You’ll notice a flat tire pretty quickly; the same goes for a broken starting motor. But when it comes to a car air filter, it can be harder to tell that there’s a problem. The simplest and surest way to know is to check with your dealer. While you’re likely to never be too far from a GMC dealer, if you live near Columbus, OH, then you’re fortunate to have highly trained professionals on-hand and ready to help you.
What a Car Air Filter Does
You wouldn’t empty a can of gritty, dirty fuel into your car’s tank. At best, the car wouldn’t run as well as it would with clean fuel, and at worst the contaminants in the gas could accumulate in your car’s engine and lead to damage. But a car draws in far more air than fuel by volume, and that air is often full of particles and the exhaust of the other vehicles around you.
Your air filter is there to prevent as much of that contamination from getting into the engine as possible. This helps keep the mechanics of the engine clean and operating properly. Running free of grit and other contaminants means your engine will perform better and last longer.
Effects of a Dirty Filter
Over time, some of the contaminants that the filter is keeping out of the engine will instead accumulate in the filter itself. That’s okay up to a point, because you’re far better off with a dirty filter than a dirty engine. But as more dirt builds up, it eventually starts to impede airflow into the engine. It’s still clean air that’s getting through, but there’s less of it than there was when the filter was new.
It can be difficult to notice the effects of this reduction in the oxygen getting to the engine because it typically happens just a tiny bit at a time. But a car with a clogged filter will see a lowering in the total horsepower available, with a corresponding drop in acceleration. Eventually, gas mileage will also begin to suffer. Other issues, like difficulty starting the car, can be the result of a blocked air filter.
Your Columbus, OH GMC Dealer Performs Comprehensive Checks
Exactly how often your air filter should be changed depends on a number of factors, but the two most important variables are the model of car you drive and the conditions that you typically drive in.
GMC technicians are the experts when it comes to your GMC vehicle, and when you go to them for a maintenance check they will always look at the filter. But they’ll also perform an overall assessment as well, in order to catch any issues, dirty filter or other, before they can become serious problems.
So knowing when to replace an air filter is not as easy as knowing when you’ve got a flat. The owner’s manual for your vehicle will give you a number, but even two people driving identical models will see different lifespans in their filters if they drive in different conditions.
To know for certain if you need a new filter, and especially if you’re having issues that may or may not be caused by a dirty filter, visit us at Performance GMC Columbus for an expert assessment.
Image via pixabay.com | Licensed under Pixabay License
Connect with us
