Engine Air Filter Service

Today we want to talk about your engine air filter.

That's the filter that cleans the air before it's burned in your engine. Many people wonder how often they should change their engine air filter. The simple answer is 'when it's dirty'. That's a function of how much air has passed through the filter, so your manufacturer will recommend a mileage interval for replacing the air filter. But you can imagine that how dirty the air is would affect how quickly the filter gets filled.

If you drive in the city where there's lots of dust, pollution or pollen, your engine air filter will get dirty more quickly and need to be changed sooner. That's why we check the air filter with every full-service oil change at Cordova Auto Center. We can visually tell if the filter needs to be changed.

Your filter can only hold so much dirt. Once the filter is full, dirt will pass through to the engine. This dirt gums up the combustion chamber and hurts fuel economy and may cause damage. It can also contaminate the Mass Air Flow Sensor which will affect drivability and can be fairly expensive to replace.

A dirty air filter would also restrict the amount of air that gets to the engine which hurts fuel economy. We can replace your engine air filter with one that matches the factory specifications or you can upgrade your filter for enhanced performance.

Keep in mind that your vehicle uses about 12,000 gallons of air for every gallon of fuel you burn. That's about 100 gallons of air every block. All that air needs to be filtered to keep your engine clean and your fuel economy good. If you replace your dirty engine air filter it might just pay for itself with fuel savings before your next oil change.