How often do you change yout air filter?

This is a Toyota dealer which sells by mail. $14.00 for my 2009 air filter plus shipping. Good luck. Toyota Scion Parts Accessories Discounted Prices - Metrotpn

 

Cheap insurance to perform any required maintenance before the recommended intervals. That's just me. Obviously, the cabin air filter isn't a critical component, but a really dirty one will impact blower efficiency, and it is a maintenance item.

 

UART, I would imagine someone get you one and mail it to you. I'm not sure how the exchange rates would factor into it and shipping would eat up some of it, but if your dealer is the only option for you I would be highly surprised if the exchange rate (depending on how it is AUD/USD right now) and shipping would come close to that $65 at the dealership. Plus, Paypal will even do the conversions automatically for you if you need to send USD and your account is AUD. I can't imagine international shipping from the USPS would be more than about $10 unless it went express mail.

 

K&N Air filter, wash it, oil it and reinstall it
The cabin filter gets washed in the kitchen sink 4 times a year.

 

If the shipping is so bad I would seriously consider k&n filter. They work work well and last forever.

 

what is the particulate size on the cabin filter for the 2010 Prius?

we have some MAJOR pollen issues in this area and wondering if i should be changing mine or at least trying to clean it more often. i have a son with Asthma

 

True, just buy 3 filters at once to save on shipping.

Dave you might want to purchase a quality home filter and just cut it to fit like mentioned earlier.

 

Pulled from a charcoal cabin filter for Prius:
This filter has an extra layer of activated carbon that reacts with the odors and other airborne pollutants to neutralize them before they enter the vehicle. The Carbon charcoal activated filters will also reduce the levels of CO2(carbon monoxide) and NO2(oxides of nitrogen) from the emissions of other vehicles on the road.This item is made to keep the air in the vehicle clean and odor free. The filter is made to trap pollen dust smoke and other pollutants that would otherwise enter the vehicle through the outside vents causing allergy and discomfort due to undesirable smells. This item is made to prevent small leaves, animals, moisture and other debris from entering the heater and A/C system. This item provides insurance from objects entering into your heater compartment and jamming controls and switches. Keeping moisture out of the heater system will also help reduce the growth of mold and other microbes on the A/C evaporator.

Example: Vehicles that do not have a carbon activated cabin A/C filter and just a regular cabin A/C filter and are in rush hour traffic, will have up to three times the CO2(carbon monoxide) levels inside the vehicle than the outside .

If your child has allergies or asthma this is the style filter you need.My children suffer from allergies and these help tremendously cutting down on mold & pollen in hot humid Florida.

 

Marketing babblespeak.

 

About every third oil change, I'll pull the filters out and look at them. If they look icky, they get changed.

 

I have a question, I have the same air filter. But what oil do you use for it?

 

Ah, back when I was young and before marriage sapped all the testosterone from my veins, I had a hot Lincoln that I had modified and installed K&N filters...That's when speeding tickets were much cheaper....

You should, really, go to someplace such as AutoZone, O'Reilly's, etc and buy the K&N kit. It includes filter cleaner and the proper "oil."

Is the kit overpriced? Most certainly. Could you possibly find an acceptable substitute? Sure.

Is it worth the $10 or so bucks you would save by possibly "messing things up" and possibly causing some issue with your engine. No.

I am sure others will have other opinions. Myself, stick with the K/N kit. You will pay a few $$$ more but you will be have the peace of mind of doing it right.

 

Thank you for your response! I'll give that a try. Just wondering if they've got the oil alone because I've already got the filter needed.

 

Ahh, fell for K&N marketing.

Read the following link in its entirety (its not long). Its an objective test performed on nine air filters, one being a K&N.
http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html
"However, if a filter is using “better airflow” as their marketing tool, remember this….Does it flow better? At very high airflow volumes, probably. BUT, our engines CAN’T flow that much air unless super-modified, so what is the point? The stock filter will flow MORE THAN ENOUGH AIR to give you ALL THE HORSEPOWER the engine has to give. And this remains true until the filter is dirty enough to be recognizeable. At that point performance will decline somewhat. Replace the filter and get on with it."

Filter Efficiency (How well does the filter captures debris.)


Accumulative Gain (Total amount of dirt that passed through the filter.)



These two graphs speak volumes. If you logically think about K&N's premise: increase Horse Power by increasing air flow. The less restrictive the air filter, the greater the air flow. Unfortunately, more debris will be passing through the air filter (as shown above), into the intake manifold, then into the cylinders. Even if no cars are ever damaged running K&N air filters, is the cost of the filter, filter oil, filter cleaner, and required maintenance of these filters require, worth K&N's claim of 1-4 Horse Power increase?

Most of us are probably changing the air filter prematurely. An interesting report by the EPA on clogged air filters and the impact on MPG, concluded:
"Closed-loop control in modern fuel injected vehicle applications is sophisticated enough to keep a clogged air filter from affecting the vehicle fuel economy."LINK to the EPA study (2-2009). However, Horsepower will suffer due to this clogged air filter, to maintain efficiency (MPG).

The factory engine is a balanced system (a compromise of performance, reliability, and efficiency). Air filter all the way to the exhaust, don't forget the programming. Add a K&N filter, the system is unbalanced. To maximize the potential, additional air flow increase K&N can offer, one would have to change out many other parts; exhaust system for sure, as the stock exhaust is very restrictive compared to a "performance/racing" exhaust systems, and the intake manifold.

 

I have been using the same filter for 60K and just blowing it clean with air hose. Finally it looked a little ragged and i broke down and bought a new one. Mileage went up 3mpg after change, hmmmmm. I think I will change it more often now.

 

I buy my filters at amazon and i have them ship them for free. And they are OEM. It actually comes from a Toyota Dealer in Florida. But the price is right and I get them and just put them in. I do mine at about 25,000 miles. but I do the cabin filter every 15,000.