How to clean car air filters

As your car's air filter is used more, it can become clogged with dust, dirt and other debris.

It's important that you clean your car's air filter every 15,000 miles to prevent too much dust and debris from getting into the engine.Accumulation will ultimately lead to loss of engine performance and reduced fuel economy.

So, can you clean your car's air filter yourself?Cleaning your car air filter is certainly something you can do at home, and it will make your car run more efficiently.Air filters can be expensive to replace, so you can save money by cleaning your own.

First, you need to find your car air filter and open the hood of your car - it will be a rectangular box.

Remove the current air filter from your car engine - it should be easy to get out, but you may need to loosen a pair of wings or bolts.However, if you feel uncomfortable removing it, ask a mechanic to help you.

Once removed, you can start cleaning your air filters.First tap your bumper and shake out any loose particles.You can then choose to clean your air filter with a cleaning fluid, toolbox, or vacuum cleaner.While a vacuum won't make your air filter very clean, it will be much faster.On the other hand, using a clean solution or kit will make your car air filter sparkling clean, but this will take longer to do.Using a cleaning solution also poses a higher risk, as putting a wet filter back into your car could damage the engine.

The next step is to clean the shell around the filter.A clean air filter case will appear white or gray, and a dirty engine air filter case will appear dark.You can clean this dirty engine air filter by simply giving it a quick vacuum.

Put the car air filter back in the car.Many people are not sure how to put an air filter in your engine once it has been cleaned.If you've used a cleaning fluid to clean your air filter, you need to make sure it's completely dry before you put it back in.You may also need to replace some nuts, bolts or clamps if you remove these in the first place.