Research on criteria selection for replacing air filters and consequences emphasis

Automotive engine air filters have numerous shapes best suited for each engine. Most used filter materials are paper fibres (cellulose fibres) and felt (non-weaved fibres). Current maintenance practice for replacement of air filters is indicated by certain distance travelled, by certain number of hours in use, or less common by a specialized transducer indication. The current paper is about experimental research done on Renault K9K 612 engine air filters. Experimental tests were done on a specially built testing stand based that includes the original air intake system from the said engine. This air intake system has a special transducer that measures the air restriction and gives indication for when to be replaced. We measured air restriction produced by new and used OEM air filters, and two types of aftermarket filters and came to the conclusion that the filters were changed prematurely. Also, while the specialized OEM transducer showed a higher value of restriction as a mark to change the filter, the actual air restriction of the used filters shown by our test stand is much lower. (paper)