Filter for various car models
Filter - Tips on check-up, common defects and replacement
Every car has many different substances. Liquid fuel, air, oil and water circulate through open and closed circuits and carry many unwanted particles with them. Various filters are installed to protect the driver and the car from damages and to increase the lifespan of the car.
Clean oil equals healthy engine
The engine oil lubricates all moving parts of an engine. It is composed of numerous main and auxiliary agents which protect the motor against interior abrasion, overheating or unwanted thermal expansion. At the same time, the engine oil passes all power generating and power-conducting components of the motor. In this process, valves are a critical point. These components get very hot due to the combustion process and they can have traces of burnt gasoline on them. Both deliver particles to the engine oil. To prevent these particles from reaching and damaging other components such as the cylinder wall, they are constantly filtered. For this purpose, an oil filter is installed. With each engine oil change, the oil filter must be also replaced with a new one. Respecting the oil change intervals, using high-quality engine oil and replacing the oil filter regularly increase the life of the engine significantly.
Air filter, so the engine can breathe
The air filter is inside a visible, black plastic box, which is located on the engine. It is recommended to replace the air filter at least once a year. The air filter prevents all particles from the absorbed air from entering into the fuel injection system. The air filter can be replaced generally without any tools.
A perfect working air filter is particularly important for vehicles with a turbocharger. The extremely fast moving bucket wheel of the turbocharger is very sensitive to dirt particles. The no.1 cause for defects in turbochargers are faulty, stuffy or old air filters. Even if these important components for the performance and clean combustion are easy to replace, their acquisition, however, is very expensive.
So the car doesn't choke: Gasoline filter
The gasoline filter is used to filter out dirt particles from the fuel system. The construction of gasoline filters is very different. They are often simple filters made of paper put into a fabric housing, and easily inserted into a cut-through gasoline hose. Their are very easy to exchange, because they are easily accessible and are fixed only with two screw clamps. Besides the universal paper-fabric filters, the manufacturers install in many models also a gasoline filter directly on the tank. These gasoline filters also need to be exchanged according to the maintenance schedule, but in this case, expertise and special tools are required.
Safe and comfortable driving: Air filters for the interior
For about twenty years, new vehicles have very fine filters, which proved to be a real blessing for allergic persons. The pesky pollen, which is very dangerous for many people, is being thoroughly filtered by the pollen filter. The pollen filter also acts as an odor filter for unpleasant odors coming from the outside. Cars with air conditioning have an additional filter, which filters moisture and impurities from the aspirated and compressed air.
How to detect faulty filters
Filters are usually very inexpensive to buy and you don’t need to save on them. In case you buy a used car, for example, you can’t not know exactly how the previous owner has respected the maintenance schedule. This can lead to clogged filter elements and characteristic flaws.
A clogged oil filter is signaled by the flashing of the oil indicator light. The light indicates that the pressure in the oil system is no longer sufficient. Should this happen, you must immediately check the oil level. If the oil level is still sufficient, you should go as soon as possible to the nearest workshop. But if the oil level is below the minimum or if it is so low that you can’t even measure it, you should stop the vehicle and go on only after you have supplied the car with 1-2 liters of oil. For this reason, it is generally recommended to always have 0.5-1 liters of oil with you. You should measure the oil level only after the engine has cooled down, therefore it is advisable to wait at least 10 minutes before measuring the oil. Next you have to measure the oil with the dipstick. While measuring the oil quantity, you do not take into account the oil already circulating in the engine.
You notice a clogged air filters by a sudden increase in fuel consumption and poor engine performance. If the air filter hasn’t been changed for years, the fuel consumption can rise to twice of the normal values! The engine takes usually no damage from this but the very thick mixture can destroy the catalyst. So that from a defective 10 Euro spare part you can quickly get to a costly damage of over 1000 Euro.
A clogged gasoline filter can impede the fuel flow. This manifests itself as an turbulent engine run or as a reduced performance.
If you sense an unpleasant odor in the car, the stuffy interior air filters may be the cause. The residual filtered particle elements in the filter can lead to an unpleasant odor. This happens especially often with the air conditioner. Organic particles in combination with moisture form a favorable habitat for microorganisms, which can be harmful.
Changing the filter - simple measure, big impact
It is usually very easy and fast to change a filter element in a car. Filters are very cheap products. Thus, you can always act with precaution, if you don’t know the age of the installed filters. Especially with used vehicles, a standard replacement of all the filters is a useful measure of precaution. With little means you can bring all the filters in you car to a new state. After the replacement, you can follow the prescribed change intervals again. At AutopartsPro.co.uk you will find all the filter elements that you need.
