In this article, we’ll be talking about bad air filter symptoms.
The air filter is one of the most important filters on your car (besides the oil filter).
When it’s clogged or dirty, it directly affects engine performance as the engine is starved of air.
So, a very important topic and it’s worth knowing a thing or two about bad air filter symptoms.
Besides this, you can watch our videos about car repairs, driving, and other car topics on our YouTube channel.
Related articles:
HOW TO REPLACE THE CAR AIR FILTER? SKODA AND OTHER CARS
BAD AIR FILTER SYMPTOMS
1. LOSS OF ENGINE POWER
Among the first bad filter symptoms that you may notice is a loss of engine power.
At first, it will be barely noticeable later it may become more obvious.
A bad air filter reduces the airflow to the engine and sort of suffocates it.
In this case, the air filter has to be seriously clogged for it to have a big impact on the engine’s power output.
2. HIGHER FUEL CONSUMPTION
A bad air filter will cause higher fuel consumption than normal. Again, this starts happening when the air filter is seriously clogged and the airflow is seriously blocked.
As a rough estimate, the fuel consumption can go up even 30 percent due to this problem.
3. ROUGH IDLING
Accompanied by all this may be the appearance of rough idling.
Depending on how dirty and clogged the air filter is, the rough idling may be present all the time or for instance, just when the engine is cold.
4. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT
By this time, the check engine light will probably appear on the dashboard.
A clogged air filter will reduce the air supply to the engine and thus disturb the proper air/fuel mixture ratio.
Because of this, the check engine light appears.
In most cases, the warning light will not be on all the time but will appear randomly.
5. UNUSUAL ENGINE SOUNDS
For the final and perhaps rarest of the bad air filter symptoms which is whizzing, whistling, or hissing sounds coming from the engine.
The engine when running, sucks in a lot of air. When the air filter is clogged, it will partially block this airflow and cause strange sounds.
When you hear this, replace the air filter as soon as possible as it is seriously dirty and clogged.
CONCLUSION
The air filter is one car part that is very cheap yet has a very important function of cleansing the air that goes into the engine.
Again, besides the oil filter, the air filter is the most important filter on your car.
Also worth knowing is that replacing it on most cars is easy and accessible.
Because of all this, there is no reason you shouldn’t change this filter on time and let the previously mentioned bad air filter symptoms appear.
Besides this, doing regular maintenance on time will probably prevent this problem altogether.
Written by: Sibin Spasojevic
Former car technician, life-long car and DIY enthusiast, author for Despairrepair.com
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