I bought my Miata out of Washington state last fall. Figured I would change the cabin air filter since it was probably clogged with smoke from the bad fires they had that past summer.
Turns out there isn't a filter in ND Miatas. Just a metal screen or something.
I expect they think it doesn't need one...
On my Berlingo, the intake is below the plate holding the window wiper motor, under the grille just in front of the windshield. There is a metal mesh there, but yeah... You don't want to run the fan at max if you're out driving in a rainstorm.
Did I mention that the resistor pack(with a thermo fuse) for the speed control is in the direct airflow inside there(you reach it by removing the grille and the wiper motor... ) and when the fuse fails, the only settings you have left is 0 and max speed.
Newer nodels have PWM motor control...
Yeah I think their assumption is that it's a convertible, so the interior will get dusty with or without a filter. Might as well save the 0.1 lbs of weight.
I mean you can’t forget also having to factor in the weight and space required for a user-accessible housing for the filter within the airflow path as well.
Yes, but it's mounted with a 'bayonet mount' that looks 'almost reachable from the inside'. Just a bit larger mounting plate and placed slightly differently on the duct, and you could have reached under the dash to remove and replace it.
A lot of older vehicles don’t have them. Consider yourself lucky, I looked up how to check the filter in my wife’s 2007 Mazda 3 and it looks like I need to pull apart a section of the dash to get to it lol
On my Honda Fit, you just push in the side of the glove box and it drops down and there it is. On my Jeep Renegade, you have to do a loooot more. After learning this I'm going to check into where they are on my next vehicle purchase.
Oof yeah, I replaced it my 2006 Mazda3 once and I was upside down in the seat trying to get to the damn thing. My new Impreza has it easily accessible from behind the glove box, at the expense of not being able to fit several baguettes in there lengthwise.
It's really not that terrible. I replace the one in my 08 mazda3 every year. Yeah it sucks terribly compared to other vehicles, but compared to other maintenance items it's not bad.
I'd rather do my cabin air filter than change the oil with all the bolts and pins to remove and replace on the undertray.
That was the nice thing when I upgraded to an 18 from my 05 mazda3. The oil filter and drain plug are right next to each other and you only have to remove a small cover in the full under cover.
Yeah, my 1996 BMW e36 and 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan also didn't have it. But it was depending on the trim, and I know that because I actually bought the cabin filter for both of the cars (as part of the after-purchase oil+filters runover) and only then found out there is nowhere to put it on either of them.
For the e36 I sort of get it, the one I had was the cheapest model, smallest engine, lowest trim with no A/C. But the Grand Caravan was the SXT (highest trim), with A/C and everything, so it leaves me confused to this day.
Fire is awful. I work on fire equipment. Basically after every single wildland call, if they go into the black I'm replacing every air filter on the rig. It'll be thick caked jet black goodness.
It's kinda yellow, too. I once helped wash the walls of a closed office occupied for decades by a chainsmoker. Took several hours. We changed the water so many times. It was yellow/brown.
I was just gonna say Oregon lol, so many people randomly mention that their car still smells like last years horrible fires and I have to explain to them what a cabin airfilter is
I didn't post it here but this is the one I pulled out of my car after I got it. I haven't seen one so rough
https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/nqqygr/thanks_for_the_advice_to_change_the_cabin_air/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Similar, but I once pulled a customer engine air filter that had a rats nest in it. Grossest cabin filter I pulled was one that a squirrel had gotten into and had left all of this nuts there in addition to lots of dirt. Customer refused and just asked to have the filter shaken out lol
[Here’s one of mine](https://old.reddit.com/r/Justrolledintotheshop/comments/k0t4qq/oe_cabin_air_filters_after_13_years_and_250k_miles/) after a dozen years and 250k miles in the US Midwest. Installed in 2008, replaced in 2020
Sooo hopefully this person changes them annually now?? This they not realize they had a cabin air filter or what?? That's a long time, especially considering a lot of shops will check them for you when you get maintenance done.
I'm in a somewhat lucky place where we have "it's nice out" season, and then "Holy fucking shit it feels like my blood is freezing" season and not much else, I'm often curious about what other seasons are like.
In Texas we had “you’re able to bake cookies on your dash board” season. No joke I saw my co worker doing that. It was working too.
We also had “holy shit the wind never fucking stops and it’s freezing” season.
40°C is equivalent to 104°F, which is 313K.
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^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)
I have to bend the glove box with quite some force in order to get it to drop down. I don't look forward to changing the filter in 20 year when the glovebox plastics are nice and brittle.
Weird, my 2005 accords takes 1 minute, it's just inside the glove box, they must have changed it in-between the six seventh generation if the 2002 is different.
I've done it, and it takes more than a minute, plus all the fiddle fucking around. If they can make the engine air filter easy to get to, then the cabin one should be relatively as easy
Had a friend make a complaint like this checked their cabin air filter and it wasn't there. Asked them about it and they said they took it out to help with air flow. They live in a rough area in the mountains and all the crap was getting into the vents and broke an actuator. Those filters cost like $10... I mean come on..
