Change Air Filter

Go to an auto part store like AutoZone or CarQuest and tell them what you want to do. I was working at a CarQuest and orderd a Pilot intake...for my Tercel!

They will be able to find what you need, and you don't have to cob anything together.

You can also search EBAY for Mandrel Bent INtake and find someone that will make one of has one already. A friend of mine found one for a Chrysler Concorde! Either that, or use a rubber adapter...but it can fall apart and allow massive amounts of dirt into the engine...

Which generation/year of celica are we talking about? Half of the time you wont want to go for a pod filter without some sort of a heat-shielding box as you'll just be sucking in hotter, less dense air and lose power. There were some tests done on Celica GT-Fours and if i remember rightly they

*lost* around 5% power with a straight intake and pod with no airbox. They had to construct a carbon airbox and put the pod inside with a cold air feed from behind the headlight to get about 5% *gain*. This is turbocharged too, you'll be looking at lower gains anyway. J

Why do you want to change air filter type? If you are looking to improve performance, one of the things that some aftermarket performance air filters don't mention is that in order to let additional air flow into the engine, some have larger pore sizes, which lets more dirt into the engine. For a competition engine that is going to be torn down after one race or at the end of a few seasons, then the dirt is less of a factor than if you want to keep your car for a long time.

Its a 98 sx, i'd prolly put the filter near the intake for the air box, which is piped from the side, which the air should be colder that that of around the engine. But I get your point of the mini gain, this is why i'm researching it first to see if its worth doing.

-Michael-

Thanks Ray,

I'm not thinking of getting a race performace filter, but just getting a better one. The reason is that mates have changed the filters and swear that it has made a 'feelable' difference, i'd like to see if they're right and if it did make a difference to my car.

-Michael-

I went to 'Autobarn' and 'Super Cheap Auto' and neither of the places had what I needed, might check 'Repco" out too, and yeh I was thinking about having a look around on ebay, seeing what was on offer.

-Michael-

I did it on a '95 Tercel. Laugh not! It made a difference right off the line with slightly imporved (but noticable!) throttle response.

And it also bumped the car from 39 MPG to 44 MPG, and that with an Automatic transmission!

The MFG's instructions were to oil the filter and clean and oil it every

30,000 miles. Screw that! I noticed it was drying out after about 8 months, so I bought a cleaning kit and cleaned and oiled it about every 12,000 miles or approx 6 months. If the oil is moist, you stand a much better chance of stopping a larger amount of dirt and dust. Inspect it often, and if it's getting dry or dusty, clean it and oil it!

I also kept an eye on the inside of the tube; it was always nice and clean.

In this case, you have to define "better." A filter that allows air to pass through more freely will improve performance, throttle response, etc. Whether it will shorten the life of the engine significantly or whether performance will improve enough to be noticeable depends on the filter. A filter that traps more particulates might also be described as "better" but it may do so with a performance penalty. It sounds like you are looking for improved performance and if so, I would stick with a name brand like K&N.

Sweet,

I don't know the mpg for my car, but out of the last tank, i got 460kms and that was pushing it, 3k shifts, slow acceleration but normally I get around about the 400km for a tank, which isn't half bad compared to the old commadorre we had, it barly made 350km a tank, and its tank was like

70ltrs!. So yer, I think i'll grab a new filter on my next day off.

Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it. :)

-Michael-

Ray,

Yeh i'm gunna get me a K&N filter, but I just have to find a place that has one with a 2 1/2 inch inlet, most have 3inch inlets >< and i'm gunna get some ducting done too. Mate did it to his car recently, and he's offered to help me so I just have to find the damn filter, then get the ducting and then fix it in place and bobs your uncle.

-Michael-

One of the things you have to be careful about with air filters that use oil to trap dirt is not putting too much oil on the media. Too much oil can foul some mass air flow meters. Have fun with the project!

Thats a good point, come to think of it, where would I put the air flow sensor? I'm thinking it would be after the filter?

Also, if I got a 3inch filter and got an exhaust place to get a 2 1/2inch pipe, flare it at one end to the 3inch, would that work? Or should I stay with the 2 1/2?

-Michael-

The wire harness to the mass air flow sensor is probably not long enough to allow much movement, and I never recommend cutting factory harnesses because they are so expensive to replace. The sensor should be after the filter because it has to measure the air actually getting into the intake and you don't want it subjected to any debris that enters the intake. Bottom line, whatever you rig should not disturb the current location of the MAF.

That would work although it seems like a lot of trouble.

Toyota Racing Development (TRD) is a Toyota affiliate and has stuff that carries a warranty backed by Toyota. The web site for their U.S. operation is

You might want to check and see if TRD sells products in your area. They may have an application specifically designed for your car and you know it won't mess up the car.

That'd be fine. Any kind of airtight adapter would be fine.

More performance requires more airflow. Only two ways to get more air thru a filter -- bigger pores (holes, meaning more dirt with the air), or more pores (meaning a bigger filter). Of course, a filter can combine those two techniques in any ratio... Like the K&N.

sdb