General maintenance tips

Exterior Trim cleaner, or Isopropyl Alchohol, just try not to get it on the paintwork.

Steam Cleaner - (Can cause electrical problems) or degreaser and a rinse down.

Usually 20,000 miles or 2 years, replace with K&N, these last forever and give much better flow. Some people don't like these filters, but I think there great.

Andy

Back to black might do the trick, but obviously be careful that you don't get that on the paintwork as it could be a bitch to get off.

Don't bother. Seriously. There's no real point in having every possibly little nook and cranny around an engine impeccably clean. When you come to sell the car it's more likely to be seen as you having something to hide than an exceptionally well cared for car. Plus it's a right old PITA. You could get the engine steam cleaned, but seriously, it's not worth the bother. It's not like it's an immaculate fettled classic that gets showed off at shows, it's just a little Fiat.

Recommendations vary, but there's no harm in replacing it sooner rather than later - do it now when you've got a few spare minutes, 'cos it's sod's law that in a few months' time it'll be pissing it down with rain (British Summer) or you'll be busy doing other things and won't get time. Basically the main thing that affects an air filter is how clogged up it gets - this is partly to do with how cleanly the fuel burns (though I may well be talking s**te here), but mainly how dirty the air going into your car is - if it's constantly up and down dusty tracks, then replace it much more often than if it's on well kept A roads/motorways.

As an aside, I'm thinking Peter could be a new Vamp - someone that, with the help of the regulars here, ends up getting converted from a muppet, to someone slightly less clueless. Just think for yourself Peter and stop taking what your parents say as Gospel!

I use isopropanol for cleaning computer parts and removing glue and such like but never considered it a strong enough solvent to affect hardened paintwork on a car, unless you set about it with that intention of course.

Sound great :)

To be honest I don't like the idea of getting any water on my engine, but suppose a little wash around the head won't hurt. I've heard too many bad things about steam though.

2 years, that's ages :o

I don't like K&N's, I considered it long and hard and decided that it's not worth it. Washing the K&N is a lot more work than replacing a normal filter, and you've also got to oil the K&N. The main thing I don't like about K&N's is that they let more dirt through, which may shorten the life of th engine. In the long term they won't be cheaper anyway. My air filters are =A35.5 IIRC, which means that 7 will roughly be the same cost as a K&N, which would give me 16 years (including the filter that the car comes with when it's new).

That is one way to look at it, but I would like to have a clean head so that I can detect leaks quickly. I am a little concerned how the oil got there. At least if I clean it and it doesn't come back then I know that it's not a problem. I'm suspecting that it was just from the rocker gasket ages ago, or maybe a few drips from the dipstick, but I'm usually very careful with dripping oil. I've tried putting some polish on my rocker box cover and it looks quite nice, I would like a shiny engine.

I know really clean engines aren't always a good idea when selling, but I think a clean head is better than one that looks like it's weeping, especially when these engines are prone to HG failure. If somebody buys my car they will be able to see that it's been well maintained with frequent oil changes, polishing, and the car should be pretty cheap when it comes to sell anyway. I would also be willing to take the car on a long run with them if that was their only concern.

(British

Well, air filters only take a max of 5 min to change, so I think I'll always have time if it needs doing. My filter (and air box) seemed to smell of petrol, is that normal?

lol

hardened

Yeah, it evaporates anyway, so it won't be on the paintwork for long. I wouldn't expect any problems, but It's probably best to avoid paintwork just in case. The alcohol was fine on my motherboard. I got it just to clean the thermal compound off my northbridge heatsink, but the manufacturer had forgotten to put some on so I didn't need it. I just cleaned a bit of sticky stuff of my m/b in the end.

Get a degreaser aerosol and spray over the oil. If there's muck there as well, it might need some help to loosen it. Then use water - say from a watering can - to remove the result. Gunk is one such product. Make sure you don't soak any electrics. Plastic food bags can be useful to protect them.