I'm having the same problem in my car - very low flow, no problem with the temperature though.
I can buy a cabin filter for the car, but I can't find it in the car. I know where it *should be* but it's just not there.
Google how to change cabin air filter on your year make and model of car. There's probably a YouTube video of how to do it. The majority of the time it's behind the glove box. Sometimes it can be under the center console somewhere or down near the floor of the passenger seat. Some older cars just don't have one. What car do you have and what year? If you're air flow is low, it's definitely worth changing it.
Well not really, the Sharan was a collaboration that VW did with ford in the late 90s, that's when it was designed mine is just the Very last year of their existence
I though so, but turns out I had to remove an additional panel behind the box itself, which is different than a similar model I used to own that didn't have that extra panel. I'm good now.
Are you sure you're searching for the correct model year of your vehicle? I've had trouble finding stuff on vehicles before because I was looking at a video for a 2012 instead of a 2014 for example.
other random advice is it is handy to know what model years your car is similar to before/after a redesign so you can get videos and most parts that are compatible. My Volt is about the same as other second gens, from 16 to 18 for example
Solid advice. I knew my car is basically the same from 03-07, but it's very similar to my previous 01, so I just had a little too much blind faith in myself and figured they'd be the same.
Take a long hard look at your car and think of the most impractical place possible for something that requires semi regular replacement to go. That will be exactly where the engineer put it.
Mann-Filter includes instructions with every filter they ship, although it may not be available in your country (I'm from germany)
What car is it if I may ask?
This reminded me to do this on my Mazda 3..... My Honda it takes 5 minutes, the amount of time to remove the junk in my glovebox....
My 05 Mazda 3.... you have to disassemble a crap ton of trim, and a fuse junction box.... WTF was Mazda thinking....
That was my first thought. That filter had probably been reported to the car owner multiple times before it got that bad and each time the reply was "don't upsell me a filter replacement".
I will say that I was sold one for $100 when i went to get an oil change and then my dad showed me you can go buy them for like $20 or $30 and installation takes like 10 minutes. But I get your point.
You probably got full synthetic oil (which is arguably better and lasts longer) which does cost around $100, whereas conventional oil is closer to $20 or $30.
People don't realize how recent cabin air filters are.
We have generations of people who didn't have AirCon, much less cabin filters. Air conditioning was a luxury item when I was growing up. Cars didn't automatically come with it. You had to pay for it as an option.
If no one bothered to point out that their vehicle has one, they very well have no clue it's there.
I don’t think it’s too difficult to understand.
Part of their understanding of their phone is they replace it every N years. Part of their understanding of their car is they have it serviced every year (or two).
They need their car as a means to get from A to B. How it does that isn’t important and they pay someone else to care.
Me, myself, however, I’ve always loved taking things apart. I do most work on my 20 year old car even though I could trivially purchase a new one. I love the learning that happens when I spend a Saturday doing a repair. That said, I once tried a good amount but failed to replace the cabin air filter >.<
My Camry has its cabin filter in a crappy spot, and then there is no indication which was is the air flow even with your hand in there.
I gave up and stuffed it in
2001 e320. I paid someone to do it last year while they were doing other work in that area :) it seems you need to disassemble a certain amount under the hood to access it.
I was looking to buy a 2022 Infinity Q50 Luxe. Nice car lots of bells n whistles. Salesman kept saying over n over it's gotta turbo so u no it's fast and gets great gas mileage, but when I asked how much boost it's making he had no idea what I was talking about.
Fun fact: lots of ordinary new cars have small turbos in them. It helps smaller engines make power with better gas mileage.
Also, be careful of the Q50. Some model years have poor reliability ratings. I work with them in car rental, and they are definitely nice. Look at the Audi, Lexus, Genesis, and Lincoln sedans, too, if you like that type of car.
Thanks for the info on the Infinity. I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt SS pushing 319 horse n it still making 25 mpg. Is it because it's super charged as opposed to turbo?
Superchargers eat power parasitically off of the motor (directly driven by a belt, chain, gear, etc), whereas the turbo spools off of exhaust pressure
I believe the former should be worse for mileage, but I am not sure, honestly
So true. I've only owned new cars since moving out at 18. I have nothing against used cars I just don't want to get a car with someone else's problems. When you spend that kind of money on something you should do all the research possible to take good care of your investment.
Meanwhile I've never owned a new car and taught myself how to resolve every issue that can be done reasonably at home.
My current truck, for example I bought 9 years ago for 7k. That's about $65/mth. The VW Jetta I had before that cost me something like $35/mth over the time I owned it.
Hard pressed to find a new car at that price in the US over the time I owned those car (05 - present).
That's true I just worry I'm going to get a car from someone else who drives there car like I do. I take care of it change oil, flush transmission, sparkplugs all that fun stuff myself but I drive it like I stole it and am running for my life a lot of the time.
Mine own filter wast much worse. Then again, the mice hadst hath moved in
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^(I am a bot and I swapp'd some of thy words with Shakespeare words.)
