exactly- it's wild that people can look at a pretty clean filter, with few miles on it and toss it because a worthless plunger says so! btw, i clean my aem filter every 10,000 miles.

 

Why change a filter that is doing its job. The dirtier an air filter gets the better it filters. Once it gets too dirty it will restrict too much air and there will be a loss of power from the engine.

If your filter only looks dirty and you do not have a loss of power or decrease in boost (if you have a gauge) then you will be throwing money away to change it.

Just make sure that you use a good filter. I use Fleetguard!

 

When I changed mine it only had just over 22K (factory filter) but it was also 2.5 years old so I did it just for the heck of it.

 

I think I will trust my filter gauge during harvest I go threw a filter a week and it is unbelievable how dirty it is!!
Ignore the gauge and the next thing you know is you suck in the filter

 

I used to follow the book , watch the filter minder and I think there was a 25000 mile recommendation in the service manual somewhere..

But I started to notice, that after about 10,000 miles, my mileage would start to drop off... Found the filter to be very dirty and have started changing them every oil change.

At $12 a pop they are cheap enough to do so..

My $.02 worth,

Bryan

 

I check the filter every time the oil is changed (5k). My trip to Alaska with plenty of dust due to road work clogged my air filter so much that I was wondering how it could still run. Indicator was still in the green. When I cleaned the filter(k&N) it looked as if I was washing mud. I don't trust the indicator, it's too simple to just look at it. If most mileage is highway you won't have to change it as often as compared to living or working in dusty conditions.

 

I just looked at my service schedule for my 06 and it does not show a time or mileage for changing out the air filter, that is unless I some how miss where its listed.

 

You cant put a time or mileage on an air filter as it all depends on the air conditions that the vehicle is driven in. ie: dusty environment. I could pull the filter minder down about 25% with a stock filter with no mods. Now run a K&N with aero exhaust. Running the K&N without exhaust caused my shift patterns rev a little higher before shifting