Journey Auto Repair advises that filter services are just as important as fluid services for your car, truck, or utility vehicle. Clogged filters can affect your engine’s performance and your fuel economy. In fact, severely clogged filters can damage your engine or make it impossible to start your automobile. Let’s talk about the five types of filters found in automobiles below. It’s important to understand that your car, truck, or C/SUV may not have all of these filters. Some vehicles are not equipped with a transmission filter and/or a cabin air filter.
Air
Your automobile does have an air filter, however. This filter is located in the engine. It is in there to remove all of the dirt and grime in the air that flows into the engine. It is important to change this filter regularly, every 12,000 miles to be exact. A clogged air filter can prevent your vehicle from starting, leave you with a sputtering engine, and reduce your vehicle’s fuel economy.
Cabin
Automobiles either have a cabin air filter or permanent netting to purify the air that flows into the cabin. If your car, truck, or UV has a cabin air filter, plan to change it every 30,000 miles. This being said, the mileage duration between changes varies widely with cabin air filters, so check your owner’s manual to see if it should be changed more frequently than the general recommendation of 30,000 miles.
Fuel
The fuel filter needs to be changed every 30,000 miles in order to keep it clean. If you don’t drive a lot, you may not drive 30,000 miles in two years. If you don’t, make sure to change the fuel filter every two years. This filter removes sediment and contaminants from your vehicle’s fuel before it is placed in the combustion chamber to be burned. A clogged fuel filter can cause the same problems a clogged air filter can.
Oil
The oil filter is changed every 3,000 miles. If you put synthetic motor oil in your engine, it is changed every 5,000 miles to every 7,500 miles. The oil filter should never be dirty. If it is dirty, it will block the oil from circulating through the engine and you will end up with a dead engine in as little as 30 minutes.
Transmission
Finally, if your vehicle has a transmission filter, it needs to be changed every 30,000 miles. Like the oil filter, the transmission filter keeps the transmission oil clean to prevent it from damaging the transmission.
Journey Auto Repair in New Hope, MN, would be happy to inspect your automotive filters to see if any of them need to be changed. If they do, we will be happy to change them for you.