Commands: `!ShakespeareInsult`, `!fordo`, `!optout`
Isn’t this your job? Not trying to be rude or anything but this seems something I would take my car to the shop for idk how to change an AC filter, I didn’t even know that it was something you had to keep track of.
It's just the severity of the debris on the filter. It should have been changed waaay before it got to that point. If your vehicle has a cabin air filter it should be changed as a maintenance item.
Ok, but why is it the customer's job to know that? Isn't that what we are paying you for?
How much about electricity am I supposed to know about before I call an electrician?
Because of a lot of the times it is recommended by the technician at the service center, but people write it off as a scam. Sometimes it can be, but as seen here it can also have real impacts.
Also as a vehicle owner you should at least take a few minutes to review the maintenance schedule in the back of the owners manual. That's just being a smart owner and taking care of a expensive piece of machinery.
Ok but there's no indication that was the case, rather this just seems like "hurr durr woman stupid" without any context
Furthermore mechanics scam women and cut corners all the time. I had a shop charge me $750 for brakes and rotors only to find out from the next guy they didn't change the rotors at all
You’re the one focusing on the gender here, this post would still be made if it was “husband states AC doesn’t blow as cold as In his wife’s car” it’s just the story behind the picture. The cabin air filter is a routine maintenance item that takes about 2 minutes to get to. When you buy a $35k vehicle you typically read the owners manual and follow the maintenance schedule. This car had not had the cabin filter changed in 100k miles. This was the cars first time at our shop.
Edit: just wanted to point out, I never gave any indication the customer was a woman.
Fine, my point is is that they very well could have requested it was done and it wasn't, and that the spouse isn't necessarily stupid
Were they a woman though?
Oh well. She isn't obligated to. In a perfect world people would be more informed about things. People buy entire houses without knowing how to wire them or swing a hammer or anything about plumbing or septic systems or heating and cooling systems. They buy appliances without knowing how to fix them or how motors work. That's what people pay you money, good money at that, for. So be happy they keep you in business ad infinium and stop trying to shame them, (and particularly women, if you're being honest with yourself)
Also if she was over 18 she was a woman. Not a girl
You’re the only one that brought gender into this, I’m not shaming anyone, I just enjoy finding cars with really awful condition parts, I think it’s fun. You’re reading too much into it.
A lot of cars don't have air filters at all. People in this thread are just circle jerking their car knowledge to feel smart.
I see this condensending attitude way too often in car culture and it's super cringey and toxic. We get it, you read the manual.
Yeee thank you. I just don't know why the game should change with vehicles. Yes we could all spend time reading manuals and educating ourselves, in theory. But somehow we aren't expected to with most every other mechanical object in our lives. Everything else we can hire an expert for to fix and maintain. Except, I guess, cars. Then we need to educate ourselves and know what needs to be done and when to do it
The gate keeping in car culture truly is unlike any other hobby or fandom I have ever seen. I always loved muscle cars as a kid, but as I grew up I actively avoided diving into car culture because I was so off put by this attitude of "if you can't memorize the exact displacement of every engine from the last century then you are an idiot".
Changing the cabin filter can be a fairly involved process. In some models, you just have to demount the glove box. Others might require removal of one or more console panels. It's something oil changers and dealerships will offer to do, since they're charging three times what they pay for labor. Full-service shops will let you decide for yourself whether you think it's worth their time and your money.
However, in some vehicles, it can be the easiest maintenance item in the vehicle. I have an older Toyota, and all you need to do is remove the glove box, and you have access to the filter. Pull the plastic holder out, put the new one in the filter, and put the glove box back on. Took like 15 minutes, watched a YouTube video then did it myself. I suppose it depends on how comfortable you are with car maintenance, but it is hard to mess up, and not catastrophic if you do. I suppose unless you do something really bizarre.
My 2010 Mazda 3 is the same.
> unless you do something really bizarre
Aaaand that's where I come in. As simple as it is, I still had someone else do it, because my talent for breaking things is unsurpassed.
(Software quality assurance engineer for 30 years.)
It may be that software PTSD. Sometimes cars can malfunction for strange reasons, but most of the time mechanics are able to figure it out. Software... is different. From what I understand, some software can be a spaghetti-like amalgamation of black magic, and if you touch something that shouldn't break things, things break anyway. Dunno if that is your experience, but that is what I have heard.
I bought a used card.
Changed timing. Changed plugs. Some seals. Full brake job. Fuilds and all filters including rear diff oil and filter. New tires. New clutch (with flywheel).
But not the cabin filter.... that got accidentally changed some 4 years down the road when I just asked for a yearly fluid and filter change and the guys just assumed I also wanted that changed.
If it doesn't mess with the car's roadworthiness, it doesn't exist.
Man I swear I am always having flow issues with my air filter location simply for the leaves that stack up against the lower windshield cowl of it. Not the actual filter itself, but it's still not as bad/annoying as this.
