What Is the Purpose of a Car Air Filter?

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Chuck Orlandi, here at Miami Shores Auto Repair in Miami Shores, Florida. Okay, let's talk a little bit about the purpose of an automotive air filter. The air filter we're talking about right now is the one for the engine. It goes before the air comes into the carburetor or the fuel intake system. It's very important that it's clean. If it isn't clean, what it will do is restrict air flow into the intake manifold and cause you to more than likely burn more fuel than you want to, and the engine just doesn't get enough air. So, we typically change air filters every other oil change. Okay, typically you would change the air filter every three to six thousand miles depending on the car and where you drive your car. If you're driving in a dirty area, like a construction site, a farm, wherever there's dirt roads, you're going to have to change it more often. You need to check that and keep an eye on it. There is another type of air filter, which I'll talk about only because it's neglected fairly often, and that is the one that filters the air for the air conditioning. That's called a cabin air filter. Most people don't even think about that and don't even think to change it, but it's very important to change that one also. That filters the air that comes into your car for your air conditioning system. It's sometimes not to easy to change. They're usually up underneath the dashboard or, sometimes, under the hood, depends on the car. Those, you want to keep an eye on it because if you don't change it, the air flow inside the car will be restricted also. You'll get smells from whatever is stuck in that filter. So that's one of the more neglected items on a car, as well as the air filter. A lot of people don't even check it, and we check them every time they come in here for an oil change. They don't cost too much, it's a very inexpensive repair. They probably range from fifteen to twenty dollars, most of the time. The cabin air filters are a little bit more. That's what's involved in changing an air filter."