Replacing the Air Filter

Replacing your cars’ air filter is a very simple car care technique you can easily do yourself at home, to keep your car running its best, or if you do not feel competent or secure replacing the air filter yourself you can take your car to a local car repair shop where the expert mechanics will replace it for little expense.  While some experts recommend replacing the air filter every 3,000 miles, other experts say every 30,000 is acceptable. The fact is the amount of mileage is really irrelevant in this situation. More importantly is your driving conditions. Consider the job of the air filter. It is simply to capture dirt and dust and any other air-borne debris. What this means to you, as the driver and car owner is that if you live in an area that is under going construction or has dirt roads, then your air filter will probably require replacement much more often than for example a driver who lives and drives in an area that is not often exposed to the same driving conditions of such dust and dirt, etc. As a rule, you should check your air filter, along with the oil, transmission fluid, coolant and other crucial elements of your car on a monthly basis. A clean air filter has a great affect on how your car accelerates and performs in general.

Follow these simple steps to check and or replace your car air filter.

1. Open the car hood and prop it open securely.
2. Find the filter housing, which is typically located in a black plastic or metal container, often in a circular shape or a rectangular shape and has clips on the side or a wing nut on the top.
3. Open the clips or wing nuts, which will expose the air filter.
4. Remove the air filter and inspect it, taking note of how much dirt and dust has collected in it. If it’s not too dirty then it’s probably safe to assume that it will be fine for a little longer. If it’s very dirty replace it with a new one, which you can purchase at a local auto parts supply store. Simply place the new one inside of the filter housing the same way the old one came out.
5. Be sure to press it down securely into the housing.
6. Replace the clips or wing nuts.
7. Close the car hood and you’re finished. Congratulations on checking or replacing your car air filter yourself.

You will almost certainly notice the differences of your cars performance, particularly during acceleration. This simple car care advice can help to increase your cars fuel mileage and allow you to have the confidence needed to know that you can maintain your car in many simple ways without the need of paying expensive car repair fees.