When to change engine air filter?

murfilein

ok so i'm driving a 2003 nissan micra. great car btw, albeit a bit small if you're a 4 person family. whatever.

a couple days ago i looked up tutorials to change the inside air cabin filter - it was dirty, like it was black and there were bird feather in it. yucky. changing that was easy enough.

then i looked at the engine air filter, which was even easier to access.

these are the images from the filter:

top side where air exits towards the engine:
https://i.imgur.com/xuXhR3j.png

bottom side where air is sucked through:
https://i.imgur.com/2mYWQCI.jpg

to my novice eyes it looks pretty clean, there was no debris or anything in there like in the cabin air filter.

how do i know if i have to change it? i dont know if/when it was changed last time. i certainly have not changed it from when i bought the car in 2014.

can i clean it myself? i obviously spanked the hell out of it and it did release some dust.

OldMrBrennan83

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Alanstrainor

That looks like a K&N air filter or equivalent. They are generally cleaned and put back in. If it was a normal paper air filter I would change annually.

OldMrBrennan83

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Alanstrainor

Patww79 wrote: »

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It depends on the filter. Never liked the oiled ones, they mess up the MAF. And I'm not sure on the process for cleaning it outside of oiling them. I'd probably just replace it with a normal paper filter...

clintondaly

Patww79 wrote: »

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They usually need oil as I believe that's what actually catches the particles

murfilein

Alanstrainor wrote: »

That looks like a K&N air filter or equivalent. They are generally cleaned and put back in. If it was a normal paper air filter I would change annually.

i googled "K&N air filter" and i'm getting an air filter cleaning set for 22,80 euro at halfords?! for that money i could buy 2 or so new filters, no?

is that set for filters like i have in my micra or is that for those cone-shaped ones?

clintondaly

murfilein wrote: »

i googled "K&N air filter" and i'm getting an air filter cleaning set for 22,80 euro at halfords?! for that money i could buy 2 or so new filters, no?

is that set for filters like i have in my micra or is that for those cone-shaped ones?

K&N filters carry a 1,000,000 Mile guarantee and should outlive any car that its put into ,I have one in a Honda Accord for 10 years and clean it annually along with my service
As said,it looks like a K&N filter but you will need to confirm that yourself,they come with a sticker that you put on the Air box cover to identify its a K&N and therefore doesn't get changed
That kit will do if its a K&N.

Toyotafanboi

That's not a K&N, it's just red. That one doesn't look badly soiled tbh OP but a new one should be less than €15 if you want to change it.

standardg60

OP i'm curious.

When you say you haven't changed the air filter since 2014 have you been changing the oil and oil filter at all?

honda boi

Just change it every oil change.
Don't think your meant to but for the sake of only €5-€10 I would and do.

Pkiernan

Every second oil change is good practice

murfilein

standardg60 wrote: »

OP i'm curious.

When you say you haven't changed the air filter since 2014 have you been changing the oil and oil filter at all?

yes i've had the oil changed slightly less than once per year. i dont drive a lot.

oil filter i'm not sure actually...

my problem is i cant find a good garage to get things done!? there is one here thats quite expensive, and there is another thats very cheap. i dont like the cheap one because the guy literally only does the things i ask him for. when i told him about the strange noise, he had e get brake pads and installed them, saying that will fix it. it didnt, the wheel bearing where worn off. also he asks me to get all the stuff myself that he is going to replace, which is annoying.

the other garage will do it properly guaranteed, but they will take 160-260 for a full service, and if anything needs to be replaced that comes on top of that. so i might end up with 300+, which is probably around how much my car is worth today.

i just checked, and the advance pitstop here in cork can do an interim service for 85€. is that a fair price?

also just checked, advance could do a full service for 160 as per website quote...

meathstevie

Buy a

zilog_jones

murfilein wrote: »

yes i've had the oil changed slightly less than once per year. i dont drive a lot.

If you've taken the car in for "a service", I'd generally expect that to include the oil, air filter and oil filter at the very least.

my problem is i cant find a good garage to get things done!? there is one here thats quite expensive, and there is another thats very cheap. i dont like the cheap one because the guy literally only does the things i ask him for. when i told him about the strange noise, he had e get brake pads and installed them, saying that will fix it. it didnt, the wheel bearing where worn off. also he asks me to get all the stuff myself that he is going to replace, which is annoying.

the other garage will do it properly guaranteed, but they will take 160-260 for a full service, and if anything needs to be replaced that comes on top of that. so i might end up with 300+, which is probably around how much my car is worth today.

It sounds like you've found the two extremes of car mechanics - there are loads more in Cork. I wouldn't expect a service for such a car to cost any more than €70-100 or so (unless it includes plugs or some other extra thing). Was the expensive one a main dealer? That's a waste of money for a car of that age. I've never had a mechanic ask me to buy parts myself - sounds like a cowboy TBH. Don't bother with Advance Pitstop, they generally don't have a great reputation. Ask around - surely you know other car owners near where you live?

slystallone

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/107158560#Comment_107158560

Would you recommend same for oil filter? once annually?