One of the most important pieces in a car are its filters, which are an element that, although its contribution cannot be seen with the naked eye, is vital for the car to function correctly.
A filter is a device that is responsible for separating one object from another, that is, for preventing an unwanted object from entering the vehicle. In other words, what a filter does is filter all kinds of crap to prevent it from entering vital parts of the car such as the engine or the brakes.
This part is constantly acting, since the car engine is a combustion engine, it is constantly exposed to outside air, which is loaded with particles, living beings and other things that are not exactly good for health. of our car.
There are three types of filter, the air filter, the pollen or cabin filter and finally the gasoline filter, the three essential elements being.
Since it is acting constantly, this means that sooner or later it will end up wearing out, since we are going to notice how our car no longer works the same as it did before.
This is more evident in vehicles that travel on terrain with a large amount of dust, such as SUVs and all kinds of vehicles for forestry work.
Among the negative effects of a worn filter we have from a slight loss of power in a car, to a serious breakdown that can cost us an engine breakage and other fundamental (and expensive) parts of our car, going through failures in elements such as the brakes, gearbox problems and a long etc of things.
Luckily, we can change the car filters ourselves , with hardly any mechanical knowledge, from doncomos.com we are going to go step by step and we are going to teach you how to change them, so pay attention.
What do you need:
- Gloves.
- Tools to open hood.
- Replacement filters.
- Car lift or hydraulic jack.
Instructions
- Buy the filters: First of all, we need to obtain the different filters of our vehicle that we are going to change, so go to any mechanical workshop or vehicle parts store and look for the type of filter that you want to change (or all three types). You can choose between an air filter, a pollen filter or a fuel filter, buy the ones you want to change following a series of guidelines. These guidelines to follow to choose the ideal type of filter for our car are included in the manufacturer’s manual for our vehicle that comes with all kinds of information related to your specific car model, including of course the type of filter recommended by the manufacturer. manufacturer you should use.
- Change air filter: The first filter that we are going to change is the air filter, which is a filter that serves to filter the small air particles that roam freely due to the oxygen we breathe. The first thing we are going to do is open the hood (always with gloves on so as not to stain ourselves) and look for the car’s air filter, whose location is marked by the manufacturer’s manual for our car, always being a very large box-shaped object. Now we are going to remove the old air filter and we are going to blow the box a little so that it is completely free of dust. Once we have cleaned the inside of the box, we will introduce the replacement air filter that we have purchased in the store, trying to fit it perfectly, thus avoiding operating problems.
- Change pollen filter (in the cabin): Now it is the turn of the pollen filter, which is responsible for filtering all the solid particles that enter the interior of your car and that are not good for the engine (being trapped inside this filter). To access it, we will consult the manufacturer’s manual again and we are going to locate where this filter is, and then unscrew the protective support that is covering it and removing the old pollen filter that is damaged, paying close attention to how it is placed to be able to put the new filter. Now we are going to place the new filter in the exact same position where the old filter was, putting back its protective support and screwing it back to make sure that it has been completely protected from the outside, just as it was before.
- Change fuel filter: Now it is the turn of the fuel filter, which is in charge of filtering the small dirt particles that have been trapped in the gasoline of our vehicle and that can seriously damage it. This filter is going to be the most complicated to change, since it goes in the lower part of the car. The first step is to raise the car, if you have a lift it will be easy for you, otherwise you will have to use a hydraulic jack to raise it a few centimeters so that you can get under it to make the pertinent repairs. Again look in the manufacturer’s manual for the location of the filter and remove the outer protector from it to access the old filter. Depending on the car model, it is screwed or not, when removing it be careful as some gasoline can splash on your face. Now you must loosen the nuts that are holding the old filter, doing it with great care not to break anything and finally removing the old gasoline filter to put in the same position the new filter that we just bought at the spare parts store or mechanical workshop. Now we are going to put everything back to the way it was and we are going to make sure that everything is correct by starting the car and accelerating in neutral. If a puddle of gasoline has remained on the ground, it means that we have left something loose and we will have to disassemble it so that it returns to normal and if there is no type of leak, it is that everything is finished and we can now consider this tutorial finished. how to change car filters
Tips
- How often the filters are changed: This depends a lot on the vehicle, since some vehicles have a better filter system and do not need to be changed as often and others need to be changed every so often. If you have read the manufacturer’s manual, you will see that it is indicated there how often these filters should be changed depending on the car model you have. This date is indicative, since it may be necessary to change it before or it may not be necessary to change it yet, but the sooner you do it, the better. What I am telling you is that if you use the car a lot on forest tracks, land where a large amount of dust is formed or that you simply usually make very long trips, change the filter earlier than the manufacturer’s manual for your vehicle tells you, since these filters will have more dirt and therefore, it will be necessary to change them earlier.
- Clean the filters: Another option is to clean the filters, since very large dust particles often remain inside them and even if they are not broken, you will be blocked. Use a low-powered vacuum cleaner to perform this simple and effective cleaning task.
