Engine air filter

[tcesni]

I have a 2014 C-Max Energi that I bought used three years ago.  This past week while having the car at the Ford dealer for the state inspection I asked for the engine air filter to be changed as I doubt it had every been done and the car now has 55,000 miles on it.  The service writer told me that this car has an air filter meant for the life of the car and to change it would cost $250.  I've looked at the instructions to change and while more tedious than most filters he must have been mistaken.  What was he thinking about?  

[grege]

16 hours ago, tcesni said:

I have a 2014 C-Max Energi that I bought used three years ago.  This past week while having the car at the Ford dealer for the state inspection I asked for the engine air filter to be changed as I doubt it had every been done and the car now has 55,000 miles on it.  The service writer told me that this car has an air filter meant for the life of the car and to change it would cost $250.  I've looked at the instructions to change and while more tedious than most filters he must have been mistaken.  What was he thinking about?  

 

$250 is a huge markup as the filter costs around $20 and should take a mechanic 30 minutes if working very slowly (So, $50 dealer filter price and $60 labor = $110, which would be more reasonable but still a lot for a filter).  Replacing the engine filter is tedious, but easy to do and it is NOT a lifetime filter.  It does seem however to last 2 - 3 years easily before needing replacement.  Cabin filter is also tedious, but should likely be replaced every 1 - 2 years.  

 

Greg 

[fbov]

I can make a good argument that hybrid engine air filters are good for extended change interval. 

- paper filter particulate efficiency increases with age, so it's at its worst when new. 
"... (an) air filter that has been in service for a period of time works even better than a new one."

- hybrid engines only run part of the time, so in terms of air flow, filter service age is the odo reading minus your EV miles. 

- hybrid engine speed is independent of road speed, so there's no benefit to high engine RPM when accelerating: maximum air flow no longer matters. Floor it and the engine RPM rises to the torque peak and no faster (or you'd slow down). Higher filter back pressure has no effect, within emissions control system range. 

 

I did used oil testing. My Si level, indicative of sand, dropped by a factor of 2 over the rated life of the air filter. Mileage didn't change. I think these are good things. 

Frank

[ptjones]

From the testing I did with a K&N air filter I don't think  it made a difference on MPG , but It did make a difference in acceleration. Changing ICE air filter is a pain and will cut your fingers if you don't wear protective gloves. K&N air filter has more surface area and I replaced mine at about 200k miles.

 

Paul

[djc]

Plus these cars have a relatively  long air intake hose, which should gather some dirt.  Then in the filter box I believe incoming air has to go up and over a partition to get at the large filter surface.  If one part of the filter gets restrictive, air will flow through filter area further from the inlet.  Could last a very long time, depending on driving conditions.  But then a single run following someone up a dusty road could get any filter dirty.

I wonder if one could run an endoscope up the intake hose and take a look at the filter?

[Noah Harbinger]

On 12/3/2020 at 11:40 AM, djc said:

Plus these cars have a relatively  long air intake hose, which should gather some dirt.  Then in the filter box I believe incoming air has to go up and over a partition to get at the large filter surface.  If one part of the filter gets restrictive, air will flow through filter area further from the inlet.  Could last a very long time, depending on driving conditions.  But then a single run following someone up a dusty road could get any filter dirty.

 

Hmm, that is a good consideration. I first changed my air filter at 50k miles, but I have definitely driven a lot more dusty roads during the last 25k than the first 50k. 

[jzchen]

I didn't have much trouble changing the air filter in our Energi.  The Owner's Manual has a nice picture.  Look at the picture carefully.  Rotate the assembly as shown.  Pull it out without a fuss.  Miss the C-MAX.  (We moved onto a '18 Clarity Touring with Nav, from a '13 Energi was it 401a, no self parking).  My Ford Mobile was so much better than HondaLink, although I confess they are making improvements in functionality.  Wonder what Sync 4 has to offer....

[djc]

I finally changed the engine air filter in my 2013 Cmax.  Pain getting hoses back on until I loosened lower end of hose to manifold.

 

Car has 55k miles.  This is what I found.

 

 

After reassembling the air filter assembly,  I cut a 2"x 5.5"  rectangle of 1/4" mesh  "steel hardware cloth"  and pushed it into the grille end of the engine air intake hose - fits well and is snug.

[Bill-N]

18 hours ago, djc said:

This is what I found.

 

Looks very familiar  ?

[jzchen]

I followed the manual's replacement interval on our ex-Energi.  It did not look anything close to that, it was much cleaner.  That mesh covering's an excellent idea.  Looks like an animal set up a nest in there...