[mact3333]

Woke up to light coat of ash everywhere...its raining light ash now from heavy fires 50 miles east of us.

Us it safe to drive our cars in light ash and smoke???

Man, PDX has been in smoky haze for the past month from fires in Canada and CA and now just east of us.

[EstorilM]

Originally Posted by mact3333

Woke up to light coat of ash everywhere...its raining light ash now from heavy fires 50 miles east of us.

Us it safe to drive our cars in light ash and smoke???

Man, PDX has been in smoky haze for the past month from fires in Canada and CA and now just east of us.

Had ash on my car this morning.... I drove it this morning but I don't have a long commute.

[bmrwrld]

Ash No. Will get sucked in to engine threw filter.

[Nikolas]

The filter should stop the ash from entering the motor. But, I would definitely change it once this fire season is done.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by bmrwrld

Ash No. Will get sucked in to engine threw filter.

That seems doubtful, but I bet it will clog the filter.

[JoeFromPA]

Minor anecdote:

My father brought a ~1996 Toyota paseo with him to Sicily during a tour of duty from 2000-2002. During that time, Mount Etna erupted a good bit and dumped TONS of volcanic ash over everything for weeks at a time. Naturally the car both inhaled a ton of ash, but also blew it all over the passengers in the morning when you started the car and the blower was on...

My father, religious car maintainer historically with multiple toyotas going over 200k on stock clutches and with nothing ever touched on the engine, decided to neglect this car.

So for the 2 year tour of duty, he didn't change the oil or air filter (despite the ash, etc.). It also got trashed front and rear from nicks to the bumpers.

When it was getting shipped home, an accident happened breaking the front and rear bumpers. He got them replaced for free, as well as some free servicing, and promptly traded the car in on a 99 boxster.

....

Now I have nothing really to add here except that a bit of light ash from local fires would fall under the "severe service" category for most cars - which simply means to replace the filters at about half their usual lifespan.

[bmrwrld]

It make me to nervous to drive around even if the filters could stop most of it.

[mkoesel]

So is it safe to drive in smoke and ash?

Sure is bro. Sure is. My stoner buddies do it all the time, man. It's totally safe, man. Totally.

[CLH]

Ash falling up here in the Seattle/Tacoma area too. My wife's car was outside overnight last night and was covered by this morning. Very hazy today and light ash still swirling around.

[pz619]

Yes it's fine. Parts of San Diego burns down every 5 years or so from wildfires. Never had an issue. Try to keep ash off the car because of the acidity on the paint and shake out the air filter.

My old Mazda had part of the grill burned due to an ember landing on it. That was less fun.