjl]

I don't find this that surprising.

Everybody talks about how efficient filters are at stopping particulates.

However if you tested a piece of cardboard or a block of wood in the shape of a filter it woul be even more efficient.

As it would stop everything. The holy grail of 100% efficiency at stopping stuff getting into the engine!

An air filter needs to balance protection versus performance.

A car would certainly get supplied with more air with just a sock on the end of the intake, but it wouldn't protect aswell as a proper filter.

To just focus on one thing, filter efficiency, makes any deductions flawed.

You need to also consider how well it flows.

An engine needs to breath.

Consider all the people who think a new air filter kills engines to see examples of those who are not looking at the wider picture.

Remember the bloke that said a K&N had broken a Ford offroader?

1. It didn't look like a K&N as it was the wrong colour.

2. It was the wrong equipment being used.

The vehicle would have been fine with a K&N panel filter with a properly fitted and sealed snorkel fitted.

Use the wrong tool and you break the nut.

 

[widman]

I replaced the Fram engine air filter on the Beast with another Fram. The engine was running rough on cold mornings, but somewhat better when it warmed up. It runs fine now.

This would be backwards to the cause. A clogged filter will restrict air, making the mixture richer.

And it also only affects higher rpm, when the engine needs more air.

 

[SteveSRT8]

On any modern engine the air filter cannot alter the mixture a bit, as the engine carefully measures the volume of air electronically.

On many cars you cannot even tell that the filter is full, and for most people here replacement is guesswork.

 

[pcoxe]

I use the old fashioned light test. If you can't see light through a filter, you probably can't draw air through it either. Just replaced the air filter on my Colorado at ~30,000 miles. The pleats were becoming opaque, but didn't really look all that "dirty". It made a noticeable difference in off-idle throttle response. I'm going to check/replace it again at around 20K miles next time.

 

[Kestas]

Cristobal, are you sure nothing else was done under the hood when you replaced the air filter?

 

[Cristobal]

Almost exactly 177,500 now. I have been maintaining it so I expect at least 400,000 from this car.

 

[cp3]

The throttle response seems reasonable to me. I think a loaded filter could restrict the velocity of the air entering the engine.

But for the OP I would have to agree with Steve, should affect it that way. Didn't wiggle a vacuum line or anything while you were under there?

 

[Cristobal]

I did nothing but replace the air filter. Nothing at all. I think that a lot of the particulate matter was white in color. For instance, I recently took an Oregon trip and there was a lot of dust from road construction on the road from Redding to Eureka, CA. I guess the lesson learned is that if the filter looks clean it is not necessarily true. That's also a reason why I dislike the idea of washable air filters. I am sure that you would never be able to wash all the particulates out once they got caught in the fibers of the filter element.

 

[Cristobal]

There is some sort of vacuum line at the bottom of the filter box, but it was secure when I removed the filter, and I re-attached it as before.

 

[Cristobal]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
For some reason I find this quite difficult to believe.



There will always be Doubting Thomases.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: Highline9
Originally Posted By: The Critic
For some reason I find this quite difficult to believe.


well you are The Critic.


I am +1 on this, finding it hard to believe. When you banged the old filter did a shovel full of light colored dirt come out?

 

[doitmyself]

We have the tools necessary to judge air filter restriction (filter minders) and I wonder why most of us don't use them, considering our OCD nature.

Just to back up Cristobal a bit, an anecdote: A few years ago I was inspecting a farm tractor air filter that was in use about three years and "looked" clean. It was almost sunset and I had a high intensity contractors light set up. By accident, I bumped the filter against the light and a HEAVY cloud of super fine, flour like dust fell out, emphasized against the glow of the work light. I was astounded, since the filter looked so clean.

I remember the days of carburetors and grimey black air filters. After my experience above, I hypothesized that now a days, visual inspection of air filter restriction based on "color" alone is even less accurate than the old carb days. I.E., light colored dust, as Cristobal suggested.

Widman and others have made some excellent posts about the use of filter minders, our inability to visually judge filter restriction, and how most of us replace filters prematurely.

However, to have a noticeable difference when changing to a new filter, the old one would have been very clogged up. I have yet to have one of my workplace farm tractors trip the filter minder.