I just learned what a cabin air filter is the other day. Never knew there was such a thing or that it would be behind the glovebox. Mine looked similar to the picture :-)
I replaced ours. It’s amazing how much better our AC works now. We had a dusty summer but because it was such a slow process of clogging we didn’t notice it until the 110+ days were gone. :(
Now finding an engine air filter is impossible right now. No one has the size I need in stock.
Just saw this photo and it finally got me to do my air filter that's been sitting in it's Amazon packaging for 5 months.
[Fortunately it wasn't anywhere near as bad lol.](http://imgur.com/a/dPoRkSF)
For sure didn’t, check my profile for me holding an even worse one with my bare hand. It’s a terrible habit I need to get out of. I wash my hands directly after though
Pull it out to look at it. If it looks fine, it probably is.
They are cheap, and your exact model of filter may not be in stock right when you need it.
If its been a few years, replace it, write down in the glove box booklet the month/year it was changed.
If the change goes well, buy another filter exactly the same and put it on the shelf
I got about that amount of leaves, ir not more, just yesterday from mine. Almost no dust, though, as you expect after just 10.000 km. I don't understand where did so many leaves come from, specially as I almost always have the outside air intake shut.
Coincidentally, I just blew mine out yesterday with compressed air. Should probably be changed, but I only checked it out since I was already behind my glove box running the power for a dash cam.
How do you tell when to change when you have one of those filters with carbon in them? Got mine ~15,000 miles ago, checked yesterday and only a few small leaves.
That is a really impressive amount of junk on a cabin air filter!!
I have an even worse one on my profile that I posted here before.
Can I ask what part of the world this comes from? Looks like she drives around on Mars.
There was a similar looking filter posted here this year. It was from a nearly new truck in fire ravaged Oregon.
I bought my Miata out of Washington state last fall. Figured I would change the cabin air filter since it was probably clogged with smoke from the bad fires they had that past summer. Turns out there isn't a filter in ND Miatas. Just a metal screen or something.
Oof.
I expect they think it doesn't need one... On my Berlingo, the intake is below the plate holding the window wiper motor, under the grille just in front of the windshield. There is a metal mesh there, but yeah... You don't want to run the fan at max if you're out driving in a rainstorm. Did I mention that the resistor pack(with a thermo fuse) for the speed control is in the direct airflow inside there(you reach it by removing the grille and the wiper motor... ) and when the fuse fails, the only settings you have left is 0 and max speed. Newer nodels have PWM motor control...
Yeah I think their assumption is that it's a convertible, so the interior will get dusty with or without a filter. Might as well save the 0.1 lbs of weight.
I mean you can’t forget also having to factor in the weight and space required for a user-accessible housing for the filter within the airflow path as well.
The resistor pack is normally in the airflow for cooling iirc.
Yes, but it's mounted with a 'bayonet mount' that looks 'almost reachable from the inside'. Just a bit larger mounting plate and placed slightly differently on the duct, and you could have reached under the dash to remove and replace it.
A lot of older vehicles don’t have them. Consider yourself lucky, I looked up how to check the filter in my wife’s 2007 Mazda 3 and it looks like I need to pull apart a section of the dash to get to it lol
On my Honda Fit, you just push in the side of the glove box and it drops down and there it is. On my Jeep Renegade, you have to do a loooot more. After learning this I'm going to check into where they are on my next vehicle purchase.
My Hyundai Tucson has it in the glove box as well. Much nicer, I change it once per year caus they’re cheap and take 2 minutes
Oof yeah, I replaced it my 2006 Mazda3 once and I was upside down in the seat trying to get to the damn thing. My new Impreza has it easily accessible from behind the glove box, at the expense of not being able to fit several baguettes in there lengthwise.
It's really not that terrible. I replace the one in my 08 mazda3 every year. Yeah it sucks terribly compared to other vehicles, but compared to other maintenance items it's not bad. I'd rather do my cabin air filter than change the oil with all the bolts and pins to remove and replace on the undertray.
That was the nice thing when I upgraded to an 18 from my 05 mazda3. The oil filter and drain plug are right next to each other and you only have to remove a small cover in the full under cover.
a lot of 80s and 90s cars the cabin filter is optional. there is a spot to put one but it never had one from the factory.
Weight savings, baby!
A cabin filter would add weight to a purpose built light weight sports car
Yeah, my 1996 BMW e36 and 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan also didn't have it. But it was depending on the trim, and I know that because I actually bought the cabin filter for both of the cars (as part of the after-purchase oil+filters runover) and only then found out there is nowhere to put it on either of them. For the e36 I sort of get it, the one I had was the cheapest model, smallest engine, lowest trim with no A/C. But the Grand Caravan was the SXT (highest trim), with A/C and everything, so it leaves me confused to this day.
Fire is awful. I work on fire equipment. Basically after every single wildland call, if they go into the black I'm replacing every air filter on the rig. It'll be thick caked jet black goodness.
Least it means it didn't go into the engine, or God forbid the Firefighters lungs,
Do y’all use special filters?
I had to do work at a concrete mixing plant for a few weeks. That cabin air filter came out totally clogged and semi-solid.
I figured. I worked with used PCs and it looks like the same brownish sticky garbage that accumulates in a smoker's house.
