Maruti Suzuki WagonR DIY - Cleaning the air filter

[bj96]

First issue: stock air filter

I have a Jul-02 WagonR VXi nearing 47,000 kms on odo, running stock air filter (purolator) and regularly serviced.

Please see the pics below. Yesterday while DIY engine dusting, I noticed that purolator has turned quite dark and also there was a minor damp oil/greasy patch near the PCV breather hose (?) joining the air filter box. Do not recall seeing this patch before. I do not see any white smoke or power loss and the car runs fine. Oil level (last oil change was done about 6k ago) was also correct and it returns me >14kmpl in city. The car is being used mostly in stop-go traffic for last year (~4k kms) or so.

My questions are as follows:

1) Is the air purolator usable or should I replace it?

Pic a) Top view of filter


Pic b) Bottom view of filter


2) Damp oil patch is serious or is it OK, considering 47k odo? What could have gone wrong?

Pic c) Damp patch on filter box


Pic d) PCV breather connection hose


3) After cleaning the filter with a vacuum cleaner- I feel a bit fast-ish idle (tacho just one step below 1k mark). Should I reset ECU by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery?

Thanks,
-BJ

[Jaggu]

1) How many kms since last filter change? If more than 10k kms might be a good idea to change. Though you can push it to 20k also if you are running in not so dusty environment.

2) Clean the cover and observe after 1000 kms, if its not really wet its ok. Some amount of oil will evaporate and reach the filter cover.

3) Was the idle reading taken after engine warmed up completely?

[bj96]

Thanks Jaggu for reply. Appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

1) How many kms since last filter change?

IIRC, Maruti recommends 40,000 filter change interval. I might have missed it (need to check) since, my other vehicle (Safari) is dividing my attention these days. Will check the service record. If I change, how prudent it is to go for K&N replacement considering I am approx 47k on ODO and will keep this car for >3 years. Any idea on cost differential OEM vs K&N?

Originally Posted by Jaggu

2) Clean the cover and observe after 1000 kms, if its not really wet its ok. Some amount of oil will evaporate and reach the filter cover.

Good suggestion. However, I am curious to know any other member has seen similar oil patch in his/her WagonR?

Originally Posted by Jaggu

3) Was the idle reading taken after engine warmed up completely?

Probably no. Car was not properly warmed up. It has now settled around 900 RPM.

-BJ

[gpa]

Originally Posted by bj96

If I change, how prudent it is to go for K&N replacement considering I am approx 47k on ODO and will keep this car for >3 years. Any idea on cost differential OEM vs K&N?

BJ,

IMHO, it is not worth to go in for the K&N filter. The claimed performance and FE gains are just that - claims.

I wanted to switch to a K&N in my Alto at the 10k kms mark, but on having researched this website, I chose to stick to the OEM filter and recently changed it at my car's 20k kms service though the manual recommended a change only at the 40k kms mark.

Regards,
gpa

[bj96]

Originally Posted by gpa

I wanted to switch to a K&N in my Alto at the 10k kms mark, but on having researched this website, I chose to stick to the OEM filter

Thanks for suggestion gpa. I will stick to oem. How much you paid for your Alto filter? I guess, wagon-r filter too will be similarly priced.

-BJ

[binz]

Originally Posted by gpa

BJ,
IMHO, it is not worth to go in for the K&N filter. The claimed performance and FE gains are just that - claims.

Now thats a claim! There is a difference,though not very significant for a stock replacement filter on a stock car ...

[filcord]

Originally Posted by bj96

....If I change, how prudent it is to go for K&N replacement considering I am approx 47k on ODO and will keep this car for >3 years. Any idea on cost differential OEM vs K&N?....
-BJ

In my case, the Baleno drop-in K&N was costing around 4000/-, and the Maruti replacement filter costs around 400/-. I replace every 15000 km, much earlier than the recommended interval, and so far have only replaced three filters. So economics certainly rules against the K&N.
Personally I also have reservations on the benefits of K&N, but that's another matter entirely and has been discussed thread-bare (!) in other threads here.

[SirAlec]

By the look of it i would recommend you to open the whole plastic housing and cleaning the same too.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by SirAlec

By the look of it i would recommend you to open the whole plastic housing and cleaning the same too.

Yes plus i think air filter change is every 20k kms. If you dont have much running not worth K&N's.

[bj96]

Just tanked up yesterday. Noticed, it returned me 413 kms/27 lit (=15.2kmpl) . All city driving with 99% AC. Not sure, the increase is due to the DIY filter cleaning + ECU reset or was my driving sedate.

-BJ

[breezydrive]

@bj96- Change your air filter more often, it is not a costly part. Yes, MUL recommends replacement at 40k, which is quite a big interval.

I change air filter in my zen at every 7k service. Doesn't cost much, only Rs.90/- for Purolator brand. The car runs just like new after 1.2 lac km & 7 years of ownership.

[humyum]

Maruti says 20 thousand km intervals for an air filter change in the swift diesel atleast , i anyway changed it on the 15 thousand service as it had totally disintigrated with the material in it looking like it had come from the iraq war.

Ps: when i had the zen petrol the manual said for an airfilter change at the 20 thousand km mark.