So the other day I did the intake resonator delete thanks to this thread https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-performance-parts-modifications-112/3g-diy-poor-mans-cold-air-intake-pics-853546/. Basically for me I left in the acura air filter instead of adding one to the end of the intake. Then I realized that since I bought the car a little over a year ago I had never even though of replacing the either of the air filters. I did some research and landed on this WIX air filter for the intake (PN#49063). Found great feedback on it and seemed it was one of the best aftermarket replacements for your money.


I went about replacing the old filter and took me all about 10 minutes. All I can say is that the old filter was probably never replaced before and was nasty . This is the top of the two side by side.


Here's the new one. A perfect fit


And THIS is the bottom side of the filter. This is the part of the filter that catches the majority of the goodies from the outside world, and this one had definitely seen its fair share of dirt and debris


So long story short if you don't know when the last time your air filter was replaced, you should probably replace it

 

Should look into replacing your cabinet filter which is located in your Passenger Side Glove Box Area as well. Will make your A/C run much better as well.

 

Replacing both filters is very easy and should be done on scheduled basis.

 

Yep the cabin filter is what I'm tackling next week. Just forgot to order that with the intake filter

 

for WIX filters. Air filter Part# 49063, $13.60 from Rockauto.

Their oil filters are great too! Part #51334 $5.19 from rockauto, or the Gold filter #1334 from your local NAPA store, the WIX with their name on it. It's also the wider one recommended for the 2nd gen TL. Having tried all the filters over the last 10 years, the WIX seems to keep the oil cleanest the longest. No need to spend $13+ for a Mobil 1 or K&N.

For the cabin filter, I recommend the ATP # HA5 with added charcoal for odor reduction. $13.38 from Rockauto.

Hastings oil and air filters are also excellent too.

Happy filtering !!
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^Good tips DMZ!

 

Just ordered a Puralator today for $30

 

Puralator?

 

I had no idea our TLs have another filter behind the battery lol.

 

Purolator ... Typo on my part

http://m.advanceautoparts.com/mt/sho...932%7CL2*14979

 

Here is mine Cabin Air Filter. Car had 58k at the time. I will definitely keep replacing engine air and cabin air filters every year.

 

Wow, that filter saw its fair share of dirt. Any noticeable difference inside the cabin after replacing the filter?

And why spend $30 on that one when the WIX is like half that price? Any special benefits?

 

fresh clean air coming out the vents. I went OEM for both.

 

No benefit, that I'm aware of. I needed to spend $100 at advances to get $40 off, and this was the ticket...

 

This was the motivation I needed to replace my cabin air filter...just ordered the ATP off Amazon.

 

Holy crap!
I have 56k miles... I guess I'll be tearing down my glove box soon

 

Mine's at 51K, not entirely excited to see what I've been breathing in all this time...

 

it is an easy process. I took me less than 30 minutes. I have done that during lunch break at work

 

lol did my cabin filter 3k miles ago...you can actually smell the difference of the freshness of the air...When i pulled out the dirty one it looked super disgusting. Now time to do engine filter i guess?

 

Thanks J, for the reminder. I last replaced the cabin filter in 2012 (need to do it again) with a Wix 24815 Cabin Filter off of Amazon for about $13. Note of caution when removing the plastic fasteners behind the glove box as they are somewhat flimsy (i.e. breakable).

 

I've said this before, recently in fact, people tend to replace their engine air filters way too often. The one in the picture is a little dirty but it's not *that* bad. An air filter filters better the dirtier it gets. A dirty air filter can not hurt mpg. The only downside to a dirty filter is power and not at part throttle, only full throttle or near full throttle power. So there's never really a need to rush off and replace a really dirty filter. It doesn't hurt the engine or the gas mileage.

The TLs factory filter is the best I've seen out there, it's the only one I would put in my TL. It's a 3 stage filter; oil, gauze, and paper. It uses a silicone seal so you don't have to worry about it degrading over time. The air filter is the most important filter on the car. Dirty air will less to excessive upper cylinder and ring wear among other things. Ring seal directly affects mpg, oil consumption, emissions, and to a lesser degree power. On the flip side, there are some regions that have such clean air and low dust that you can almost get away with no filter.

The factory filter seems to get dirty quicker than the aftermarket ones, probably because it filters better and the oil doesn't allow all of the crap to drop back down into the airbox. I replace mine roughly every 30,000 miles which right now is every 10 years. It's getting ready to get what is probably it's last filter change ever.

I've measured intake restriction with the factory filter and with no filter and there's just no difference. The factory filter does not cost any hp, it flows more than the engine can use, it's invisible to the engine.

About mileage recommendations, it varies greatly by region and type of driving. Mpg is the best indicator of how quickly it will need to be replaced. If you're using more fuel per mile you're using more air per mile. If your TL is used exclusively on the freeway and averages 28mpg it can go more than twice as many miles on a filter as one like mine that's driven exclusively in the city with tons of redlights with a 14mpg average.

Amsoil makes an excellent dry aftermarket high flow filter. It filters as good and better than most OEM filters while flowing very well, it doesn't require oil, and it's washable. Unfortunately last time I checked they only made a cone for our cars. Other than Amsoil I'm not aware if any other manufacturers that have licensed this media from Donaldson.

I use Fram Clean Breeze or Fresh Breeze baking soda and carbon cabin filters. There's a noticeably fresher feeling in the car and smells such as fast food than can linger no longer linger if you run the fan on the drive home. It's a great cabin filter. Mine needs to be replaced once a year, way more often than my engine air filter. I'm also less conservative about replacing it since I breathe the air that passes through it.

 

I just ordered a Wix engine air filter off Amazon and it'll be coming in Tuesday. I swear the original owner kept the original air filter for all 57,000mi they had it, it is nasty.