Air Filter Change Interval

thescouselander

Just had a look at the the hand book for my car and it says the service interval for the air filter is 60,000 miles! That seem quite a long time to me - I'd usually change the filter much earlier then this.

Can the air filter really remain in good condition for this long?

I'd normally just whip the filter out and have a look but it looks like a bit of a task on my car - its obviously not designed to be serviced regularly.

Opinions?

mikey72

Mine was 4 years or 60,000 I think. It was filthy at 40,000. The ecu adjusts the mixture for less air flow though, so it doesn't make the difference it used to.
If you are going to keep the car until 80,000 miles, you can do it once at 40,000, and sell it needing a new one, or do it at 60,000, and leave some life on it, either way it only costs you the price of one filter.

n3il_2

I thought this needed to be changed every year in a service lol

s_b

its to make fleet servicing costs look lower than the competition to the fleet buyer
change it and save petrol

mikey72

n3il wrote: »

I thought this needed to be changed every year in a service lol

Not any more.

The throttle just opens the butterfly that lets more air in now.
The ecu measures the position, and speed it moves at, and injects a corresponding amount of petrol, to suit the typical engine.

It then checks the emissions, and adjusts the petrol if it's too rich, if the filter is restricting the flow. Most now learn this, so as the filter blocks, they reduce the amount of petrol anyway, and if they don't learn, they still have the instant feedback that reduces the injection pulse anyway.

Stephen_Leak

Mine is every 3 years or 37,500 miles, whichever comes sooner.

However, a new element is only a couple of pounds online. It's one of the few jobs, which does actually take 5 minutes (although there is always one spring clip that's a pig to get at). And I always reckon that more oxygen means less fuel is needed to make things go bang inside the cylinders.

thescouselander

mikey72 wrote: »

Mine was 4 years or 60,000 I think. It was filthy at 40,000. The ecu adjusts the mixture for less air flow though, so it doesn't make the difference it used to.
If you are going to keep the car until 80,000 miles, you can do it once at 40,000, and sell it needing a new one, or do it at 60,000, and leave some life on it, either way it only costs you the price of one filter.

I thought that might be the case. Maybe I'll just get the filter changed at the next service - given the low cost of filters I might as well have the engine running at its full capacity.

jase1

Must admit my garage generally just replaces it if it looks a bit dirty. Typically every second service.

[Deleted User]

I change mine every year along with the pollen filter. Both can be had for cheap off eBay or Amazon Marketplace.

But I understand with ultra new cars these days that there is no user serviceable parts under the bonnet. *Everything* has to be done at a main dealer! :rolleyes:

pitkin2020

Have to agree with lee, these things are usually cheap and an easy DIY job.

thescouselander

pitkin2020 wrote: »

Have to agree with lee, these things are usually cheap and an easy DIY job.

Cheap, yes. Easy, depends on the car. To get at the air filter on my A4 there's a fair bit of dissassembly to be done. It's still possible to DIY but its not the 5 minute job it used to be.