Won't Start...Check you air filter!

[Macaw]

Went out today to start the pure and it would just crank not even a hint of starting. Smelled like it was flooded. No check light. Scratched my head and remembered I had an 80's Honda that would do this if the air filter was clogged.... Pulled the filter put in a new one and fired right up. Filter was DIRTY to say the least.... So I'm thinking I'll be replacing the filter at 10k regardless of condition I'm at 17K now. And I just made a comment in another thread that our '09 seemed peppier and made the comment maybe the air filter needed changed...guess I was right!

[jetfuel]

...what clogged the filter? IL road salt?

jetfuel

[Macaw]

I do believe it was the extra wetness plus the dust/salt combined to make a perfect mess of the filter..... side of the car where the intake is dirty mess (no chance to hit a car wash yet). Maybe I won't be getting an air inlet scoop now

[Macaw]

I'm gonna guess (filter held up to the sun) 70%+ clogged

[SmartDigger]

that is why I plan on getting a cleanable one. K & N

[scdaf]

As long as you don't need good filtering (no crud in your air) K&N is just the ticket. For the rest of us, just change the filter yearly or at 12,000 miles or so. You did notice the OP went 17,000 before checking?

[Macaw]

Originally Posted by scdaf

As long as you don't need good filtering (no crud in your air) K&N is just the ticket. For the rest of us, just change the filter yearly or at 12,000 miles or so. You did notice the OP went 17,000 before checking?

Filter was checked at 5k and 10k and won't hit 1yr until May. At 10k looked good enough for another 10k but evidently road salt and sand plus moisture is not good on the filter. Plus placement of filter is not conducive to regular checks. And the factory maintenance interval is 20K.

[Duckhunter]

Just checked mine and a pain in the butt to get cover back on. All is good.

[Kermit]

My Smart gets substantial OFF-ROAD miles and I have to change it every 6k-8k depending upon the frequency I drive home down the very dusty dirt road I live on.

That being said, I bought a car in the 90's for $100. A VERY NICE Toyota Tercel 4WD wagon. Owner said he took it to a mechanic and it was diagnosed with a bad distributor. I offered to look at it for him and he said he was taking it to the junkyard so we came to the $100 deal AND I pay him whenever as he didn't care. In a rush I looked at it quickly, turned it over and could tell it was getting fire but wouldn't start. I pulled the air cleaner lid with the air filter to see if it was getting fuel. Turned it over and it popped right off. Flipped air cleaner lid over and looked at filter and it was a mess. Spent $50 on a tune up and it ran perfect for 2 more years. Sold it for $2700 after that.

Just checked my Smart's air filter before I headed down to Orlando and it was nasty. Lucky I keep a spare in the garage so I was able to swap it. (of course I can "CAN" it off my other Smart) (( "CAN" - military aviation term meaning to steal the part off of a good airplane to fix a broken one))

[Duckhunter]

Controlled substitution, US army