I checked my air filter yesterday in preparation for a long road trip and it was quite black with oily soot! Should I worry about that? I usually change the air filter at every oil change, but I didn't the last time because the dang dealer changed it for me a few months prior. I still don't think I have more than 5000 to 7000 miles on that filter and we live in a normal clean town, not Pittsburgh or a big cow processing town (Dodge City, KS) with a lot of dust in the air. I could still see light through the crevices so it wasn't 100% clogged up. To put it in perspective, it was about 25% of the way to the horror condition that they have in a filter they changed on the wall at the Ford dealer - to warn customers about neglecting your air filter. I've only had the X for 16k miles. This makes the 3rd filter, so about 8000 miles per air filter so I don't have a lot of experience of what one should look like.

Probably not related, but --> I've had my diesel Excursion in the shop twice in the last month trying to get a minor oil leak stopped up prior to the warranty on the engine running out. I have about 1700 miles until the 100k warranty is up. They tightened the turbo bolts once then tightened the oil filter the next time (whoops - my fault). I still have a few drips a day. Normally I don't care, but it is a Warranty Issue so that makes me care. When the warranty expires I will cease caring.

 

Not sure what to tell you about your air filter woes. The tube upstream of the filter isn't in the same condition is it? As long as the inside of the system is clean, it sounds like the filter is doing its job.

If you've reported the oil leak problem under warranty, and they have attempted to fix it unsuccessfully, the warranty (for that particular problem) shouldn't expire until they have actually fixed it properly. That's my understanding, anyhow.

 

The system is clean so everything is working as it should. I do understand that if they tried to fix it and didn't, they are still obligated to fix it even if the warranty expires. I just don't look forward to a fight.