The car air filter, also known as an engine air filter, has an important role to play in your Chevy’s performance. A new, clean filter can increase your engine performance and reduce several potential engine problems. A worn or dirty filter, in contrast, can increase fuel consumption and even cause damage to your engine. As your Chevy dealer, we’d like you to know more about this filter and when you need to visit us for a replacement.
Strange Engine Noises
A Chevy engine is almost silent as it efficiently powers your car. If you start to hear strange coughing noises from your engine, your air filter is probably blocked and needs replacement. The filter is positioned just inside your radiator grille, and air passing into the engine must pass through this filter first. The filter removes dirt and other debris from the air and allows it to enter your engine.
A blocked air filter reduces the amount of air in your engine, and this will turn your engine fuel rich. A fuel-rich engine has more fuel than air, and this heady atmosphere makes combustion more difficult. The spark plugs will struggle to ignite due to the lack of air, and they produce a coughing-like sound as they try to spark. We can fix this problem by removing the filter and installing a new one.
Your Filter Is Dirty
The filter is housed in a special box behind the radiator grille. The exact position of this box is shown in your car manual. Once you’ve located the filter’s position, pop the hood and open the air filter box. You’ll easily be able to tell your filter’s condition simply by looking at it.
A new or relatively new filter is white or cream. As time passes and the filter absorbs dirt and debris, its color changes. If your filter is brown or black, it is clogged and needs to be replaced ASAP. Our technicians will install a new filter for you, and you’ll notice an almost immediate increase in your engine performance.
Your Engine Is Misfiring
Misfiring occurs when the spark plug attached to an engine cylinder fails to correctly ignite the cylinder’s contents. If this happens, you’ll feel a jerking movement and experience a slight drop in engine power. A misfire can have several possible causes, but the most common is a lack of air in the engine.
As we’ve seen, the spark plugs in a fuel-rich engine have difficulty igniting. Efficient combustion requires 14x more air than fuel to work effectively. The lack of air caused by a blocked filter will cause your engine to frequently misfire or even stall until we replace the filter to fix this problem.
A filter repayment is quick and can prevent unnecessary damage to your car’s components. Call us today at Airport Chevrolet GMC.
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