tsingtao
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2004
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ
- TDI
- 2016 Mazda 3 Hatchback 2009 Jetta TDI--Bought back 12/21/16
I have a 2004 Jetta PD TDI with 10K miles on it. From what I can see the air filter is supposed to be changed at 40,000. Last night I got caught in a dust storm; drove about 10 miles through it. (I live in Phoenix, AZ). It started me thinking. Should air filter changes be more done more often here in AZ? Maybe twice as often? How about oil and filter? Should they be done more often?
Even when one doesn't get caught in a dust storm, the general environment here in the Phoenix area is very dusty. I would imagine a lot more dirt gets sucked up into the filter than in other parts of the country.
As for last nights storm, should I change the filter now? Should I wait till the end of Summer (as this is bound to happen several times during the monsoon seaaon), or should I just go with the normal interval? (I did a search through the forums and seem to recall a comment that air filterw were the most overchanged maintenance item on our cars and that the OEM filter has a tremendous capacity.)
On the same note, I drove a Mazda pickup truck through a much worse storm near Palm Springs, CA a few years ago. When I got to San Diego, I immediately changed the filter. To my amazement, there was very little dirt on the filter; it almost looked clean. So maybe one storm doesn't really do that much.
Even when one doesn't get caught in a dust storm, the general environment here in the Phoenix area is very dusty. I would imagine a lot more dirt gets sucked up into the filter than in other parts of the country.
As for last nights storm, should I change the filter now? Should I wait till the end of Summer (as this is bound to happen several times during the monsoon seaaon), or should I just go with the normal interval? (I did a search through the forums and seem to recall a comment that air filterw were the most overchanged maintenance item on our cars and that the OEM filter has a tremendous capacity.)
On the same note, I drove a Mazda pickup truck through a much worse storm near Palm Springs, CA a few years ago. When I got to San Diego, I immediately changed the filter. To my amazement, there was very little dirt on the filter; it almost looked clean. So maybe one storm doesn't really do that much.