Ive had the pathy for about 6 months now, but during the course of this time, just 3 months after i had bought it with only 1500km on the ODO.
I always have it parked in the basement garage, provided by the building for the tenants. But on one afternoon, between 2.30-3.45 there was a massive fire, with thick black smoke. I know this cos my mom and i went down the staircase and where i foolishishly attempted to go onto the garage to save the pathy but not able to do so.
But thank God the fire didnt reach where the vehicle was parked. But the basement was engulfed in thick black smoke. I didnt have much damage but the smoke along with the water did affect all the chrome on the vehicle, the grille. two side mirrors and all the accessoiries like the name tag, the rear chrome near the tail gte and so on. There was also black mark on the rear bumper on the passengers side at the back.
Fortunately i got it all replaced and the bumper too was painted. The paint looked dull, but the service advisor told me that the paint has not got affected but the layer of wax has and advised me not to repaint the car like i was initially thinking of doing. I didnt pay a dime since it was all covered under insurance so they payed fo it all.
Since then i got it serviced when the 5000km was due. Was just checkin with you guys to know if my air filter would have got contaminated?? and if i need to clean it or have it replaced. That is the only part i could think of that would have got affected since during the whole fire the vehicle was switched off and everything inside the engine all surrounding parts are sealed anyways..What do yo guys think..

Sorry about the fire...at least the truck was largely unharmed.

It's not likely that enough smoke got into the air filter to foul it if there was no air flow. But just pull it and check it...replace if necessary. 5 minutes and $10 tops.

Thanks Lilstevie. It broke my heart to see car inside cos from outside i presseed the lock button to see if its ok and then it horned. Yeh lemme do that and see..

One more thing, I live in Dubai where the weathers pretty dusty with the occational sand strorm. How often do you think i should inspect the filter.

coom1986 wrote:One more thing, I live in Dubai where the weathers pretty dusty with the occational sand strorm. How often do you think i should inspect the filter.

Set yourself a routine. I used to check mine every 3 months because of the conditions here, but found that to be too often. Now I just check every 6 months. Our thunderstorms here in the summer are absolutely disgusting. There is always wind involved, and that wind picks up salt from the salt flats that extend from here to 120 miles west of here. Then, once the storms hit the Great Salt Lake, they "suck and blow" a ton of the surface water all over the valley. So, after a bout of windy conditions, all the cars get covered in a fine layer of crud. If it rains, then it looks like I parked under the roost of 5,000 seagulls: salty crap splattered all over the Pathie. Because of all this, I tend to check a number of things on mine fairly often.

Thanks for the info..Yeh ive had it for just 6 months so i guess its still pretty new. Its mostly dusty, sand storms can get pretty strong and can get real humid. Average temperature around these parts are in the 42-52 degree celcius or even more during the summer which is like 75% of the year.