When it comes to cars and trucks, a little preventative maintenance can go a long way. That’s true for engines, but it’s also true when it comes to the air quality inside your vehicle interior.
You spend a lot of time in your vehicle, which means you’re spending a lot of time potentially breathing impurities that could cause or amplify health issues.
Babies, elderly people, and individuals with compromised lungs or breathing benefit from breathing clean air. According to the experts at Mike Jackson Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC, it’s important to consider the benefits of regularly changing your vehicle’s air filter.
The purpose of air filters
You have two different filters in your vehicle, air filters and cabin filters.
Both are very similar: they purify dirty air and allow only the pure air in, but the thing that sets them apart is their main purpose. Air filters prevent dirty air from getting into the engine whereas cabin air filters block dirty air from getting inside the cabin. When it comes to vehicle maintenance, air filters are essential to maintaining good air quality and efficiency in your vehicle.
Here are the Top Five Reasons to Change Your Air Filters Regularly:
Pollution
The cabin air filter is all that stands between the exterior air of the road and interior of your car. The filter blocks a lot of the smog and dirty exhaust let out by other cars on the road so regularly changing your air filter helps ensure that those undesirable pollutants don’t find their way into your car’s cabin.
Debris
Sometimes, through the outside air ducts near your windshield, debris like leaves, small twigs, and acorns can find their way into your vehicle's HVAC system. A leaf or a small enough twig here and there isn't a huge deal, but if enough of them find their way into the HVAC system it can affect the efficiency and intended operation of the system.
In extreme cases, it can in fact damage the system which can turn out to be an expensive repair.
Odour Control
No, that terrible smell coming from your vents isn’t from anything that you just drove by. It’s coming from not changing your cabin air filter. Dirty or excessively clogged cabin air filters can produce a dusty, musty stench, especially when the HVAC system is turned on.
Changing your cabin air filter at regular intervals will ensure that your passengers don’t have to wind down their windows in the heat of summer or dead of winter to get some fresh air.
Efficiency
Failing to replace a dirty, clogged filter will impact the efficiency of the heating and cooling system in your car. Poor efficiency can lead to other problems, including a loss of air volume, bad odors in the cabin, or premature failure of HVAC components.
Engine Strain
We have gone over reasons to change your cabin air filter, but what about the engine air filter?
Your engine needs as much clean airflow into it to run smoothly and avoid damage. Over time, the engine air filter will get dirty and gradually clog up, leading to restricted airflow into the engine. This will cause strain to the engine as less clean air can cycle through it. The engine has to work harder, which leads to a decrease in gas mileage and engine performance.
Just as your lungs can get clogged up from pollutants in the air, your car’s engine suffers when the air it “breathes” isn’t clean. That’s why changing the air filter is so important.
Don’t sacrifice the air quality in your cabin or the efficiency of your vehicle, add air filters to your vehicle maintenance checklist today!
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to give our knowledgeable staff at Mike Jackson GM a call! Visit Mike Jackson Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC at 480 Hume St, Collingwood or online here.