Spring is in the air! And while that’s lovely, it’s also a season of change. Time for spring cleaning, de-cluttering, and putting away all the winter accouterments we needed to stay warm these past few months. Even though we are in beautiful Cali, it still gets chilly here in Mission Viejo and there’s always at least ONE day we get to wear that beautiful sweater we bought on vacation!
This is also the perfect time for some car love that should include a changing of the air filter. You don’t need it every year, but a clean filter helps keep your car’s cabin smelling good and clear of pollution and spring pollen. No one wants to drive around in a car that smells bad or has us sneezing so much because it can’t filter out the pollen and dust.
The other reason it’s important to change that filter is that we don’t want to let more dirt or debris through to the engine. A clean air filter is one way to help extend the life of our car’s engine and keep it humming along in ways that keep us going on the road. Dirt and debris can make it very difficult for our engine to effectively do it’s work. Having a clean air filter increases engine efficiency and helps protect the engine. It’s easy to do and doesn’t cost a lot.
12,000 to 15,000 miles is just about right for most cars. When your air filter gets overloaded, it can start letting junk through into the cabin. Yuck. Imagine turning on your air conditioner for the first time in months and getting a blast of nastiness all because you didn’t change the darn air filter. If the air filter has already started breaking down, then it can let a lot of unwanted debris into both the cab of your car as well as into the engine. Both are bad! Don’t wait until that happens. Changing the air filter is a simple, regular piece of maintenance that is easy to forget but can have some very unpleasant consequences.
Check your car’s owner’s manual or check with the team at Larry’s Independent Service here in Mission Viejo. We’d love to keep you breathing deep and your vehicle buzzing nicely along the I-5 corridor.