Filter Minder Install

I put one of these on my cummins powered suburban last year, and I thought it was well worth the $20, so I picked one up at the local parts store this evening.

It's called a Filter Minder.

http://www.filterminder.com/gafi_grommet.asp


What it does is simple. It monitors the amount of vacuum created by your air filter, or any other restriction in your intake system. It mounts between your throttle body and your air filter. The unit locks itself at the max amount of vacuum it pulls. So as your air filter gets clogged up, it will indicate increasing restriction. After you clean out your filter (or replace it), you simply press the reset button on the top.

I chose to mount it right on the back of the air box itself.

It comes with a special grommet, and requires drilling an 11/16" hole in your airbox. Took me about 10min to install. I used a step drill bit, and cleaned out any plastic shavings that fell down into the air box.

Here are some pics:






I chose to install it right on top of the air box, between the filer and the intake tube itself. This will allow for an accurate reading.
Drilling the hole was easy, and the grommet locked into place.









After test fitting the grommet, I applied a little bit of RTV sealant around the hole, then installed the grommet. I don't believe this was really necessary, but one of my upcoming mods is a Snorkel, so I might as well seal everything up as best I can.

The Filter Minder slides into the grommet, and provides an air tight seal. The fit is very tight, so no worries about leaks there.











Here you can see how the Filter Minder is marked. On the other side, it has metric readings as well.





Here is a view with the air filter lid in the open position. It won't lie all the way back anymore, as it contacts the filter minder, but it still opens up more than enough to easily remove and replace the air filter.








I'll update this thread after I install the ARB Snorkel. I'm curious to see if there is any added restriction with the extra length of the snorkel.

 

those where use on some the cheve trucks. dont know about it though when my air filter looks dirty i just replace it.

 

I just ordered one of these... I was looking up stuff on the Napa ProSelect filter since that's what I just put in my friend's car, and I saw some people on BITOG saying that it's dumb to replace your filter just because it "looks" dirty.. because new filters will let in more dirt than old ones, and it's hard to actually know if the air filter is at end of life.

I am not sure how much truth there is to that, but this little doodad will be able to measure restriction, so it should take the guesswork out of it. For the price of one air filter, if I double my air filter interval it'll pay for itself on the first go round.

$31 Wix Filters - 24801 Heavy Duty Air Filter Service Gauge, Pack of 1

https://www.amazon.com/WIX-Filters-...=1530281460&sr=8-1&keywords=wix+filter+minder

(I did not order this on Amazon, ebay had it cheaper)

Not sure if I'll install it the same way OP did, but I will assess my options.

 

Installed tonight, took a total of 10 minutes. Most of which was filing off the excess plastic from drilling the hole. I ended up putting in the same area as OP since it was the easiest way to drill the hole and I won't have to worry about it "falling out" from being installed horizontally, not that it would. It seems to clear the hood just fine.

No more guessing when to change my air filter!

 

Just know from years and millions of miles these have a tendency to not work very well.

I wish I had pictures to show of filters completely blocked I removed while the minder still shows in the green .

These are great for the Quicky Mart Techs a quick glance The Air Filter is good

 

Sorry to burst your bubble, but these things typically don't work on naturally aspirated engines. They don't pull air hard enough to trigger the minder. Only vehicles I've seen these work on are turbo diesels because they can suck air hard enough for them to work.

I change my filter once a year regardless of miles, it looks to have a lot of life left in it too but it's cheap so why not?

 

These are very popular in the heavy equipment/diesel industry. They come factory on most equipment. Some actually have a gauge in the dash with a vacuum line running to the suction tube. Sometimes on heavy equipment it’s hard to tell if a filter needs to be replaced or not. Just an example is a ford 6.0l with the honeycomb air filter. At $100 bucks a pop, I’d like to know if it needed replacing or not before I did replace it. Some have been known to work a little finicky, like replacing the filter and after a test drive at WOT it’s already in the red. As long as it works correctly, it’s a great idea for any engine, really. On a naturaly asparated engine, if the minder moves at all, I’d replace the filter. After installing my snorkel, I was amazed at how many bugs actually get caught in the air filter. I have to knock the bugs off at every oil change.

