2007 Suburban - air filter still clean at 30k miles?

Z-Michigan · May 5, 2009

I have a 2007 Chevy Suburban 1500, 4wd, 5.3L V8 which is my daily driver. I live on a dirt road in a farming area, and my daily commute is 2 miles of dirt at the start and again coming home, with mostly paved roads in between. The vehicle gets dusty and/or muddy from our road within just a day of being washed, no matter how I drive. I just changed my air filter at 30,000 miles, feeling guilty and expecting to pull out a brownish dusty blob with 100,000 dead insects. Instead, I pull out a paper filter that is almost like new, with less than 10 dead insects and the paper pleats still off-white like it would be in the store. A bit of an understatement to say I'm surprised. Does anyone else have a similar vehicle and the same experience? Almost makes me worry that the engine is getting its air someplace other than the filter box.

(I did put in the new filter anyway, in case you're wondering.)

nmu98 · May 5, 2009

I live in the same area you do and we have a 2007 GMC Denali that is the same way. we only have 15K on it, but the filter is clean. The engine gets a little dusty, but never as bad as I would think. I think that the placement of the intake behind the light blocks the dirt a bit...

jwstewar · May 5, 2009

My '99 Silverado at a little over 110k on ot still has the original air filter. Still looks like new. The little change indicator hasn't even begun to move.

Z-Michigan · May 5, 2009

Well I feel a little better with those replies. I could have saved the $$ on the new filter if I had known! All my prior vehicles got their air filters dirty far more quickly, and nearly all had a similar sort of airbox and hidden intake setup.

Diamondpilot · May 5, 2009

Many of the new vehicles take the air from inside the inner fender and outer fender which is a big plus to keeping the filter clean.

Chris

Builder · May 5, 2009

Z-Michigan said:
I have a 2007 Chevy Suburban 1500, 4wd, 5.3L V8 which is my daily driver. I live on a dirt road in a farming area, and my daily commute is 2 miles of dirt at the start and again coming home, with mostly paved roads in between. The vehicle gets dusty and/or muddy from our road within just a day of being washed, no matter how I drive. I just changed my air filter at 30,000 miles, feeling guilty and expecting to pull out a brownish dusty blob with 100,000 dead insects. Instead, I pull out a paper filter that is almost like new, with less than 10 dead insects and the paper pleats still off-white like it would be in the store. A bit of an understatement to say I'm surprised. Does anyone else have a similar vehicle and the same experience? Almost makes me worry that the engine is getting its air someplace other than the filter box.

(I did put in the new filter anyway, in case you're wondering.)

Same here. The Gm air filters stay clean for a long time.

wkpoor · May 6, 2009

My van has the Donaldson and I changed it at 50K as a feel good thing. It too was still clean.

Reg · May 6, 2009

I have same/similar situation with an '03 Duramax.
No movement on the gauge that is supposed to indicate partial blockage, so I left it and left it, eventually my mileage began to suffer and...... once I had eliminated everything else, I changed the air filter even though it still "looked good".
BIG improvement in fuel mileage and performance ("pep"), right off the bat.

So, I guess I'm disappointed that the gauge doesn't do anything meaningful.
If you track your fuel mileage, see a fairly sudden worsening and havn't changed the air filter in a while - just DO IT.
In my case the drop in performance and mileage was fairly abrupt.

Builder · May 6, 2009

Z-Michigan said:
I have a 2007 Chevy Suburban 1500, 4wd, 5.3L V8 which is my daily driver. I live on a dirt road in a farming area, and my daily commute is 2 miles of dirt at the start and again coming home, with mostly paved roads in between. The vehicle gets dusty and/or muddy from our road within just a day of being washed, no matter how I drive. I just changed my air filter at 30,000 miles, feeling guilty and expecting to pull out a brownish dusty blob with 100,000 dead insects. Instead, I pull out a paper filter that is almost like new, with less than 10 dead insects and the paper pleats still off-white like it would be in the store. A bit of an understatement to say I'm surprised. Does anyone else have a similar vehicle and the same experience? Almost makes me worry that the engine is getting its air someplace other than the filter box.

(I did put in the new filter anyway, in case you're wondering.)

Driving alone on a dusty road doesn't usually foul your filter with dust. Your air cleaner is actually ahead of the dust cloud.

What dusts the filter is when you drive behind a vehicle kicking up dust. BAD idea. When I go to the landfill or quarry on dry days, I see these morons (usually young punks) who drive fast and kick up clouds of dust hundreds of yards long for other trucks to suck up into their intakes.

I just pull over and shut down until the "kids" are gone, then proceed slowly, about 5 MPH though the dry stuff.

You can trash an air cleaner in one trip down a dusty road behind another truck if it's kicking up a lot of dirt & dust.

mattman · May 6, 2009

Yep GM pickups and suv's made since 2000 keep a clean air filter clean for a long time.

A diesel will clog an air filter quicker because of the huge amount of airflow needed for a diesel. If the air filter gets clogged on a diesel with a turbo it can suck the air filter in on itself and collapse the filter, allowing dirt to enter the intake. Then you get a homemade boring job.