Car filters are on duty on dusty Johnsburg summer days

On dusty summer days, Johnsburg drivers

will find that the array of car filters they
have protect the car and them from the dust
in the air.

Here it is – midsummer in Johnsburg where, on those dryer days, we tend to experience some dust in the air. This is particularly true when the wind is blowing.

This isn’t to say that Johnsburg experiences Depression Era Dust Storms, like those that covered the Great Plains in the 1930s and had people wearing scarfs over their nose and mouth.. But, the dust in the air tends to go everywhere. This isn’t necessarily the same as pollution – manmade particles in the air. But it can cause problems for you and for your vehicle.

Dust is a major factor that has influenced auto manufacturers to install an array of filters in vehicles to protect passengers and mechanical components. Even if you can’t see the dust with the naked eye, it’s often there. It’s only a question of how much dust is in the air.

With its bank of filters serving as a suit of armor to protect you and your car, the dust doesn’t have the kind of effect you would have to expect without those filters.

Different filters are designed to serve different purposes. So, let’s take a look at the filters customarily found in automobiles these days.

There are two filters that serve as the first line of defense for your vehicle’s engine.

Engine Air Filter: The engine filter helps your car’s engine to breathe. The air that is drawn into the engine is mixed with fuel inside the piston chamber. The cleaner that air, the better. In fact, if you threw a bunch of dust into the cylinders, you can expect to adversely affect the way the engine runs and, quite likely, damage the cylinder walls.

Dust and dirt in the cylinder can damage the cylinders, pistons, valves and other internal components.

Oil Filter: The oil filter also protects the engine. Rather than filtering the air that goes into the engine, it filters the oil that is used in the engine. The engine oil lubricates, reduces the heat produced when the engine is running, and carries away particles that can damage the engine.

Fuel Filter: The fuel filter, as the name suggests, filters the fuel that is burned by your engine. Your engine will perform better, and experience less wear when the fuel it burns is kept clean.

Transmission Fluid Filter: This filter does the same thing as the oil filter, but for transmission. Keeping the oil in the transmission clean is a great way to extend the life of the transmission and keep it operating smoothly.

Cabin Filter: The filters above are there to defend the engine and transmission; the cabin filter is there to protect the air that you and passengers breathe while you’re driving. No one wants to swallow a bunch of dust and dirt while they’re driving. This filter helps to ensure that you won’t.

Changing these filters on a timely basis is essential to protecting your vehicles mechanical components, as well as your lungs and the lungs of loved ones in your car.

Dust is persistent though there are times when there is more dust than other times. If there’s been a lot of dust in the air, you may want to change your filters more often than your Owners Manual prescribes. But either way, those filters will do their job no matter how much dust is in the air around Johnsburg these days.

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