How dangerous is a dirty air filter and can it be cleaned?

Should you replace or not and how often?

Contamination causes great damage to the internal combustion chamber. It is very important to replace the air filter in time. Otherwise, on the walls of the shells and pistons there will be scratches and cracks. And, in the worst case, the driver will have to deal with a complete replacement of the engine of his car.

In case of damage to the filter (rupture of the filter element, crack on the joints, deformation from the moisture) you will face even more problems (rubbish, getting inside with the air stream, will be more likely to damage the thin air flow meter, injector nozzles, cylinders and pistons of the engine). One gram of dust of operation is enough to permanently disable the internal combustion engine. With a non-working filter, modern engines will operate no more than 500 km, after which the cylinder block can only be replaced.

Should you clean air filter?

You can still find recommendations to "refresh" the air filter instead of changing it. Why then you should not it (vacuuming, knocking on a tree, washing in a basin, washing in a washing machine and soaking with oil)?

The answer is in the filter material (paper). Large particles that are stuck in the upper layers of the filter are visible to the naked eye and can be easily removed, after which the filter seems almost clean. However, the most harmful micron-sized piece remains in the deep layers of the filter, and it is not possible to remove it. In the best case, after these actions simply the consumption of gasoline will increase (the motor consumes 10% more fuel immediately after cleaning). Subsequently, the dust that enters the filter will completely kills the pores, after which the filter will not be able to pass the air.

Due to the excess permissible resistance, the air flow will break the filter with all its consequences (dirty air enters inside, damages the mass flow sensor of the air and the engine).

Some drivers are trying to improve the quality of the filter by soaking it in oil (by analogy with the "zeroes"). The result of such modification is not good - oil instantly clogs all pores of the filter and air is not able to pass through.

All paper filters are disposable, have a certain work resource and terms of use. There is only one way to improve the filter in your car - to buy and correctly install a new high-quality filter.

Zero resistance filter

Motorsports gave the world a lot of improvements, and one of them - air filters of zero resistance. Standard paper filter elements differ from them in high material density. This leads to the emergence of a large air flow resistance.Therefore, in sports car the owners prefer filters of zero resistance. They provide an airflow of any power while maintaining the quality of the filtration. According to statistics, such filter allows you to increase the power of the engine by 3-5 k / s, which is important in racing, but almost not noticeable in the city.

"Zero" is made from a special multilayer fabric soaked with oil, or porous polyurethane, and, unlike paper, can withstand several cycles of cleaning and soaking. An air filter of zero resistance has a compressed aluminum screen, and air filtration occurs throughout the surface. Due to this design, a large amount of dust stays on each layer of the material.

Among the main advantages of the zero resistance filter are:

• economy of a fuel mixture at the level of 1-4%;

• increase of engine power by 3-5 k/s;

• Ability to clean the filter element.

Car owners should put such filter at their own discretion. While someone is ready to deal with the labor-intensive maintenance of a sports filter for a small increase in power, for others it is easier to use one-time standard models, without creating any unnecessary problems. "Zero" fulfills its task only with proper installation and operation.

How to replace the air filter with your own hands

Self service will take a few minutes, while saving time and money. First of all, you need to find a protective casing where the hidden purifier is located. It can be round, square or rectangular. The cover of the casing is secured with latches or hardware. It's enough to release all mounting points to remove the lid and find the filter element. Use a vacuum cleaner to collect all the dirt so it will not get inside the engine.

The new filter is set the same way as the old one. After the replacement, the cover is put in its place and securely fixed with the fasteners. Replacing the air filter takes up to 10 minutes. However, this will positively affect both the dynamics of overclocking and the economy of the car.

 

Based on internet resources