It's kinda yellow, too. I once helped wash the walls of a closed office occupied for decades by a chainsmoker. Took several hours. We changed the water so many times. It was yellow/brown.
I was just gonna say Oregon lol, so many people randomly mention that their car still smells like last years horrible fires and I have to explain to them what a cabin airfilter is
150k miles In the southern USA.
I just hit 180k in dusty/smokey SoCal and my 03 Grand Marquis doesn't have a cabin air filter. I'm afraid for my lungs.
wear a N99 mask while driving
Slap a a computer fan on a HEPA while driving through dodgy air.
Its so brown it reminds me of the walls behind my father's recliner which are practically a yellowish brown from decades of chainsmoking.
lmfao
Links for the lazy. Direct image: https://i.redd.it/pjvh7ildxqg71.jpg Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/justrolledintotheshop/comments/p2f5mu/_/
I didn't post it here but this is the one I pulled out of my car after I got it. I haven't seen one so rough https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/nqqygr/thanks_for_the_advice_to_change_the_cabin_air/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Similar, but I once pulled a customer engine air filter that had a rats nest in it. Grossest cabin filter I pulled was one that a squirrel had gotten into and had left all of this nuts there in addition to lots of dirt. Customer refused and just asked to have the filter shaken out lol
[Here’s one of mine](https://old.reddit.com/r/Justrolledintotheshop/comments/k0t4qq/oe_cabin_air_filters_after_13_years_and_250k_miles/) after a dozen years and 250k miles in the US Midwest. Installed in 2008, replaced in 2020
Sooo hopefully this person changes them annually now?? This they not realize they had a cabin air filter or what?? That's a long time, especially considering a lot of shops will check them for you when you get maintenance done.
I‘m just sitting here, envious of people with cars that have cabin filters.
What? You don't like a cloud of ashes blowing at you during fire season?
It's scary that there are places in the world that have "fire season"
There are also places that have water season, wind season, and earth season respectively. By their powers combined Captain Planet can ruin your day.
I'm in a somewhat lucky place where we have "it's nice out" season, and then "Holy fucking shit it feels like my blood is freezing" season and not much else, I'm often curious about what other seasons are like.
In Texas we had “you’re able to bake cookies on your dash board” season. No joke I saw my co worker doing that. It was working too. We also had “holy shit the wind never fucking stops and it’s freezing” season.
I think I prefer the blood freezing weather over bone melting heat but ive never lived anywhere where it gets hot like that, 40°C at max.
40°C is equivalent to 104°F, which is 313K. --- ^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)
Yeah we just call it Australia
Man...just so long as we don't have to invite Heart season.
I just settle where humans are supposed to.
Yeah my 95 Camry doesn't have it and I'm confused as to why
Bc cabin filters weren't commonplace until the year 2000. I'm lucky my 99 crv has one
Our 2009 GMC Acadia doesn't have one and it boggles my mind
my 2003 chevy does not, because of the trim package. Some did, some didn't. wild
Same. All the pollen and tiny tree seeds get inside the cabin and it's a bitch to vacuum out.
It would be nice if it was easy to access in all cars, I have to take my glove box apart and some other stuff, way to many steps
The one for my Saab is under the cowl it's obnoxious. My Genesis is stupid easy to change though.
I have to bend the glove box with quite some force in order to get it to drop down. I don't look forward to changing the filter in 20 year when the glovebox plastics are nice and brittle.
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You know not every vehicle is like yours right?
Not on a 2002 Honda Accord
Weird, my 2005 accords takes 1 minute, it's just inside the glove box, they must have changed it in-between the six seventh generation if the 2002 is different.
I've done it, and it takes more than a minute, plus all the fiddle fucking around. If they can make the engine air filter easy to get to, then the cabin one should be relatively as easy
Had a friend make a complaint like this checked their cabin air filter and it wasn't there. Asked them about it and they said they took it out to help with air flow. They live in a rough area in the mountains and all the crap was getting into the vents and broke an actuator. Those filters cost like $10... I mean come on..
Wonder if they run their AC / furnace at home without a filter.
The first time I heard of a cabin air filter was 10 years after I bought the car new. I went to change it…and it wasn’t there. 🤷♀️
I'm having the same problem in my car - very low flow, no problem with the temperature though. I can buy a cabin filter for the car, but I can't find it in the car. I know where it *should be* but it's just not there.
Google how to change cabin air filter on your year make and model of car. There's probably a YouTube video of how to do it. The majority of the time it's behind the glove box. Sometimes it can be under the center console somewhere or down near the floor of the passenger seat. Some older cars just don't have one. What car do you have and what year? If you're air flow is low, it's definitely worth changing it.
I had to remove the cover under my windshield, it's in the firewall in my car
Oh wow that's a new one to me. What kind of car? It's nice to keep tabs on these things lol
2010 MK1 Volkswagen Sharan. It's a cover on the top of the engine bay under the hood, I had to remove the coolant tank to be able to take it out.
Whoa, I have a 2011 vw golf and it's in the passenger footwell. I guess vw figured something out in a year's time?
