Q: Can the air filters be blown out instead of replaced?

Hi There, In absolute desperate situations this can be done, however the caution is that when you do this, you are creating very small holes and weakening the paper element that makes up the filter. When the motor is running and air is passing through this into the engine, all of these holes allow dirt and other contaminants to pass through to the motor defeating the purpose of having a filter. The other problem with doing this is that every time compressed air is blown into the filter it weakens the paper element which over time results in it becoming brittle and eventually breaking into small pieces which end up getting passed into the engine, again defeating the purpose of using a filter. There are some aftermarket filters that are "reusable" and can be washed and cleaned without replacing. I would recommend spending the extra money on a filter like this that will allow you to reuse it more often than replacing it.