That old gearhead told me to swap my air filter every 3,000 miles

He ran a shop in Austin for 40 years. Swore by it. Said modern oil life monitors are garbage. I followed his advice for 2 years. Then my mechanic showed me my clean filter and told me I was wasting $18 every oil change. Now I just check it every 15,000. Anyone else get stuck following outdated advice from someone who meant well?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_charlie24d ago

Knocking real bad" - oof, that's a rough way to learn a lesson.

luna89124d ago

Old air filter story reminds me of my uncle who insisted on using leaded gas in his 73 Ford well into the 2000s. Swore it ran smoother and got better mileage. Found a guy who still sold it under the counter at a truck stop. Then the engine started knocking real bad. Cost him a full rebuild because the valves were destroyed. Sometimes people just get set in their ways and pass on what worked for them 50 years ago. The filter thing is harmless compared to that mistake. Good on you for checking it yourself instead of just swapping it blind.

kimreed24d ago

Actually the leaded gas thing isn't quite right - a 73 Ford was built to run on leaded fuel, so running it wouldn't cause valve damage like you'd see in a car made for unleaded. The knocking was probably from the gas being old or the timing being off, not the lead itself.