Community Forums

Don_SueB · 05-10-2014, 06:18 AM

So I've owned my coach for a little over two years now and replaced my air filter at the beginning of the two year point on the life of the filter based on when it was installed by the folks I bought it from. The filter minder hadn't moved from the day I bought the coach at that point.

I figured I'd run this filter two years or so and then replace it again with a new one based on age and deterioration if the filter minder didn't move.

So, after driving from CA to TX through the wind and dust storms of this week's southwest storms I found my filter minder in the red. It does work.

I post this for info only and since there are numerous discussions on the merits of replacing the filter on time or restriction. I believe that our mileage on these coaches tend to be easy ones and unless you go off road in dusty conditions or find yourself in dusty conditions that in fact your minder may not move. But, given the conditions this one did. I was also surprised that driving in these conditions over about 12 hours made that much of a difference.

Next project: replace my 9.75 inch dia Farr filter with a Optiair 1300 and 7 inch inlet vice the 6 inch.

Skip426 · 05-10-2014, 02:45 PM

Biggest problem with the monitors ; when they do work; is they only give the plugged reading , when max engine RPM/ load is achieved . So always best to do a visual on the filter, or replace, as part of maintenance, rather than be bogged down with no power on a hill.
Saying " the monitor said it was ok , before I left"

bobguigley · 05-13-2014, 07:38 PM

So when the filter minder moves into the "time to change" position, how far can you before changing the filter?

I'm a DIYer and I'd prefer to do it myself when we get home, but we're sometimes 3000 miles from home.

Don_SueB · 05-14-2014, 06:07 AM

Amazon Prime/two day shipped it to where we are camping now. Since I'm running out west to head home in a few days and some winds are forecast again for the trip I'm replacing it here. I found some locally at NAPA but it was expensive. I'm not going to risk getting it too bad since performance issues may start to show.

Don

Skip426 · 05-14-2014, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobguigley

So when the filter minder moves into the "time to change" position, how far can you before changing the filter?

I'm a DIYer and I'd prefer to do it myself when we get home, but we're sometimes 3000 miles from home.

A plugged diesel air filter shows up as , poor performance and mileage, black smoke from the exhaust, delayed & rough transmission shifts and in the extreme , turbo charger failure; when the vacuum in the intake pulls oil past the shaft seals of the turbo and plugs up the CAC.
So know your filter's part number, and have the tools you need with you to change it, and a list of places where it's available.