Your vehicle’s air filter helps protect your vehicle by preventing harmful contaminants such as pollen, dirt and sand from being sucked into your vehicle’s engine. There are warning signs to look for that indicate your air filter is dirty. Look for poor gas mileage, a misfiring or idling engine, gasoline smell, black smoke, the check engine light illuminated and decreased engine power, throttle response and acceleration.

Your air filter should be changed every 12,000 miles or 12 months to best protect the engine. Luckily, the process of changing an air filter is relatively simple. Your friends at Leif Johnson Ford would love to walk you through the steps!

1. First, purchase an air filter that matches your vehicle’s make and model. If you need help with this, do a quick internet search or call your friends at Leif Johnson Ford!
2. Mark your new filter with today’s date. This will help you remember how long it’s been since your last filter change.
3. Make sure the your vehicle is secure. Park the car on level ground and apply the parking brake. Shift into first gear (manual) or Park (automatic), and turn off the ignition.
4. Raise the hood and look for the air filter housing box. Oftentimes this is a black plastic box with a hose coming out of it, and can be found near the front of the engine compartment. However, if it’s an older vehicle with a carburetor, look for a round air filter in a metal housing that fits over the carburetor.
5. You will now need to figure out how the cover on your vehicle’s air filter housing box is removed. There are usually two clamps, wing nuts, or screws holding it in place. Go ahead and release and remove cover.
6. Now it’s time to remove the old filter. Make sure to take note of which direction it was installed, as this is important for air flow. Look over your old filter, checking for dirt and debris. If it looks clean and at least somewhat new, it most likely does not need to be replaced quite yet. A rule of thumb – If it’s in good enough shape, you should be able to see light through the filter.
7. Compare the old and new filter to ensure that they match.
8. Place your filter in the filter box in the same direction as the old one was installed.
9. Replace the filter box and make sure that is secure.
10. Check your air filter again in 30 days to keep your car’s engine in the healthiest shape!

This is usually a fairly simple process. But if you have absolutely any questions or something isn’t going quite right, ask for your Leif Johnson Ford service pals at 512-454-3711. We would be more than happy to help!