The nest inside the housing for this Johnsburg car's air filter is a clear sign that this car needs a new air filter. Here, it's obvious. In your car, it might not be as obvious.

The air intake on a car is filtered and for a good reason. All the dirt, debris and particles that are filtered out of the airstream by that filter could do serious damage to your car’s engine. Even though the damage will probably be gradual, over time, it will add up. That unfiltered Johnsburg air can also have a negative effect on how the engine runs, which can also damage the engine.

How, you ask? How can unfiltered air cause problems for you under the hood? After all, it’s the same air you breath. What makes your car’s engine so special?

First of all, the human body doesn’t have the same close tolerance between metal parts. In fact, if you’ve been fortunate, there are a minimal number of metal parts in your body to begin with.

Second of all, you don’t breath air at the same volume as a car’s engine. Imagine strapping yourself to the hood of your car, your face into the wind, and holding your mouth wide open. When you hit 60 mph, you’ll have more air rushing down your throat in a few minutes than you otherwise inhale in a given day.

According to an internet site – www.health.howstuffworks.com – the average person consumes about 11,000 liters of air in a day (388 cubic feet). Another site – www.f1technical.net – asserts that, at 7000 rpm (which is a lot), a car uses about 12250 liters of air in a minute. That would suggest that the car could use more air in a minute than you breathe in an entire day.

Thirdly, there are some people who suggest that people should wear a filtering face mask, particularly in some areas where air quality is bad. That may not be a problem in Johnsburg but you won’t do all of your driving in Johnsburg.

The problem with the car is that the air, which mixes with fuel before it is pumped into the engine cylinders, can clog, and partially clog, parts in the fuel system. As a result, the engine may run on a richer mixture of air and fuel, which can cause the buildup of carbon in the cylinders and on the spark plugs.

When the filter your car does have is clogged with a lot of dirt, more of that dirt will get through and less air will get through. That brings you back to the same problem – rich fuel mixture.

Those particles, if they enter the engine unfiltered, can also make their way into the oil system. There, flowing with the oil, the particles can cause damage between moving metal parts.

Clearly, it’s important to filter the air that enters the engine. But, what are the reasons for not worrying about the air entering the engine … (crickets) … (more crickets)?

If you were thinking about the cost of the air filter, compared to the potential damage you could do to the engine without an effective air filter, the cost is nothing.