Nissan Frontier D22 : Changing Air Filter

Air filter is one of the most important element in the engine that is often overlooked. An air filter is like a hair in our nostrils, it filters dirt from entering the "lungs" of the engine, which is the combustion chamber of the engine. Any dirt that manages to enter the combustion chamber of the engine will often result in premature damage of the engine as the dirt will spoil the sensitive components of the engine. An air filter should be replaced after 40,000KM or 2 years, and it should be changed more often when you're living in a very dusty condition, or drive through very dusty roads often.

It's time to change your air filter when you notice one of these symptoms : increased fuel consumption, loss of engine power, and weak acceleration. My dad's Nissan Frontier, as mentioned in the previous post , the car is 10 years old, and he was not sure when was the last time that the air filter was changed. So, in this post, I will show how to change the air filter of Nissan Frontier D22 engines.

Brand new air filter

I bought this air filter for RM35 at Standard Spare Parts which is located at Jalan Keretapi, Mile 3. So what you need to change the air filter is ;
1. A brand new air filter.
2. Size 10 flex head socket wrench / a Philips screwdriver

The air filter

First and foremost, locate the air filter. It is located adjacent to the fuel pump in this particular car, and it's easy to notice. The air filter is usually encased in a air filter box.

Loosen the O-ring

Next, loosen the O-ring either with a flex head socket wrench or a Philips screwdriver and pull off the rubber hose from the air filter box.

The rubber hose connected to the engine

Next, locate the end of the rubber hose and loosen it by using the wrench. It's hard to use the screwdriver as the space is tight.

The rubber hose disconnected and loosen

Once the rubber hose has been disconnected and the other end is loose, push the rubber hose sideways so that there is room to open the air filter enclosure.

After few years of use.

This left me puzzled. Why is the rubber on top of the air filter seems to be torn off? No worries, we are not going to use it anyways.

Old vs. New Air Filter

The difference between these two air filters is significant. The old air filter is black and covered in soot, while the new air filter is white and clean. Then, put the new air filter in, and reassemble everything by following the disassembly method in reverse order.

Liqui Moly Diesel Purge : How-to & Review

Hello everyone! It's been so long since my last post, I had my hands full with assignments and activities in campus that trying to post an article in this blog seems to be a chore for me that I couldn't afford to spend time with. But, today is Labour Day, and to all workers, happy holidays, and do enjoy this moment to catch up with things that was left all this while, like me, this blog.

So, for this post, I'm going to talk about Liqui Moly Diesel Purge. It was used on my dad's 2005 Nissan Frontier, and although it went through 10 years of on-time service and two major services, it was a reliable workhorse. But then, I had a little annoyance with the car ; it seems to lose its power if compared to the early years of the car. 120km/h (it's over the speed limit for all roads in Malaysia and the lovely Pan Borneo Highway) seems to be a burden for the car to achieve that speed. The car feels underpowered, and heavy.

When I went to Liqui Moly's annual dinner at the beginning of the year, I had a chat with Mr. Darien, if my memory serves me right, he was from Kota Kinabalu and explained how diesel engines seems to lose power after a few years, especially in Malaysia. The problem is, Malaysia is still selling Euro 2 diesel with 1500 parts per million of contaminants, although the latest diesel grade is Euro 5/6 with only 15 parts per million of contaminants. As a result, fuel sold in Malaysia is plain dirty, and it clogs the fuel line of most diesel cars. In order to clean the fuel line without much dismantling and get instant results, Liqui Moly Diesel Purge was recommended to me. For only RM45 (pre-GST), it was worth a try.

Liqui Moly Diesel Purge

There are 2 ways to use this Diesel Purge, either you pour it straight into the fuel tank and let it mix with the diesel in the tank as a preventive measure, or use it directly at the fuel pump for cure of the engine's ailments. I chose the second step as the car may have clogged fuel line which results in increased fuel consumption, increased diesel smoke and smell, and also loss of power. 

What you need ; 

1, A small canister, perhaps a 1.5l bottle, the top being cut off.

2. A hose, to extend the lines.

3. Pliers to open the holding rings.

4. Brute force.

5. Patience.

The fuel filter with priming pump

Firstly, locate the fuel filter. For the Nissan Frontier D22, the fuel filter is on the left side of the car, and it has a black priming pump to remove any air trapped in the fuel line, which will come in handy. 

IN and OUT fuel line

Then, locate the fuel line that connects to the fuel filter. Usually, it will be labelled as IN and OUT, but different car manufacturers may probably have different labels.

IN fuel line

Using pliers, loosen the O-ring and pull the fuel line off the fuel filter. Make sure you are ready with the bottle as there are still diesel in the fuel line. The IN fuel line is usually soft and the OUT fuel line is hard as high pressure fuel comes out of the OUT fuel line.

A messy job pulling the fuel line off the fuel pump.

The fuel line is put inside the bottle

Both lines are disconnected from the fuel pump.

As the fuel lines are not in the same length, a hose is needed to extend the fuel line so that both is almost of the same length. I cut about a foot of my garden hose and connect it to the shorter fuel line. Then, make sure that the end of each fuel line is at the bottom of the bottle, and open the can of Diesel Purge, and pour it into the bottle.

Trying to make sure that both hoses are at the bottom of the bottle, submerged.

Once you've done that, ask someone to start the engine and rev the engine at different speeds. When the Liqui Moly Diesel Purge is sucked dry, the engine will stall as there is no more fuel.

All of the Liqui Moly Diesel Purge sucked dry by the engine.

Once it has been sucked dry, disconnect the extension hose and reconnect everything back to its original place in reverse order in how to disconnect it. Once everything is reconnected, try to start the engine. The engine will not start as there is no fuel in the fuel line, and there is still too much air inside. To solve this, pump the accelerator a few times while pressing the fuel priming pump until there is a pressure build up. Then start the engine again. The engine will still die after a second or two because there is still air and no fuel pressure. Repeat the same process again until the engine runs smoothly. For my case, I had to do the process for 5-6 times until I get a smooth and stable idling.

After all has been done, I took the car for a test run. There seems to be less smoke emitted from the exhaust, and the idling is smooth. The fuel consumption seems to be less, and when I took it for a drive, the engine accelerates effortlessly to 140km/h. For RM45, it is really worth it.