Does Your Subaru Need a New Car Air Filter?

Air is essential for your Subaru. Combustion uses 14x more air than fuel, and all the air in your engine enters through the car air filter. A blocked filter can cause serious engine problems. As your Los Angeles Subaru dealer, we’d like you to know a few signs that you need to visit us for a new air filter.

 

Check Engine Light

The check engine light is probably the most important warning light on your dash. It illuminates in response to any problem in the engine. Unlike other warning lights, for example, the brake pad replacement light, its warning doesn’t point to a specific issue. Sensors are connected to vital systems throughout your engine. They can identify problems with a component and inform your car’s computer.

A blocked air filter will cause the engine light to illuminate, as the lack of air will affect engine operations. An engine that lacks sufficient air becomes fuel-rich. In this situation, the excessive amount of fuel will damage the spark plugs and ignition coils, making starting more difficult. A fuel-rich engine also wastes fuel. If this light illuminates, call us right away, and we will fix the problem.

Dirty Air Filter

Unlike many other vital components, the air filter is easy to access and doesn’t require specialist knowledge or tools. The air filter is housed in the air filter box, which is located behind the radiator grille. Your car’s manual illustrates the position of the air filter box. You can pop the hood, find the box, and check the condition of your filter at any time.

A healthy air filter is white or cream. As it absorbs more dirt and other debris, the filter’s color changes. The debris it absorbs also slowly blocks the filter, preventing air from entering the engine. If your air filter is brown or black, the filter is blocked, and airflow into the engine is severely restricted. We can easily remove the blocked filter and install a new one.

Black Exhaust Smoke

Black exhaust smoke is a sign that your engine is fuel-rich. The spark plugs will struggle to ignite the mixture in the cylinders in the heady atmosphere. Much of the contents of the cylinders won’t ignite but will heat up. The hot, unburnt fuel is dumped into the exhaust system when the cylinders open.

The unburnt fuel passes out of the exhaust pipe as a black cloud. You might even see small flames as fuel is ignited by the hot tailpipe. Fortunately, this problem is easy to fix. We’ll replace your air filter, and this problem will disappear.

Replacing a filter is fast and cheap and can prevent expensive damage to your Subaru. Call our service department today at Puente Hills Subaru.

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