Hey guys I was just wondering about the rules of thumb on air filter maintenance. Air is so critical on these diesel motors that air filter maintenance is so important. My question is this. Should I go by the guage on the air filter to maintain it.? Or inspect it myself at regular intervals? Should I stick with the OEM filter for a replacement? Any tips or suggestions when I do inspect or change my filter. Proper procedures an such. If there any Ford techs reading chime in here an tell me what you think. All opinions welcome. Thanks for your time.

BTW I have a 2003 7.3 PSD.

 

I read somewhere recently on this site that the air filter gauge was a poor indicator. Some guys had done their own experiments on the gauge and found the filter had to be almost totally clogged to create enough vaccum to indicate changing it. I inspect my filter regularly. As far a sticking with the OEM filter, this is your call. The OEM filters a restictive, for greater performance you might want to look into an aftermarket filter. One that is talked about alot of this site is the kwik mod. Everyone likes this system and I agree that it would work well, however you have to change this filter and it is not cheap. The other option is a K & N type filter system, FIPK. This system is expensive up front, however you only will need one fliter for a long time. K & N says one million miles. I dont know for sure but I have put a K & N filter in every truck I have ever owned and it has outlasted my ownership of the truck. You do have to clean the filter from time to time and this is a simple procedure. There are other systems built like the K & N system available. The last system I have seen is the FORD AIS, This system replaces your stock system with a high performance system. Some guys on this site are running this system and they love it. Best of all it protects you manufactures warranty. The choices are left to you. Kwik mod is around $50, depending on your filter cost, the K & N system starts around $199, the FORD AIS system $250. The overwhelming concensus is that you have to get rid of the stock air box for performance.

 

When it comes to changing them, I go strictly on Direct VISUALIZATION. The gauge is very UNRELIABLE and in my opinion sometimes FLAT WRONG! If you think it is needing to be changed......get that old one out and get yourself a new one. Air is so important.

 

do the kwik filter upgrade... then you can check it just by looking at it everytime you open your hood... leave the oem indicator pluged in, but just tuck it out of the way somewhere... it's pretty much useless anyway...

 

From what I've read I think that visual inspection is the wrong method for deciding when to change your filter. Check out this comparison (especially the first two runs) done by a guy over at TDS:
http://Cat=&Number=2327703&page=&vie...fpart=all&vc=1
I think that changing the air filter because it looks "dirty" is one of those thing that make us feel like we are doing something good when we really aren't.