Flames or black smoke from the exhaust pipe are common symptoms of a clogged engine air filter. The dirty air filter restricts the air supply to the engine, causing unburned fuel to form a soot residue that accumulates on the spark plug. This soils the spark plug (s) and decreases its ability to produce the spark needed for the combustion process. Changing the air filter and affected spark plugs will restore engine performance.
A dirty air filter reduces the amount of air supplied to the engine, resulting in an increase in unburned fuel that becomes soot residues. This soot can build up on the tips of the spark plugs, making them unable to emit a proper spark. In exchange, the car may shake, idle, and in some circumstances, the engine may fail. Most auto companies recommend changing your air filter every 10,000 to 15,000 miles or every 12 months.
However, if you normally drive in dusty or rural areas such as Scottsdale, Arizona or San Antonio, Texas, you may want your mechanic to check and change it more often, for example, every 6,000 miles. Driving in busy areas where there is a lot of traffic, including Los Angeles and Washington, DC., making it stop and start more often also requires you to replace the air filter more often. Most vehicles also have a cabin air filter that is used to clean air entering the interior of the car, but it has a different maintenance schedule than an engine air filter. Decreased fuel economy is a clear sign of a faulty or dirty air filter.
A faulty or dirty air filter restricts air flow, reducing oxygen in the mixture. Your engine compensates for this by consuming more fuel to produce enough power to move the same distance or speed as you could with a clean filter. It is generally recommended to replace the engine air filter every 10,000 to 15,000 miles, or every 12 months. But if you are driving in dusty or busy areas where traffic is heavy, causing you to stop and start frequently, change it more often, every 6,000 miles.
Shortness of breath can also affect the performance of your vehicle, causing acceleration to be slow. If you notice that your car responds more slowly than usual or that it moves sharply when you accelerate, this could indicate that your engine is not getting all the air it needs to run. Replacing the air filter can improve acceleration or power by up to 11%. Many modern engines draw about 10,000 gallons of air for every gallon of fuel burned in the combustion cycle.
That's why a reduction in miles per gallon is usually a clear sign that you may need to replace your air filter. Whether or not to clean an air filter depends on the type of air filter you use in your car. Inspecting a dirty air filter and replacing it is without a doubt the easiest maintenance task one can do for your car. The MAF sensor allows the ECU to compensate for the restriction in airflow and prevents vital components from being damaged, while at the same time not allowing gasoline consumption to be affected.
As noted above, inadequate air in the engine can cause incomplete combustion of the fuel in the combustion chamber. As soon as you notice this, ask your mechanic to replace or clean the air filter as it can be dangerous to both your vehicle and environment. Inadequate air supply can cause carbon deposits to build up in the engine eventually triggering engine check light. A clogged air filter on an older model vehicle will essentially make the engine run rich since system does not have mechanism to quantify amount of air flowing resulting in cascade of events that start with rich condition that reduces mileage causes misfires and even presents potential damage to some components.
However very often inner layers of filter paper inside air filter can have dust and debris that are not visible even in bright light. Every car engine has combustion chamber and this chamber requires air to generate right power to run car's engine.
