Your Honda Civic needs to breathe. Without that oxygen, the fuel can’t ignite, and if the fuel can’t ignite, the pistons can’t go, and if the pistons don’t go, neither does the car. Your car needs clean air, so it needs a fresh Honda Civic air filter now and then.
What’s the best air filter for a Honda Civic?
You’re typically going to get the best results with an Original Equipment Manufacturer part. You can get a genuine Honda air filter from Honda Parts Now for around $21. You can buy aftermarket filters from Autozone for a little cheaper, but you won’t be saving all that much.
How to Replace Your Honda Civic Air Filter, and When To Do So
Your Honda Civic manual will probably tell you to change your air filter every 10,000 miles. And it’s not a bad idea to give it a visual check once a month.
You’d typically spend around a hundred dollars to have the filter replaced at the shop, but this is a fix you can do yourself in just a few minutes with nothing but a Philips screwdriver.
- Look behind the car battery for the housing assembly for your air filter. This will be a black plastic box with four screws holding it down.
- Loosen the screws. You don’t have to take them out, just loosen them so you can lift the assembly housing.
- Make a note of how the old filter is in place. Take the old filter out, and put the new one in place just like the old one.
- Put everything back together and you’re set. That’s really all there is to it.
If you’re more of a visual learner, check out this video to see where everything goes.
What’s the Problem With Aftermarket Air Filters?
There are plenty of aftermarket parts manufacturers that release great products at a fair price. But given the damage an engine can suffer from debris in the air, a genuine Honda air filter has to be good enough to prevent billion-dollar recalls from happening.
Honda knows exactly what a Civic air filter should do, and they produce their filters to spec with laser precision. An aftermarket manufacturer might be able to do that, but is it worth the risk just to save five bucks?
So what’s wrong with aftermarket air filters? Maybe nothing. But if something is wrong, you’re looking at hundreds of dollars in repairs, and Honda won’t foot the bill.
