fuel filter ? oil filter?

[joko]

i asked a question a wee while ago and was advised to clean the air filter and the oil and fuel filters...

today we checked the air filter and it was spotless =in fact it looked almost brand new...

so either that means its not clogged so its all great - but could that mean that its clean because its not working properly? i have only had the car 5 months an the previous owner was a mechanics brother, so its possible he fitted a new one recently.

the other thing was the guy who helped me is an ex mechanic, and said its not worth cleaning the fuel filter as you may as well buy a new one for about £10-15...is this right? is it too much of a fiddley hard job to clean them?
i said maybe check it it was infact clogged up before i buy a new one, but he said its all encased etc and basically seemed reluctant to do it - but he did say he could and would fit the new one for me...

(this guy is someone my dad knows who was a mechanic who got sacked years ago because he got ill and then became an alcoholic ...so i believe he knows his stuff. he seems very knowledgable and explains fully what he thinks etc
he hadnt been drinking this morning as he had the mild shakes.

i think i will take the car to a mech as id hate for him to mess it up...my dad just suggested he have a look and see what he thought ( he has helped us before and done a good job, so i think my dad just thinks its good to show faith in him and give him a few quid to do odd jobs, i suppose in the hope of helping him sort himself out a bit)

but essentially, is he right that its probably not worthing trying to clean it? or is there something i can use to clean it without removing it...?

how likely is it to need cleaning? bear in mind ive only had it 5 months and the previous owner was a mech, so presumably kept if fairly well tuned over the years

thanks

[ChuckFickens]

You can clean an air filter at a push, but you may as well just replace them as they are normally fairly cheap (but a 5month old filter should look like new and wouldn't need replacing)

Fuel filters can't really be cleaned, they are always replaced, but again if it was replaced 5 months ago it shouldn't need it unless you do hugely high mileage.

[joko]

hi chuck,cheers, thats good about the air filter

i dont know when the fuel filter was last cleaned/replaced...i have onoy had the car 5 months - how can you tell it it needs replacing? he said its all enclosed so you cant really tell without takign it out...but no point in buying a new one if that one it fine...havent really got a lot of cash the moment.

as in my other question, this is because sometimes when the car is changing down or up a gear (its an auto) usually at low speeds it sometimes feels like the car is cutting out for a split second... and peopke on here advised, fuel starvation was most likely...

the runs fine in every other way

he also suggested this ''fault'' could just be down to the fact the this car is a turbo and its just turbo lag ...and i am not used to that...my old car had very fast pick up so maybe me puttin my foot down too fast is the reason and its nt really a fault...?