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Coming up on air filter service interval - Replace with stock?
Seems the C7 already pulls ambient air from outside of the engine bay. As such, there are really no gains to be had. I'd like the ditch the clunk helmholtz resonator on the intake pipe, but it has a purpose and the PCV lines run to it. I don't want to deal with oiling a K&N filter and ultimate power isn't terribly important.
After doing a bunch of research I decided to stick with the OEM filter. It's a really good quality filter. Good mine from Amazon instead of getting it from the dealer. Saved $35.
Seems the C7 already pulls ambient air from outside of the engine bay. As such, there are really no gains to be had. I'd like the ditch the clunk helmholtz resonator on the intake pipe, but it has a purpose and the PCV lines run to it. I don't want to deal with oiling a K&N filter and ultimate power isn't terribly important.
Replace with new OEM, or is a generic "Fram" OK?
The OEM sytem is already pulling in cold air from passage outside the fender. However there are larger filters made from different materials that reduce restriction but require a larger filter housing. Like the large K&N I have on my street rod that also creates a loud sucking sound at WOT!
My aFe also has a small helmholts appendage with fittings for the two lines on my 2014 and the one on my Grand Sport.
I think the Fram one is a good enough filter (I run that one in my Honda Civic), but if you can get OEM for roughly the same price I'd stick with that. I am of the mindset that I don't like to disturb the air filter too often, as I believe any time you take it out of the airbox you're allowing some of the dust and dirt particles to get onto the other side of the airbox and they'll be sucked into the engine the next time you start it. Call me paranoid, call me crazy, but that's why I generally leave the air filters in my cars alone for a very long time. I also know that when an air filter is perfectly clean and new it won't trap as much dirt as one that has been in there for a little while, so changing it too often can actually cause slightly more engine wear in the long run. If it gets way too clogged up you'll have poor performance and poor MPG so as long as the engine is running fine I'd just as soon prefer to leave the filter as is. I figure I'll probably leave the original air filter in place until I hit 100,000 km on my C7. It's not very dusty where I live, so YMMV.
[QUOTE= I am of the mindset that I don't like to disturb the air filter too often, as I believe any time you take it out of the airbox you're allowing some of the dust and dirt particles to get onto the other side of the airbox and they'll be sucked into the engine the next time you start it.<<
I agree with this concern. In any car, the air filter housing will accumulate crud ranging from sand to even small rocks. Before removing the filter I will vacuum clean around it as much as possible and then blow out with compressed air.
Hmm, thought those subject opinions about aftermarket air filters would end when GM started to offer one! They did that at this years SEMA Show and it’s now available fro GM Performance for the C7! As Tadge said in a post, aftermarket filter manufactures don’t have to worry about drive past sound measurements and they do. In fact one reason it was stated the new ZR1 has a different exhaust is Eoropean noise requirements are more stringent and the ZR1 is not Certifed in Europe. He stated it is a major sound generator. The aftermarket GM Performance system probably doesn’t have to meet European noise standards.
The GM Performance system looks a lot like the aFe system I installed on my 2014 and transferred to my Grand Sport. Just cleaned the filter when it out as I plan to do every ~20,000 miles! Could wait until 40,000 which as I recall GM says to change but easy to do and cheap! GM doesn’t make filter systems so they could be the supplier.
For the parinoid about using oiled cotton, which I have, they offer a somewhat higher restriction paper filter that is also larger, as the pic posted previously. Bet the GM system uses paper as the profit margins of filters are high and it guarantees repeat business!
When I installed mine on the 2014 C7 another poster installed the paper filter aFe system and had it dyno before and after. He got a 10 hp increase. Will be interesting to see what GM performance claims. The aFe engines show dyno data with the low restriction oiled cotton of 17 hp. Perhaps more than I got but I installed it, as I did with NPP mostly for the sound not 5 hp! The aFe system is well engineered and a new housing and air intake tube are needed to get it to fit.
Bought this one on ebay for about $60. OEM Delco. ACDelco A3191C Air Filter
Your dealer will charge twice as much. Also I supplied them the filer to install with my oil change 2 days ago. I shared with them that since the tech examines the air filter as part of the oil change service, or are suppose to, just replace it with the one I have on the passenger seat. No charge for installation. If one were to go in for service to specifically have a filter installed there would be a .5 hr flat rate charge.
