Replaced the engine air filter on a 17 Forester a few times in the last few years due to fall fires and smoke. Every time I check it it's plastered with grass and debris. Looks like the air intake might be near the grill. Didn't look too closely. The resonator box below the filter has grass in it, too. I clean it once a year and pull handfuls of grass out. And tap the filter out. And pull grass from the filter box. This car is almost 100% on road, freeway miles. I've never had a car that collects grass and debris in the filter box area better than a lawnmower. Anyone else notice this with Subarus of this year/filter setup?
Subaru Grass Catcher
- Thread starter HowAboutThis
- Start date
Some animal making a nest?
Superbuick96
Site Donor 2023
I Never had this problem with my 18 Forester.
Sounds like it!
You'd think. The filters never have holes and I never find feces or anything. Last night about a handful worth of straw/grass about 3-6 inches long, lots of grit like dirt and sand, bugs, etc. On the unfiltered side of the intake. So the filter seems to be working LOL. Maybe my wife just has a dirtier commute than I do? Or she's offroading over lunch? Haha Our other car, parked within feet, is a Toyota. Air filter just turns black as the miles tick by. A couple few bugs in the box once in a while. Nothing like this. So I'm 50/50 on an animal. Plus, we're in a big apartment lot without much nature.
Anyway, just wondering if the location of these intakes or something is prone to vacuuming everything around them.
If the car is used daily, and this is a recurring problem, it would have to be a very persistent animal.
Maybe some window screen zip tied over the air intake area (the bigger the area the better), as a pre-screen.
Or try using the 'mulch' setting (jk)
Maybe some window screen zip tied over the air intake area (the bigger the area the better), as a pre-screen.
Or try using the 'mulch' setting (jk)
Yeah, I was thinking of zip tying some screen over the intake end...assuming it wouldn't restrict the flow too much.If the car is used daily, and this is a recurring problem, it would have to be a very persistent animal.
Maybe some window screen zip tied over the air intake area (the bigger the area the better), as a pre-screen.
Or try using the 'mulch' setting (jk)
Landscapers with leaf blowers? Do you park somewhere(work, gym etc) that performs landscaping often? I have come out to my car at work or when I lived in a condo to find someone chasing grass cuttings or loose mulch around with a leaf blower around the front of my car.
Yes, but my Toyota is in a worse place for grass getting blown into it. And I work/park in a lot next to a field they hay a couple times per year and no handfuls of grass from that engine air filter. Plus, the grass is longer than lawn grass and the amount of bugs and dirt in it makes me think it's from driving. I do, however, like your creative idea. My Toyota is currently covered in grass clippings after last week's mowing and leaf blowing. But the engine filter had about 2 bugs in it. Unlike the uncountable number in the Subaru's filter along with wads of grass/weeds.
Had a 17 forester. Never had this happen. Sounds like something making a nest.
Agree it could be critters. But I also owned a '95 Legacy wagon. It's air intake was just inside the fender well. It had the water separating snorkel and drain in the main box too.
But any light road debris would just get sucked up if the wheels churned it. Absolutely harmless but it too just chapped my dungarees.
What to do?
Monthly, just tap the filter on the ground. Suction out the lower intake box and just soldier on. ;>
But any light road debris would just get sucked up if the wheels churned it. Absolutely harmless but it too just chapped my dungarees.
What to do?
Monthly, just tap the filter on the ground. Suction out the lower intake box and just soldier on. ;>
Just changed it again. Bugs, sand/gravel, grass, cottonwood cotton. About 15-18k miles on it. The cabin air filter (I change together) is cleaner than the engine air filter. My Corolla with 25k on the filters look great and a small amount of debris but NOTHING like the Subaru. Just weird how much debris ends up in it. I tapped the crud out and put it back in but also had to brush all the debris from the bottom of the air filter housing (same as every other time). The resonator box on the bottom is filling with bugs and grass again, too. Will probably clean that out again by next year, too. I've just never had a car with this level of crud getting sucked in at such low miles. Just odd to me and I'm very confident it's not an animal. Both of us drive through partial rural areas but I often drive through clouds of hay from hay trucks ahead of me and my filter has 10% for 50% more miles. Just odd.
"... I often drive through clouds of hay from hay trucks..." And you haven't fixed a screen to your intake hole yet?
Start there and keep us apprised.
Start there and keep us apprised.
I drive the Toyota, wife Subaru. The Subaru is the issue. Last year, new filter, road tripped for about 1500 miles. Filled with plants, bugs, bees, etc. Gotta be the location of the intake.
On an unrelated note, I despite the design of that airbox. It just fits together so poorly...