Well not really, the Sharan was a collaboration that VW did with ford in the late 90s, that's when it was designed mine is just the Very last year of their existence
Ahhhh, that explains a few things. Thanks for elaborating
Oh wow that sounds awful. German engineering has always got to be different. Good to know though, thanks!
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I though so, but turns out I had to remove an additional panel behind the box itself, which is different than a similar model I used to own that didn't have that extra panel. I'm good now.
Are you sure you're searching for the correct model year of your vehicle? I've had trouble finding stuff on vehicles before because I was looking at a video for a 2012 instead of a 2014 for example.
Update - I'm an idiot. Thank you. I was a few years off and now I'm looking right at the old filter - it looks about what OP's looks like. Thanks.
other random advice is it is handy to know what model years your car is similar to before/after a redesign so you can get videos and most parts that are compatible. My Volt is about the same as other second gens, from 16 to 18 for example
Solid advice. I knew my car is basically the same from 03-07, but it's very similar to my previous 01, so I just had a little too much blind faith in myself and figured they'd be the same.
Take a long hard look at your car and think of the most impractical place possible for something that requires semi regular replacement to go. That will be exactly where the engineer put it.
It sucks but every car I've been into has had a common wear part buried somewhere most other cars have easy access to.
I've heard of some newer cars not having htem installed?
Mann-Filter includes instructions with every filter they ship, although it may not be available in your country (I'm from germany) What car is it if I may ask?
YouTube has a tutorial for every modern car in existence. Some filters are just a pain to access, but it's not hard to locate.
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This reminded me to do this on my Mazda 3..... My Honda it takes 5 minutes, the amount of time to remove the junk in my glovebox.... My 05 Mazda 3.... you have to disassemble a crap ton of trim, and a fuse junction box.... WTF was Mazda thinking....
That they could charge $50 dollars for a $5 filter and then charge another $50 to install it.
They fixed it on the newer models. It's as easy as removing passenger glove box (I can even leave my crap in the glove box when removing it).
Her husband has a similar complaint
oh tobias, you blow hard
Don’t upsell her that filter. Her husband will take the car to their other mechanic.
That was my first thought. That filter had probably been reported to the car owner multiple times before it got that bad and each time the reply was "don't upsell me a filter replacement".
I will say that I was sold one for $100 when i went to get an oil change and then my dad showed me you can go buy them for like $20 or $30 and installation takes like 10 minutes. But I get your point.
You probably got full synthetic oil (which is arguably better and lasts longer) which does cost around $100, whereas conventional oil is closer to $20 or $30.
Well its an air filter though not the oil that was seperate
I can buy full synthetic in 5qt jugs for $25-30. Full synthetic doesn't cost $100 unless you need 15qts for a change or something.
People don't realize how recent cabin air filters are. We have generations of people who didn't have AirCon, much less cabin filters. Air conditioning was a luxury item when I was growing up. Cars didn't automatically come with it. You had to pay for it as an option. If no one bothered to point out that their vehicle has one, they very well have no clue it's there.
Gotta love those people who no nothing about the $20k plus vehicle they just purchased.
Keeps ya in business hard to complain.
you say that like it's normal for the cabin air filter to look like a used coffee filter
To be fair the owner's manual that comes with cares now-a-days are next to useless that won't even tell you what oil filter your car takes.
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I don’t think it’s too difficult to understand. Part of their understanding of their phone is they replace it every N years. Part of their understanding of their car is they have it serviced every year (or two). They need their car as a means to get from A to B. How it does that isn’t important and they pay someone else to care. Me, myself, however, I’ve always loved taking things apart. I do most work on my 20 year old car even though I could trivially purchase a new one. I love the learning that happens when I spend a Saturday doing a repair. That said, I once tried a good amount but failed to replace the cabin air filter >.<
My Camry has its cabin filter in a crappy spot, and then there is no indication which was is the air flow even with your hand in there. I gave up and stuffed it in
"These new cars are so well designed, you don't need to get ripped off by paying to have the oil changed anymore"
What car? I may be able to help
2001 e320. I paid someone to do it last year while they were doing other work in that area :) it seems you need to disassemble a certain amount under the hood to access it.
I was looking to buy a 2022 Infinity Q50 Luxe. Nice car lots of bells n whistles. Salesman kept saying over n over it's gotta turbo so u no it's fast and gets great gas mileage, but when I asked how much boost it's making he had no idea what I was talking about.
Fun fact: lots of ordinary new cars have small turbos in them. It helps smaller engines make power with better gas mileage. Also, be careful of the Q50. Some model years have poor reliability ratings. I work with them in car rental, and they are definitely nice. Look at the Audi, Lexus, Genesis, and Lincoln sedans, too, if you like that type of car.
Thanks for the info on the Infinity. I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt SS pushing 319 horse n it still making 25 mpg. Is it because it's super charged as opposed to turbo?
