You've noticed that your vehicle's engine performance has suffered lately. You've checked everything, including the air filter, but you're not sure if it's dirty enough to replace it just yet. You don't know what the best course of action is.

The good news is you don't have to replace your filter. You can actually clean it yourself!

Cleaning your air filter will not only improve the quality of your engine, but it will prolong the life of your filter. You won't need to replace it for quite some time.

A dirty air filter can greatly harm your engine performance, but cleaning it will improve your overall experience with your vehicle. Keep reading to learn more about the harmful effects of dirty filters and why you need to start cleaning yours regularly.

Dirty Air Filters Choke Your Engine

If your air filter gets too dirty, a number of harmful things can happen to your engine. Most importantly, if you don't clean your air filter, your engine won't be able to get the air it needs.

Combustion engines need oxygen to work properly. If your air filter is filled with dirt, bugs, or other obstacles, your engine may not be getting as much oxygen as it needs. Over time this will significantly impede performance and potentially keep your engine from starting altogether.

Driving with a dirty filter will only make things worse, potentially causing engine choking or overheating. To keep your engine healthy and running, you need to regularly clean your air filter.

In other words, the cleaner the filter, the better the engine performance.

Dirty Air Filters Can Harm Your Engine

Not cleaning your air filter can also lead to significant physical harm to your engine. The debris that gets in your filter can make its way into the oil and start eating away at your engine.

According to HowStuffWorks,

"Specks of dirt and metal shavings act like miniature sandblasters when they float suspended in engine oil. Their abrasive ways can especially wear down engine bearings, leading to low oil pressure. That, in turn, could lead to big-time engine damage. Over time, an oil filter gets so clogged with impurities that it no longer effectively cleans the oil -- dirty oil just keeps recirculating around the engine. In essence, the oil filter shields your engine from harmful floating garbage."

Between starving your engine of the air it needs and the possibility of great physical harm to your engine, it's clear that cleaning your engine needs to be a priority for the maintenance of your vehicle.

Clean Filters Improve Engine Performance

Beyond just protecting your engine from these issues, a clean filter will improve your engine performance overall.

After your filter is clean, you will probably start to notice an increase in horsepower, fuel efficiency, and other benefits.

The following improvements are all great reasons to break out your Filter Blaster and clean out your vehicle's air filter.

Improved Fuel Economy

Not only will cleaning your filter help with the health and safety of your engine, it will also save you money in the long run. Clean air filters will improve your engine's fuel consumption.

Because your engine will be getting the proper amount of airflow, the mix of air and gasoline will improve. This will reduce your fuel consumption and also the amount you have to pay to fill up.

Pro Car Mechanics reports that "It has been estimated that replacing the dirty air filter will increase MPG on the car up to 10% and also generate a fuel savings of close $.15 per gallon at the fuel pump." These savings alone are reason enough to start cleaning your filter regularly.

Improving your mileage won't just help you though. Reducing your fuel consumption is also great for the environment. So cleaning your filter will also help clean up the air.

Improved Horsepower

As we said earlier, cleaning your air filter allows more air and cleaner air into your engine, improving your engine performance. One of these improvements is an increase in your engine's horsepower.

Clean filters won't allow as much air resistance as a dirty filter will. Without this resistance, air can flow more clearly into your engine and give it more power. A clean air filter can increase your horsepower by up to 11%.

This, of course, will depend on your vehicle's weight if you are hauling something. But in most cases, you should see an improvement in your engine's power fairly soon after cleaning your filter.

How Do I Know It's Time To Clean It?

Now that you know some of the key benefits of cleaning your air filter, the question still remains of how you can know it's time to clean it.

There are several warning signs you should look out for in your vehicle:

• Reduced fuel efficiency: If your vehicle's gas mileage is less than it should be, you should check your air filter to see if it needs cleaning
• Sounds coming from your engine: Listen to your vehicle as you drive it. If it does not sound like it should, check your filter
• Service Engine light: Your vehicle will tell you when something is wrong. If your Service Engine light comes on, one of the first steps you should take is to check your air filter
• Black smoke exhaust: If black smoke comes from your exhaust pipe, this could be because not enough air is getting to your engine and could mean that your filter is clogged

If you notice any of these signs, your first step should always be to check your air filter and clean it if necessary.

We Want To Hear From You!

We hope that this brief rundown of the many benefits of cleaning your air filter has been helpful to you. We would love for you to check out our products to help with any of your filter cleaning needs.

We highly recommend purchasing one of our great Filter Blasters.

If you have any questions about air filters, engine performance, or filter cleaning, please contact us!