 

I read all the debate about whether these work, they do work even with NA, but @wesb1023 is right, I'll probably change if I see it move at all, maybe a little more. Obviously the "change filter" red zone is more reserved for big diesels. If it gets to 10-15 in/h2o I'll change.

Just FYI many sources indicate that a new air filter actually pulls in more dirt into the engine than a slightly dirty one. And each time you change your filter you are disturbing and knocking loose dirt into the intake tube to get sucked into your engine. Look it up.

I tested mine and it does work and locks into place at 4 or 5 different intervals. I have yet to look at it after running it WOT, since I just put it in yesterday. If it doesn't change at all in 50k miles or I start seeing MPG loss, I'll do a UOA and see if there's any different levels of silicates in the engine. If it's abnormal I'll question whether the filter minder works. But I've read reports that these work on small engines.

 

Agreed about more dirt getting through when removing a filter. That’s why you will find an inner and outer air filter on most heavy equipment. You’re not supposed to remove the inner filter unless you absolutely have to. I like filter minders myself, I’m all for it.

 

https://youtu.be/NZFzRPR8CUY

Looks like it works.

 

I can't find the reason to install one. It's two clips to pull the filter out and look at it

 

"looking at it" isn't a scientific measurement. I wheel too much on dusty roads and for me this should help take the guesswork out because time/mileage/looking at it wasn't cutting it. My filter "looks" loaded after one or two wheeling trips. But that doesn't mean it's inefficient.. in fact it's probably more efficient at filtering.

There's many more discussions like this, and I did my due diligence before pulling the trigger and drilling a hole in my air box:
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4571582/1

 

Here’s a photo of the “in dash” version that I mentioned. Happened to get in this truck today and thought about this thread, so I snapped a pic.

 

I could see using one of these on a piece of heavy equipment where the filters are expensive and maybe hard to remove, but on a Toyota? I'm just not see the savings. I rank this idea up their with oil analysis a waste of money for a plebeian vehicle

 

If this helps you to remember to check and clean/replace your filter, great.

But as a scientist, I can tell you that just because you get a number form it, doesn't make it useful. In fact it can be harmful if those numbers aren't correct, or if you focus on that number more than some other indicator. Be wary of trusting numbers just because they are numbers... I wonder about things like who determined the threshold for the red line, and how does that compare with what the manufacturer/engineers have determined, and how accurate is the gauge anyway?

 

Pull filter, bang the dirt out, reinstall. Maybe blow dirtbout with compressed air. Do it again in 15k miles

 

This has been beaten to death already. Removing your filter and replacing prematurely will let MORE dirt in.

As for the accuracy, again I already looked it up. Naysaying without doing any research is just naysaying for the sake of doing it.

As for the red line, that applies to diesels. Read through the thread. Or do some outside research comparing silicate levels in oil for old vs new air filters.

I will no longer be the Filter Minder apologist. Do some research on your own time before jumping into air filter rhetoric.

 

The cost was the same as one air filter. JFC. It's not like I put a $300 "cold air" intake on the damn thing. Sheesh.

It will pay for itself because I won't change my air filter all the time "oh I went wheeling.. should I change my air filter? It looks dirty! OMG!!!!" Until I did some research and realized I was doing the exact WRONG thing.. changing it too much and constantly messing with it!

Again do your own research, or continue to complain or say your way is right without looking anything up, whatever floats your boat!

 

Cool! Pep boys sells an AEM in-cab version but the gauge looks dinky so I didn't even give that one a thought lol

 

IMO people love to split hairs over this stuff like they're running a D11R in an open pit coal mine for 18 hours a day. Filters and oil are cheap. I'm not interested in the science of how to squeeze every single penny out of this stuff because it's not a D11R it's a Toyota.