Use this picture guide to walk you through the process of changing the engine air filter in your Honda Accord. This takes less than 15 minutes and applies to Honda Accords for the following years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.

It is a good practice to change the engine air filter on your Accord every 6 months to 2 years. The frequency with which you change the filter depends on the sorts of driving conditions you usually drive in. For example, if you spend time driving on dirt roads, you may want to change the filter more often.

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Changing the engine air filter is a great way to gain back a little horsepower, and it is just a nice thing to do for your engine. The air filter cleans the dust and dirt out of the air before the engine breaths it, but over time, it gets clogged with all that dirt. Changing out the filter allows your engine to breathe easier.

Okay, let’s go ahead and get started. Below I have included a link to Amazon for the engine air filter I used for my 2004 Honda Accord shown in these pictures.

Tools and Supplies Needed:

Procedure for Changing the Engine Air Filter in a Honda Accord

The first step is to pop the hood and locate the air filter housing assembly.

1-Honda-Accord-Engine-Bay

It is located in the black box directly behind the battery.

2-Honda-Accord-Air-Filter-Housing

Remove the 4 Philips screws at each corner of the filter housing.

The screws do not come completely out. You will know they are loose when you are unscrewing, and you hear the screw clicking, indicating that it has reached the end of its threads.

After all of the screws are loose, you can lift the housing up. This is a bit tricky because there is not a lot of clearance to pull it up. The plastic trim around the edge of the engine bay gets in the way. You have to push the hose back in order for it to clear the trim. I cracked part of the housing during this step (it was winter and the plastic was brittle…).

6-Air-Filter-Housing-Open

Once the housing is lifted up, the old filter will be exposed.

15-Accord-Insert-New-Air-Filter

Pull the old filter out and inspect it, particularly the bottom of it.

13-Honda-Accord-Dirty-Air-Filter

Here is a photo of the old and new filters side by side, for purposes of comparison.

12-Air-Filters-Old-New-Accord

It was definitely time for this one to be replaced.

Also, now that you have the filter housing open, there are a couple of things you should do. First, vacuum or wipe out the sand, debris, and dust (and dragonflies!?) that are in there.

14-Dirty-Air-Filter-Housing-Accord

Also, if you look into the top of the filter housing and into the hose opening, this is a convenient time to check your mass airflow sensor and clean it if necessary.

9-Mass-Airflow-Sensor-Accord

Once that is done, put in the new air filter. Make sure you line it up correctly; match the shape of the filter with that of the housing.

16-Accord-New-Air-Filter-in-Housing

You’re now ready to put things back together. Push the top of the filter housing down (and in, around the engine bay trim), to get it back in place. Make sure that it is lined up properly on the filter, and that the edge of the filter is not being pinched or crushed.

Then, line up the screws, and tighten the 4 Philips screws.

That’s about it. I hope this was helpful for you! Below is the link for the air filter again. Usually these are around $10-15 on Amazon. Check the link for the current price.

Tools and Supplies Needed:

Thanks for reading! Check out these additional helpful posts on Honda Accord maintenance tips.