Air Filter Maintenance

[samato]

I must be missing something. The other day I pulled my air filter out to clean it. I went to the gas station to blow it out with the air compressor used for inflating tires; that's all I had access too. This didn't seem to do anything. Nothing came out from the filter when I tapped it (after blowing it out). Can someone please explain the process, including what I should use to blow it out?

[music man]

I personally do not blow out my air filter at all. I work on lawn mowers and stuff like that and I have been told, in a Briggs and Stratton class and by others that when you 'blow out' disposable type air filters (mostly paper type) you can possibly put little holes you can't see in the filter medium causing it to let dirt go through. I know that the manual says that you can blow out your filter, but I am not taking any chances.

That being said you might not see anything coming out cause there might not have been that much dirt in there. What part of the filter did you blow the air on to?

[samato]

I blew air from the outside of the filter, around the entire filter. I don't think it makes sense to "blow them out" either, for the same reasons you mentioned, but since the manual says to do it...

I only tried it because I think my gas mileage is not as good as it should be (55 MPG) and I thought cleaning the air filter might help. I realize there are many other factors involved in gas mileage so maybe my air filter is fine. My riding style probably has a lot more to do with my MPG than the filter.

[Sarris]

Owners manual recommends clean every 2000 miles and replace every 7500 miles. I think you can just tap the bigger debris out and blow from the outside to the inside and ty to get into all the pleats. Just don't use real high pressure. 25 - 30 PSI should do it.

[Badbob]

The periodic maintenance table (2-1 PERIODIC MAINTENANCE) in the service manual doesn't mention changing the filter. In a further search of the service manual I found no mention of changing the Air Cleaner Element only cleaning instructions. Odd that the service manual and the Owners manual do not agree.

In 24,000 miles I have never seen anything come out of my air cleaner when cleaning it. I consider the GZ250 Air cleaner element as permanent and have no intention of ever changing it unless it becomes visibly clogged or exhibits one of the symptoms noted in the Service Manual trouble shooting guide.