Temecula, CA, is opening back up, and it’s terrific to check out the sites again. But before you hit the road, make sure your car is up to the challenge. Check your tire pressure, fluid levels, and, as we will discuss, your car air filter.
5 Signs You May Need a New Car Air Filter in Temecula, CA
1. Your Service Schedule
Inside your vehicle’s owner’s manual is a service schedule for all your vehicle’s serviceable parts. It tells you when to replace all your vehicle’s expendable parts. To use it, identify the last time you changed your air filter. With that information, you can use your service schedule to determine when you should change it again. If you don’t know when you last changed your filter, you’ll need to do a visual inspection.
2. Your Air Filter is Visibly Dirty
Air filters catch the contaminants in the air and keep them from getting into your engine. They are porous, so air gets through, leaving the impurities behind. Over time, as it catches more pollutants, the particles fill up the gaps that allow air to pass. Eventually, no air can pass through at all.
To visually check your air filter, remove it from your vehicle and hold it up to a very bright light. Then, looking from the opposite side, check to see if you can see the light passing through it. The filter is semi-transparent, like paper, so when clean, you’ll see the light from the other side. Alternatively, dirty filters have blocked pores allowing little to no air – or light – to pass; these need replacing.
3. Your Vehicle’s Performance is Decreasing
When you drive with a dirty filter, you will notice a marked decrease in your vehicle’s performance. First, you’ll see a decline in your vehicle’s fuel economy. Because your engine is getting insufficient air, the gasoline won’t completely ignite in the combustion chamber. You’ll waste fuel, lose power, and your engine will expel more visibly darker emissions than it ever has before.
On the highway, you’ll discover a significant drop in acceleration and horsepower whenever you push the engine. And when towing with your vehicle, you will notice it struggles with loads that are well within its towing capacity. If your filter gets filthy, you’ll find yourself having trouble getting it to start up. A poor fuel-to-air ratio will create new problems, like your engine backfiring, which can ultimately damage your motor.
4. Your Check Engine Light Appears
Of course, none of these problems will get by your car’s computer. It will notify you that there’s a problem by turning on your check engine light. The only problem with this is that the check engine light can illuminate for many unrelated issues.
You’d need to troubleshoot the reason for the warning, and a trained technician can do this for you. Fortunately, since checking air filters is easy to do, you can check and replace a bad one on your own.
Don’t let a dirty filter go unresolved for too long. If you’re not inclined to go under your hood, we can do it for you. Visit us at Paradise Chevrolet Cadillac and schedule your service today.
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