TLC Custom Exhaust Brakes & Tires Engine Air Filter Replacement
October 21, 2015
When your experienced TLC Custom Exhaust Brakes & Tires service advisor technician changes your oil, he will also inspect your air filter. You shouldn’t need a new filter at every oil change, but you will need to change it regularly. Heed your technician’s auto advice if they tell you to change your filter. It’s not expensive, and it makes a big difference to your SUV.
An air filter does what its name implies: it filters stuff out of the air. Air is drawn into your engine through the filter because your engine needs air to burn fuel. If the filter weren’t there, a lot of dust and debris would come into the SUV engine with the air. That dust and debris would get hot, burn, and produce all kinds of ash and gumminess that would eventually clog up your engine.
Drop in an air filter and voilá! Problem solved.
But air filters themselves get clogged up with all the junk they clean out of the Royal Oak air. This doesn’t allow the junk into the SUV engine, but it does block up the airflow. A blocked airflow will reduce engine efficiency.
An engine needs about 12,000 gallons of air to burn just one gallon of gasoline. Think of a runner. If he is breathing well, he can run well. But if he has a lung condition, he won’t be able to generate the oxygen necessary to keep his cells powered up. He won’t be able to run at peak efficiency.
Or consider a vacuum cleaner. Even without the light, you can tell when the vacuum bag is full because the machine just doesn’t clean anymore. Change the bag and its efficiency immediately improves.
So keep your SUV breathing well by keeping its air filter clean. That’s good car care.
Royal Oak car owners who get a charge out of the feeling of power in their engine might consider upgrading their air filter. Talk to your friendly TLC Custom Exhaust Brakes & Tires service specialist. Premium air filters have been proven to increase horsepower and torque. So with the cost of a premium air filter, you can increase the horsepower in your engine — there’s no cheaper way to do that!
It’s also one of the least expensive and simplest elements of critical routine preventive maintenance – and protects against damage to expensive SUV electronic systems. No Royal Oak resident should have an excuse to drive around Royal Oak roads and freeways with a dirty air filter.
Need Service?
More articles from TLC Auto Care

(Timing Belt)
November 30, 2025
You may have heard about an important part of your vehicle's engine called a timing belt, and many know that if that belt breaks, it can cause some very serious engine problems. Not all vehicles have them, and the ones that do generally have smaller engines. The timing belt keeps the engine sy... More

More than Pads and Rotors (Brake Caliper Replacement)
November 23, 2025
You might be familiar with brake pads and rotors, two components of your vehicle's brakes that have to be regularly serviced. Here's another important component of your brakes: the calipers. Calipers are used in disc brakes, the type of brakes now found in most recently manufactured vehicles. A... More

Knowledge is Power (Battery Testing)
November 16, 2025
Its likely happened to you once or twice. You head to your vehicle, open the door, turn the key and lo and behold, your battery is dead. Now youre stranded, may have to get a jump or a tow, and youll definitely be late for wherever you were headed. While your vehicle may sometimes give you warni... More
