Old Air filter vs new air filter

Just a quick post about the old air filter. Last change unknown from previous owner. This is the old air filter I took out of mine. It’s crazy the difference it’s made on how the van runs with a new one in there. So much smoother, more responsive. I understand that’s the case when you provide cleaner and better airflow but had to say it anyways. Must’ve been struggling to breathe with this old one in there! You can see that down the inside of the filter the original colour was yellow..
gentle reminder, me more than anyone, don’t neglect their health!

Wow!

Make sure you get it seated correctly at the bottom when doing it up BTW, I found there was room for error (i.e. the Japanese mechanic who put my new one on just before shipping didn't seat it quite right).

They get forgotten about, sitting underneath the van, but also means it's not uncommon for them to be stolen, believe it or not! Easy and quick access from underneath a locked van. Not as common now the old Hiace are older and not so prolific.

When I travel I am mostly on gravel/dirt roads, and my home is also on a dirt road. So I have always paid special attention to the air filter. Nowadays I change the filter cartridge at every second service as it does make a huge difference. The position of the intake is unfortunate for those who drive on dirt roads, and when I first bought the vehicle my regular mechanic made particular mention of the need to keep the airflow clean and unimpeded by dust and dirt in the cartridge. So yeah, a clean air filter is well worth the small cost.

Yeah I could see how it would be easy picking for people knowing what they were looking for!
Absolutely. I drove quite a bit on dirt roads up north. You can hear how much more air is being sucked into the intake on the side once changed.

Actually, that brings me to another question. I’m getting like a slight squeal/high pitched sound when accelerating, I’ve eliminated the possibility of it being the belt. It sounds to me more like a high pitched whistle. Up until around 2500rpm when the turbo suction drowns out the sound. I think I’ve narrowed it down to a leak in the air intake somewhere and that’s the whistle noise im getting until the revs get to high for it to whistle.

I have snorkel on it and still the air filter got full quickly in a desert environment. Mine started to smoke really bad because there was not enough air. All was gone after changing the air filter.

Mine is smoking a bit on start up, and I assume it’s because it’s not getting enough air but I will post a new topic in the forum to hear about everyone’s experiences!

Hi there,

I'm trying to find the air filter on my 1996 Hiace. I'm assuming that I need to look from underneath? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you have a diesel, lie down behind the front driver's side (RHS) wheel. Look up, there's a large round cannister with a wing-nut holding the lid on the bottom. That's the air filter housing.

Anyone fitted or know if available a pipercross or k&n type free flow filter to their diesels

Found it. Thank you.

Regarding K&N filter. Yes there is. I made a post about it a ways back. Search the forum. Not sure if you can search my posts specifically.