For a small component, your car air filter has a huge responsibility. The air filter’s job is to remove dust, dirt, and other impurities from the air before it reaches your car’s engine. Your car requires large amounts of air for combustion, and the air filter needs to provide it. The filter will wear out, and when it does, your Lexus dealer can fit a new one for you. These are some of the signs that you need a new air filter.
You Smell Gas
When your Lexus engine is running as it should, you won’t smell anything. If you have the heady scent of gas floating into your cabin, it’s probably caused by a failed air filter. The air filter traps dirt and dust, but this means it will eventually clog up. If the filter isn’t replaced regularly, the flow of air to your engine will be blocked.
Air and fuel need to mix in the intake manifold, but you need far more air than fuel. If your engine isn’t getting enough air due to a filter problem, combustion will be inefficient. The lack of air prevents most of the gas from burning up, and the unburnt fuel is ejected into the exhaust system. The excess amount of fuel in the intake manifold will cause gas fumes to leak out into the cabin.
Black Smoke From the Exhaust
The lack of air caused by a clogged air filter will, as we’ve seen, prevent much of the fuel from burning. The unburnt fuel in the cylinders will be dumped into the exhaust system. This hot fuel will flow into the catalytic converter. Under normal circumstances, burnt fuel will be converted into less harmful chemicals before it leaves the exhaust.
Unburnt fuel, however, can damage the converter. A converter isn’t designed to deal with large quantities of hot fuel. This fuel can melt part of the converter or block it. If the converter is damaged, dangerous chemicals like hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide won’t be converted. The unburnt fuel will exit the exhaust as thick black smoke.
The Filter Looks Dirty
The air filter is housed in the air filter box, which is situated near the radiator grille. The location of the filter box is marked in your car manual. Once you’ve found the box, you can open it and check the filter’s condition. A healthy filter should be white or cream, it will change color as it fills up with dirt.
If the filter looks gray, brown, or black, the filter is clogged and needs to be replaced.
Replacing your filter is quick and easy. Call us at Lexus of Wilmington.
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