How often do you service your air filter?

[goutoe]

Do you guys check your air filter when you change oil? or only when the indicators show red? I am sure that it all depends of the type of driving you do, most of my miles are highway but I live in the country and I have to drive about a mile on gravel and the bus stirs up alot of dirt as you guys know. Is it a good idea to blow out the element periodicly' or replace it yearly? what do you guys suggest? Thanks for any thoughts. John.

[Mike in GA]

I let the yellow/red air filter gauge in the engine compartment be my guide, but it seems I can go 3 years or so without having to change (about 5,000 -7,000 miles per year on 99% paved roads). H.T.H.
Mike in GA

[TomC]

I also have an AMGeneral. Hopefully you're air restriction indicator on you air cleaner is working. It is the best way to find out. With the high up right side air intake the AMGenerals have, that will allow you more miles then the lower intake on GMC's. I can tell when my air filter needs replacing-get a bit more smoke then I should.

DO NOT BLOW OUT YOUR AIR FILTER ELEMENT!! Blowing out the "dust" can create micro holes in the paper element allowing dust and dirt into your engine. Considering the air filter element is about $85.00, just replace it-it is a whole lot cheaper then an engine overhaul.  Good Luck, TomC

[Oonrahnjay]

      Shaking or brushing off external dust won't hurt anything (if you're careful to not damage the element) -- but it doesn't really gain you much in most conditions.  If it's that dirty, it probably needs changing; the suction gauge is your best friend.
      Blowing a filter with compressed air (either on the front or from the inside out) is very likely to damage the filter.  Not a good idea.

Bruce H   NC   USA

[luvrbus]

Filter minders are a joke 1/2 don't work and the other 1/2 is probably not the correct setting for the air intake for the model of engine just check the filter about every 6 months  
 
We always blew the air cleaners with air 20 lbs max on equipment every day some time 2 or 3 times a day it was in the service manual  I have no idea when Donaldson started with the no air thing  

If I still owned the heavy equipment they would be blown out with air, changing a 200 dollar air filter twice a day would not be a option or in the budget I never had a engine failure because of a air filter 

The oil was changed every 250 hrs along with a new air filters inner and outer

[goutoe]

Thanks for the info, I decided to pickup a new filter this morning cost me 53 bucks very cheap insurance, I am still running on the same filter that was in the bus when I bought it 2 -1/2 years ago, this will give me a fresh start. thanks again, John.

[Oonrahnjay]

     My bus uses a Baldwin PA-2818 (inside a canister).  Napa wanted $60+ for their equivalent "Gold" filter.  I found it on line from "Filter Products Co", Tuscon AZ for less than $20 plus ~$8 shipping.  Arrived in a couple of days, perfect.

[Ed Hackenbruch]

No filter minder on my 5A, like Clifford i have seen them on heavy equipment that don't work. I have four filters, Napa 2126, usually about $49 each. I wait and get them during their Gold Filter sale in the spring. Found a receipt for 2010 and they were $11.28 each. I change them every spring when i do the oil and other service before heading out for the summer. Been putting on about 5000 miles a year for the last 6 years or so.....that will probably change this next year as we are free to travel more now.

[Iceni John]

All this talk of $20 filters makes me wince!   Mine cost about $140.   That's the price to pay for having the largest size of ECO-BC filter.   Because none existed anywhere, Racor made it to order for me at their factory in Modesto, so at least it wasn't sitting on a shelf for ten years getting dried out.   After I replaced it last December I noticed the engine now has more power, and the turbo spools up quicker and sound louder.   I think the old filter was more clogged than it appeared.

I have also changed the access cover over the filter  -  I can now easily look down into it to check it's not split or torn, which the old filter was beginning to do.   Remember, if the filter's split and letting unfiltered air through, the Filter Minder gauge will still read as if it's OK.   A thorough internal visual check every now and then may possibly prevent a dusted engine.

John   

[white-eagle]

i got one of the big Wix cans for an air filter.  Napa and O'reilly's at $120.  i replaced mine because it was over 6 yrs. old and fuel is more expensive than air, so a clean air filter should enable less fuel, more horses?  Anyway, i changed them all out.  water, air, oil, fuel, tranny.  but the air wasn't showing bad or looking bad, and no black smoke unless i'd been idling too much.
my 2 cents.

[Boomer]

Routine in logging and construction to blow them out.  I have done it for 40 years without any problems and we did it for years when I owned a bus co.  Since we overhauled our own engines we knew exactly what was going on inside them and never had a dusted engine; I am talking the 2 strokes, the S60's never needed overhauling, lol.  Kinda suspect the filter manufacturers were practicing self preservation by banning no blow out but what do I know.

[Dave5Cs]

Yep we use low air and just blow them from the inside out. It works.

Dave5Cs from Galaxy S III

[lostagain]

 Some filters are better quality than others. I use an Eco disposable one. It is about $150. Once in a while I take it out and hook up the shop vac to the intake with duct tape and blow it out with compressed air from the inside out. Just don't put the nozzle right up against it. I get lots of dust out of it. I cut an old one open once just to see. I was amazed at the high quality. It is very strong and well made. You'd have to go at it with a screw driver to put holes in it. I replace it a lot less often since I moved the air intake up high on the side of the bus. I also gave up on the vacuum gauge when it started not reading right. I can tell when the filter is getting clogged by the smoke out the exhaust pipe and diminishing power when driving it.

JC

[boogiethecat]

It was always such a silly guessing game as to when to change the filter- especially being that an overly dusty Burningman event could trash a brand new filter in less than an hour....or not.... so I finally installed a simple "inches of water" vacuum gauge on the dash, hooked it in just before the turbo's inlet, and watched it for a few trips.
 Turns out that if it ever hits 2 inches of water vacuum, I risk sucking the rubber turbo inlet hose flat (twice now), and obviously that's a little late in the game to change the filter.
So my cutoff is 1.5 inches of water vacuum... if it hits that under any circumstance, the next stop is a filter change.  Never had a problem since!

[belfert]

When I checked my air filter last year it had a thin layer of mud coating the inside.  I'm not sure if it was restricting things too much as I noticed no difference after replacing it.  That filter had probably four trips to the Black Rock desert on it and the Minnesota humidity probably created the mud.

I had one heck of a time get the filter housing closed after opening it.  I would be hesitant to check on a regular basis due to that.  Is there some trick to closing a Donaldson filter housing?