My recommendation is to wait until l you have an oil change at the dealer and since they check it as part of there 10 point inspection anyway, have them install it. I really wonder it they actually check the air filter when you bring the car in for the oil change? That is quite a time consuming job to get at that air filter. Nevertheless, the service writer said there would be no charge because the tech is supposed to check it and it is open access at that point.
I've often said that the stock air filter is the best filter for providing clean air to your engine. And for those that say they got 10 hp increase with a high flow air fliter as proved by a dyno , I will tell you that no dyno has that kind of accuracy.
I figure I'll probably leave the original air filter in place until I hit 100,000 km on my C7.
62,000 miles (100,000 km) before a filter change is simply misguided and wrong. Sure an air filter does improve it's performance at cleaning the air as it captures dirt but there is a limit to that improvement and they will eventually clog.
Only comment I have is I have seen tests on oiled filters and they tend to get dirty quicker than paper and actually become more restrictive...
If you are willing to clean them, fine, but it is not as easy on C7 as on other cars... since you have to pull the hood vent duct, air intake on engine, and loosen the air box bolts to make it easier to remove the cover.
I just changed the air filter on my 2014 and it was not too bad. Even for 10 extra HP, I stayed with stock filter. I mean, really, can you tell from the driver seat if you have 5 or 10 extra HP? Not me.
Just be careful not to flex the coolant line that runs across the air box too much..
While you have everything out of the way, check your belt tensioner for leaks... I just had to replace mine.
I've often said that the stock air filter is the best filter for providing clean air to your engine. And for those that say they got 10 hp increase with a high flow air fliter as proved by a dyno , I will tell you that no dyno has that kind of accuracy.
I figure I'll probably leave the original air filter in place until I hit 100,000 km on my C7.
62,000 miles (100,000 km) before a filter change is simply misguided and wrong. Sure an air filter does improve it's performance at cleaning the air as it captures dirt but there is a limit to that improvement and they will eventually clog.
But what basis in fact do you have that says it's misguided and wrong? I currently have 100,000 km on the air filter in my Civic and the engine runs perfectly fine, MPG hasn't dropped, and if it really were clogged I would certainly see the engine run rougher and MPG would drop like crazy.
I'll have to double check my maintenance records for my old C5 but I also think I went a similar distance on the air filter that came with my Vararam unit. I know I had that installed within the first couple of years I had the car, and never cleaned the filter, and I had that car a total of 9 years. Performance of that engine never dropped (quarter mile time wise, MPG wise, engine smoothness, etc.)
When does GM recommend changing the air filter on the C7 anyhow?
I think the Fram one is a good enough filter (I run that one in my Honda Civic), but if you can get OEM for roughly the same price I'd stick with that. I am of the mindset that I don't like to disturb the air filter too often, as I believe any time you take it out of the airbox you're allowing some of the dust and dirt particles to get onto the other side of the airbox and they'll be sucked into the engine the next time you start it. Call me paranoid, call me crazy, but that's why I generally leave the air filters in my cars alone for a very long time. I also know that when an air filter is perfectly clean and new it won't trap as much dirt as one that has been in there for a little while, so changing it too often can actually cause slightly more engine wear in the long run. If it gets way too clogged up you'll have poor performance and poor MPG so as long as the engine is running fine I'd just as soon prefer to leave the filter as is. I figure I'll probably leave the original air filter in place until I hit 100,000 km on my C7. It's not very dusty where I live, so YMMV.
When does GM recommend changing the air filter on the C7 anyhow?
Under normal conditions: 37,500 miles. I guess you never knew about service limits.
I don't know why you always feel the need to talk down to me. I'm not a child
I'm giving my experiences that prove that changing the air filter at a higher interval doesn't harm a thing, and you have no proof that what I'm doing is wrong. Show me the proof where someone has damaged their engine by not changing the air filter for 60k. Lots of people do it.
Here we go again. Folks you can't prove a negative. When someone says "I've done this or that all my life & my car has never suffered", it can't be proven. You have to have a failure of some part on the car that can be directly attributed to doing something or not doing something (such as engine tear-down, part tear-down, etc such as tranny, differential, valves & so on). IF-you find damage that can be attributed to wrong fluid, part, filter, etc., then Wa-la an EXPERT could link failure to that, but only if there is a failure not the assumption of nothing broke therefore what I did is good to go.
12-15-2017, 12:59 AM
Coming up on air filter service interval - Replace with stock?
The OEM sytem is already pulling in cold air from passage outside the fender. However there are larger filters made from different materials that reduce restriction but require a larger filter housing. Like the large K&N I have on my street rod that also creates a loud sucking sound at WOT!
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