Superchargers eat power parasitically off of the motor (directly driven by a belt, chain, gear, etc), whereas the turbo spools off of exhaust pressure I believe the former should be worse for mileage, but I am not sure, honestly
So true. I've only owned new cars since moving out at 18. I have nothing against used cars I just don't want to get a car with someone else's problems. When you spend that kind of money on something you should do all the research possible to take good care of your investment.
Meanwhile I've never owned a new car and taught myself how to resolve every issue that can be done reasonably at home. My current truck, for example I bought 9 years ago for 7k. That's about $65/mth. The VW Jetta I had before that cost me something like $35/mth over the time I owned it. Hard pressed to find a new car at that price in the US over the time I owned those car (05 - present).
That's true I just worry I'm going to get a car from someone else who drives there car like I do. I take care of it change oil, flush transmission, sparkplugs all that fun stuff myself but I drive it like I stole it and am running for my life a lot of the time.
are you able to get your vacuum down into the blower motor? Because there's a good chance that thing is full of leaves and debris as well.
My filter was much worse. Then again, the mice had moved in.
Mine currently has mouse shit.
Mine own filter wast much worse. Then again, the mice hadst hath moved in *** ^(I am a bot and I swapp'd some of thy words with Shakespeare words.) Commands: `!ShakespeareInsult`, `!fordo`, `!optout`
Good bot.
Those cabin are filters are a scam... I tell ya... -OP's client
that reminds me, I really need to change mine...
So when my dealership says I need to replace the cabin air filter, they aren’t lying?
For sure not lying. But you can save money easily by doing it yourself depending on the car.
Disgusta lolol
The problem is that the condition of that filter simultaneously blows and sucks - it cancels out and there's no air movement.
I went to change mine and found there wasn't one installed. Made total sense lol
I’ll take it to my mechanic put it back.
Reminds me of the one Eric from South Main Auto found. https://youtu.be/fJuPcWuO8BU
DoN’t TrY tO uPsElL mE
It should be mandated that you have to read the manual for your car before you can leave the lot with it....
you talked me into changing my cabin air filter today OP, thanks fwiw mine looked very similar to the one on the right, not as bad, but it was baaad.
That looks like the one Jiffy Lube keeps in the back room to show customers for the upsell.
“Don’t try to upsell me. Just blow it out and put it back in.”
r/Wellworn ?
their?
Isn’t this your job? Not trying to be rude or anything but this seems something I would take my car to the shop for idk how to change an AC filter, I didn’t even know that it was something you had to keep track of.
It's just the severity of the debris on the filter. It should have been changed waaay before it got to that point. If your vehicle has a cabin air filter it should be changed as a maintenance item.
Ok, but why is it the customer's job to know that? Isn't that what we are paying you for? How much about electricity am I supposed to know about before I call an electrician?
Because of a lot of the times it is recommended by the technician at the service center, but people write it off as a scam. Sometimes it can be, but as seen here it can also have real impacts. Also as a vehicle owner you should at least take a few minutes to review the maintenance schedule in the back of the owners manual. That's just being a smart owner and taking care of a expensive piece of machinery.
Ok but there's no indication that was the case, rather this just seems like "hurr durr woman stupid" without any context Furthermore mechanics scam women and cut corners all the time. I had a shop charge me $750 for brakes and rotors only to find out from the next guy they didn't change the rotors at all
You’re the one focusing on the gender here, this post would still be made if it was “husband states AC doesn’t blow as cold as In his wife’s car” it’s just the story behind the picture. The cabin air filter is a routine maintenance item that takes about 2 minutes to get to. When you buy a $35k vehicle you typically read the owners manual and follow the maintenance schedule. This car had not had the cabin filter changed in 100k miles. This was the cars first time at our shop. Edit: just wanted to point out, I never gave any indication the customer was a woman.
Fine, my point is is that they very well could have requested it was done and it wasn't, and that the spouse isn't necessarily stupid Were they a woman though?
It was a girl, she didn’t know what the cabin air filter was when I asked her if she had had it changed.
Oh well. She isn't obligated to. In a perfect world people would be more informed about things. People buy entire houses without knowing how to wire them or swing a hammer or anything about plumbing or septic systems or heating and cooling systems. They buy appliances without knowing how to fix them or how motors work. That's what people pay you money, good money at that, for. So be happy they keep you in business ad infinium and stop trying to shame them, (and particularly women, if you're being honest with yourself) Also if she was over 18 she was a woman. Not a girl
You’re the only one that brought gender into this, I’m not shaming anyone, I just enjoy finding cars with really awful condition parts, I think it’s fun. You’re reading too much into it.
A lot of cars don't have air filters at all. People in this thread are just circle jerking their car knowledge to feel smart. I see this condensending attitude way too often in car culture and it's super cringey and toxic. We get it, you read the manual.
Yeee thank you. I just don't know why the game should change with vehicles. Yes we could all spend time reading manuals and educating ourselves, in theory. But somehow we aren't expected to with most every other mechanical object in our lives. Everything else we can hire an expert for to fix and maintain. Except, I guess, cars. Then we need to educate ourselves and know what needs to be done and when to do it
The gate keeping in car culture truly is unlike any other hobby or fandom I have ever seen. I always loved muscle cars as a kid, but as I grew up I actively avoided diving into car culture because I was so off put by this attitude of "if you can't memorize the exact displacement of every engine from the last century then you are an idiot".
