Car engine air filter is easily prone to dirt which results in the restriction of air to the engine. To maximize the engine’s fuel economy and performance, you need to change the air filter of your car.

First of all, locate the air filter box which is located inside an air-tight sealed plastic box near the center-top of the engine. It’s usually bright yellow or orange or red, the better to see the collected dirt. The air filter is typically flat, elongated, usually about a foot long by six inches wide by two inches high. It’s made of paper filament, with rubber edges along the bottom to seal it against the casing.

Remove the cover and then keep it for inspection. If it is just dirt sticking into it, you can clean them.

Hold the air filter up. Bend it back, so the paper ridges of the filter flutter like the pages of a book, and look inside the crevices. Do you see a lot of accumulated dirt and grime? Now hold it at arms length and look at it straight on. Is the orange or yellow paper mostly dirty in the center? If so, let’s replace it. No big deal — the replacement only costs about five bucks.

Equip yourself with tools including a butter knife and two medium-sized screwdrivers.

Slide the butter knife or flat-headed screwdriver between the casing and the clip and pry the casing open. Occasionally you’ll find one held together with several long screws, in which case you’ll have to unscrew it to get at the filter.

Pull it out. Now push the new replacement air filter firmly into place to ensure the rubber rim around the filter forms an air-tight seal when the air box lid is fitted and secured. Now fit the lid of the box into place and secure either with screws or clips.

Hence, your engine is now equipped with brand new air filter!

Tags: engine, fuel consumption, air filter, screw, clip

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 17th, 2008 at 5:37 am and is filed under Car Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.