Car Air Filters: Function, Importance and How often to Change?

For a beast-like performance, car filters come a long way. If any of these filters gets clogged, your can’s performance and functionality can be affected. Any damage or fault can lead to a loss of power, black smoke, or even engine failure. You might not see the air filter in the car as a vital aspect, but it is.

Importance of Air Filter in Car

There are a lot of benefits associated with an air filter in a car. Here are some of the advantages that you need to understand to increase the efficiency of your vehicle!

Increase Fuel Efficiency: When you replace a faulty or clogged air filter, you will instantly increase fuel efficiency. Along with that, you can also see improvement in acceleration, depending on your car model. Once you experience such positive changes, you will understand the importance of air filters in the car.

However, in case if you still wonder how much of a difference it makes, we want you to know that a faulty air filter limits the airflow. This directly affects the car’s engine resulting it in using more and more fuel. Since your car requires 10,000 litres of oxygen to burn every litre of fuel, it becomes necessary not to restrict this airflow into the car’s engine.

Reduces Emission: A clogged or faulty air filter can affect your air-fuel balance. Such imbalance can pollute and damage the spark plugs, killing your car’s engine. This can also increase engine depositions leading service engine light to illuminate. Along with that, such imbalance can also directly affect the car’s exhaust emission which eventually affects the environment. Changing the air filter can help in reducing the level of emissions that will benefit everyone.

Increase Engine Life: Even if the slightest grain of dirt enters the faulty car air filter, it can damage the internal engine parts heavily. This can affect the cylinders and pistons in the engine system. Replacing the entire engine can be very expensive which is why it is important to regularly replace the air filter. A new one will help in preventing any dirt or debris from entering the combustion chamber. It will also help you save some large repair bills.

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The Function of a Car Air Filter

Typically, a car has two air filters. One is for the engine and the other is for the cabin. Both air filters are equally necessary for the car for optimum performance. This is why it is important to keep a close eye on them.

The filter screens are made up of paper, cotton or foam as they are a breathable material. Primarily, they need to prevent the entry of sand, dust, pollution or even mould from entering your car’s engine system.

Engine Filters: The engine’s performance is benefited by the air quality entering the motor. If the screens are not there in the engine system, the engine’s cylinder walls and pistons will get damaged. If anything goes wrong, go for engine repair service.

Cabin Filters: Good quality cabin air filters helps in capturing harmful emissions from the car, protecting the health of the driver. Air pollution is one of the major reasons for cardiovascular and respiratory disease, which is why cabin air filters in a car are extremely important.

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How Often to Change Engine Air Filter

There is no set schedule as to when one should replace the air filter in a car. However, some guidelines will help you figure out when to change the air filter!

How often you drive: Your driving frequency determines how often you should replace your air filters. Generally, you need to change it every 30,000 miles you drive as suggested by most car repair centres in the UK.

Your car model: When it comes to an air filter, every manufacturer has a different recommendation and opinion about it. To learn when is the right time to change your car air filter, refer to the manual that comes along with the vehicle. Some vehicles might need a change after every 30,000 miles, whereas a lot of car models can run up to 45,000 miles.

The driving condition: Your driving style and condition too can increase the frequency to change an air filter. When driving on an unpaved road, in hot weather or even in heavy traffic conditions, it affects the air filter as dirt, dust and pollen try to enter the engine. Even driving in a polluted area causes a frequent change in the air filter.

Bottom Line

Several other issues can be caused due to faulty or clogged air filters in a car. Some of them may include lack of power, change of colour in the screen to white or grey, heavy black smoke emitted from the vehicle and many more. You need to be cautious when it comes to the air filter to save your vehicle. Since the engine is the most important part of the vehicle, it is the driver’s responsibility to keep a close check for the well being. Make sure you look for signs that will make your observation stronger rather than just giving a false alarm. Monitor the air filter to save a heavy amount on the repair bills.