Motorcraft air filter from Dieselfiltersonline.com is only $53.95 + shipping.

http//www.dieselfiltersonline.com

 

Actually, on p.4 of that FIltration Advisor paper, it says that nanofiber is a "cellulose/synthetic composite media..." I wonder if the nanofiber component really slows absorption of water into the cellulose material.

Anyway, seems I won't be passing up the deal of a lifetime or anything by not chowing down on this Ford coupon right now so I guess I'll save my pennies for another 50k miles.

 

Well Darn It!. I wish I would have read this post first. I went to wally world today and bought the Fram white filter (69.99 + tax =75.00. I have 35,000 miles on my 04. I live on a dusty clay road. My guage never moved either. I did not trust it. I pulled my filter out and tapped on the drive way. I was amazed at the amount of sand that came out. I would guess about a handfull of dirt.The truck gets 15 Mpg combined hwy and city. Much better (19+ on highway at 60mph and its a 4x4). I guess I should have trusted the guage. When you pay what we paid for our trucks, I wanted to play on the safe side.

 

So that poses another question....if we look at the filter and it appears filthy, but yet the filter minder says everything is A ok, should we still bang out the 1lb of sand that is visable on the driveway as did blownsmoke???

 

Based on the design of the filter it is not visually inspectible and it is NOT recommended to knock the dirt out and reinstall it. Just because it looks filthy on the intake side or because you can knock a couple of handfuls of dirt out of it does not mean that it needs replacing.

As far as the filter goes, it is best just to leave it alone until the filter minder says it needs changing. I would recommend that you check the filter minder for restriction when you change the oil and at the same time visually inspect the minder for any cracks, etc. They do occasionally fail.

If you have not read it yet I do recommend reading the following page from the filter minder website that blackhat620 posted...

http://www.filterminder.com/hfmw_air.asp

 

This is good information. They have the lowest price I have seen online or locally, even with shipping.

 

Do not bang any filter element on the ground or hard surface trying to clean a disposable filter. You can tear the filter media and allow excess dust to pass through the filter. Also do not blow disposable filters out with air for the same reason.

 

I know that this is grave digging, but here is my question. I bought my truck with 86k on it, and my filterminder is still saying that my airfilter is fresh. I now have 104k and I don't think it's moved at all! Is it possible that the dealer could have reset the filterminder to make it seem as if the filter was new? Or should I just wait until the filterminder says that I need to change the filter?

 

Maybe your air filter was changed out at some point before you got your truck. Even if the filter minder is reset, it should indicate a clogged filter element.

 

There is a dash icon that will come on when you need to change the air filter. I changed mine twice before I learned this, I would check the air minder and see it had not moved, lots of miles accumulating...so I got concerned and just changed it.

The mechanics in the know on here told me not to change it until the dash light tells you to...so rest easy. I like the dash light idea, now I look at the air minder, but don't let it concern me.

 

I am at 47,000 miles. So I decided to change the air filter since I read it is recommended to change at 50,000 miles. $72.000 later at Advance Auto Parts and an hour of my time, I got it changed. So the moral of the story is to read the forum first for tips. I did not realize there was an airminder gadget to help in decision making. But all is good now and I won't have to change the filter for a long time.