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Home Blog What Is An Air Filter And Why Is It Important?

What Is An Air Filter And Why Is It Important?

One of the parts keeping your engine clean is the engine air filter. Located in the cold air intake box, the engine air filter purifies the air going into the engine. Let’s talk about engine air filters and why they’re important.

What Does An Engine Air Filter Look Like?

Engine air filter

An engine air filter is a flat filter with pleated filter media inside. Depending on the shape of your cold air intake box, your engine air filter has one of the following shapes:

  • Square
  • Rectangular
  • Trapezoidal

An engine air filter has two major components:

  1. A plastic and rubber frame (usually)
  2. A tightly packed pleated filter material

What Does An Engine Air Filter Do?

Every engine needs an air filter. To run right, your engine needs fuel and clean air. It gets the air from outside of the vehicle. Yet, dirty air will damage the engine. The dirt and debris in the air can infiltrate the oil and/or act as an abrasive on the engine components.

That’s where the air filter comes in. Before any air can enter the engine, it must go through the air filter. As the engine sucks air in, the air filter traps all the dirt, debris, and other impurities in the air. With the air filter in place, the engine will only get clean air.

When To Replace Your Engine Air Filter

Replace filter

Any good car owner knows that in order to keep the engine in good shape, the air filter needs to be changed regularly. The average engine air filter lifespan is about 12K-15K miles. The actual lifespan of your engine air filter depends on several factors:

  • The quality of your air filter media (OEM air filters usually last longer than aftermarket air filters)
  • The quality of the air outside
  • The quality of the roads you drive on (for example, dirt roads clog up air filters faster than paved roads do)

As a general rule of thumb, most people change their engine air filters at every second or third oil change. It’s still a good idea to check your engine air filter once in a while to see if it’s still good to use. It’s an easy task that takes only a couple of minutes:

  1. Remove the engine air filter from the cold air intake box.
  2. Hold it up to a light source (the sun, for example).

If you see any light shining through the filter, it’s still good to use. If there’s no light shining through, the filter is too clogged up and you need to replace it ASAP. It’s a good idea to stock up on replacement air filters. That way, you can replace the filter as soon as it goes bad. This will keep your engine’s health and performance optimal.

You’ll save money by shopping with us. We’re a one-stop online shop for genuine OEM parts at wholesale pricing. You’ll find genuine OEM air filters for a wide variety of makes and models. Want to see if we have an engine air filter for your car? Look it up here!