Air filters are usually replaced on a mileage basis. Your handbook or service book should give details. It's a common requirement to change oil and filter once a year if you don't reach the normal mileage limit. Other things that are changed on a time basis are brake fluid and coolant.

Fair enough, but another way to do that is check the oil regularly - I prefer to do it with the engine stone cold, as it's *much* easier to get a clear reading, but as has been discussed on here, that might not neccessarily be the best way, depending on how the dipstick's been calibrated.

On my van, if the roads are wet, I sometimes notice slight rainbow patterns on the ground my van's just driven over, and occasionally get a bit worried, but my theory is that when I changed the oil I never *fully* cleaned away all remains, particularly around the oil filter, and it's probably just water splashing up and bringing a tiny bit down with it, and we know how much one drop of oil spreads on water! So basically as long as the dipstick reading isn't going down at an alarming rate (obviously a *bit* of oil consumption is normal in a lot of engines, then I don't let it bother myself too much.

You go for it then. Probably the best way is GUNK, then rinse off using a hose (not with your thumb on the end) - just a gentle water flow, IMHO that'd probably be the best way - steam cleaning can potentially lead to all sorts of electrical gremlins, but TBH I know bugger all about steam cleaning.

Yeah, fair enough, as long as it's not pinking you should be fine.

Erm yes you have a point, but peter, you havn't considered the full story...

A normal paper filter will last up to 20,000 miles, but optimum airflow will only be achievable for approx 1000 miles until the paper starts to become clogged like a vacuum cleaner bag, this will degrade performance of the engine.

Indecently, most tractors are not fitted with paper filters, cos they cannot cope with the dust on farms.

Just take a look at a petrol lawnmower, these are fitted with sponge filter elements to aid flow in dusty conditions.

K&N filters will filter dirt particles just as small as a normal filter, they only need cleaning and re-oiling for normal road use every 100,000 miles and more importantly they never restrict air flow, meaning more power.......

I have also seen examples on 'turbo' vehicles where the paper element has been allowed to get clogged and has been sucked into the induction system.

Manufacturers only fit paper elements because they are the cheapest option.

Also over 100 million paper filters are sent to landfill and incinerators every year in the US alone.

Andy

cheaper

airflow will

100,000

incinerators

Good points. With the air filters though I don't think the clogging will make a huge difference, unless it's really bad. They are actually usually at their best after they've done a few miles, not when they're brand new. If you did a 0-60 test with a new air filter, and one which had done 5000 miles, I don't think you would notice any more than 0.1s. I don't think it's work worrying about.

I've still got two brand new FAIT paper filters left, so I'll have a rethink when I've used them.

Yeah, I noticed the oil level starting to go down. It was pretty slow, but it had never gone down before.

Every time I wash my car I get oil comming out.

weeping,

Yeah, she sounds great now :-)

A paper element is at it's 'best' when it is brand new, how can it possibly get cleaner? It can get nothing more than clogged up further.

0.1s in a motorised skateboard (Cinquecento)- 1 second in a turbo car.... Enough to win a race on a track.

Andy

Oh yeah, I tried Isopropyl. It does absolutely nothing!

they're

I'm not certain, but I suspect that once an clean air particle flows through a hole it is easier for another to pass through. I did read this on a website once.

Well I've got a motorised skateboard :-p

Fair enough if you have a car which needs more air then there may be a bigger difference.

[...]

My turbo engined car (Saab) has a metal mesh after the paper filter. In any case, the turbo control system will compensate for any resistance in the paper filter, it will just allow the turbo to run a little bit faster. (The performance is dictated by the ECU). I much prefer peace of mind by using paper air filtering.

The message from "Nik&Andy" contains these words:

Thankfully however, most drivers drive in a way that wouldn't be affected by the slight clogging of the air filter during its service life.

you're

I got some AUTO GLYM Intensive Tar Remover. It says on it that it can remove wax, and it did. The plastics seem more shiny too. In some cases it did take a bit of rubbing, but eventually it came out!

Yea, but Methylated spirits will do just the same.

Andy

How safe is it on paintwork though? That was going to be my other option.