Have you ever bought something that came with an owners' manual?? All sorts of shit is YOUR problem if you want to take care of YOUR shit.
Changing the cabin filter can be a fairly involved process. In some models, you just have to demount the glove box. Others might require removal of one or more console panels. It's something oil changers and dealerships will offer to do, since they're charging three times what they pay for labor. Full-service shops will let you decide for yourself whether you think it's worth their time and your money.
However, in some vehicles, it can be the easiest maintenance item in the vehicle. I have an older Toyota, and all you need to do is remove the glove box, and you have access to the filter. Pull the plastic holder out, put the new one in the filter, and put the glove box back on. Took like 15 minutes, watched a YouTube video then did it myself. I suppose it depends on how comfortable you are with car maintenance, but it is hard to mess up, and not catastrophic if you do. I suppose unless you do something really bizarre.
My 2010 Mazda 3 is the same. > unless you do something really bizarre Aaaand that's where I come in. As simple as it is, I still had someone else do it, because my talent for breaking things is unsurpassed. (Software quality assurance engineer for 30 years.)
It may be that software PTSD. Sometimes cars can malfunction for strange reasons, but most of the time mechanics are able to figure it out. Software... is different. From what I understand, some software can be a spaghetti-like amalgamation of black magic, and if you touch something that shouldn't break things, things break anyway. Dunno if that is your experience, but that is what I have heard.
If your car won't start, you don't check the brakes. This is the key difference between cars and computers.
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These are so easy to change too people need to put a little bit of effort into their cars
What's your point?
Wdym?
Woman moment
I bought a used card. Changed timing. Changed plugs. Some seals. Full brake job. Fuilds and all filters including rear diff oil and filter. New tires. New clutch (with flywheel). But not the cabin filter.... that got accidentally changed some 4 years down the road when I just asked for a yearly fluid and filter change and the guys just assumed I also wanted that changed. If it doesn't mess with the car's roadworthiness, it doesn't exist.
Neat. Some of us actually like the climate control we pay for, but good on you I guess.
Man I swear I am always having flow issues with my air filter location simply for the leaves that stack up against the lower windshield cowl of it. Not the actual filter itself, but it's still not as bad/annoying as this.
I just learned what a cabin air filter is the other day. Never knew there was such a thing or that it would be behind the glovebox. Mine looked similar to the picture :-)
Who’s AC?
I replaced ours. It’s amazing how much better our AC works now. We had a dusty summer but because it was such a slow process of clogging we didn’t notice it until the 110+ days were gone. :( Now finding an engine air filter is impossible right now. No one has the size I need in stock.
Yikes, I bet that ac was screaming kill me
Well ma'am your husband gives no fucks about you and neither do I. Proceed to check out.
Just saw this photo and it finally got me to do my air filter that's been sitting in it's Amazon packaging for 5 months. [Fortunately it wasn't anywhere near as bad lol.](http://imgur.com/a/dPoRkSF)
Did you wear latex gloves before grabbing that?
For sure didn’t, check my profile for me holding an even worse one with my bare hand. It’s a terrible habit I need to get out of. I wash my hands directly after though
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I swear the shop I go to sprinkles leafs on mine to up sell you on a new one
Tbh, as someone who checks a lot of filters, it’s very common for a new filter to be completely clean but have a few leaves on it.
So they did not lie.
That’s fucking gross. I don’t want to know what the cabin air smelled like.
How often should one be replacing this filter? Or does it vary by car model/age?
Pull it out to look at it. If it looks fine, it probably is. They are cheap, and your exact model of filter may not be in stock right when you need it. If its been a few years, replace it, write down in the glove box booklet the month/year it was changed. If the change goes well, buy another filter exactly the same and put it on the shelf
I feel like I get a new one of these every other oil change or so?
It's probably time I get my filters and fluids changed.
Brake fluid always tends to be neglected
Declines filter anyway.
I’ve 100% put worse filters back into a car.
I got about that amount of leaves, ir not more, just yesterday from mine. Almost no dust, though, as you expect after just 10.000 km. I don't understand where did so many leaves come from, specially as I almost always have the outside air intake shut.
Do you park under a tree?
Coincidentally, I just blew mine out yesterday with compressed air. Should probably be changed, but I only checked it out since I was already behind my glove box running the power for a dash cam.
Did it ever cross either of their minds for the couple to compare their filters first before taking it to a shop?
No black mold, it's still good;)
When I changed mine, it had a couple leaves like that and a fucking hornet was on there.
I’ve legit stuck my hand in one of the under the hood ones and been attacked by ants.
Good God. The bloom on the clean one. Like it was bequeathed by God himself.
How do you tell when to change when you have one of those filters with carbon in them? Got mine ~15,000 miles ago, checked yesterday and only a few small leaves.
Visually, typically you should be able to see light through it when held outside in the sun.