cabin air filters

[Qs Laptop]

Here's what mine looked like after 3 years. Like others here, I did not know I had a cabin air filter.

Yes, I park outside.

 

[ERD50]

Here's what mine looked like after 3 years. Like others here, I did not know I had a cabin air filter.

Yes, I park outside.

View attachment 42898

I check mine, probably once a year. We don't park outside, and don't put many miles on, so it's good for a long time. I might shake it out, rarely ever replace it.

But then, a stray cat 'adopted' our family, and slept in the garage. I was shocked how much cat hair was in that filter when I checked it, it was almost plugged. She found the warm spot on the hood and slept there in cold weather, near the air intake.

-ERD50

 

[Turbo29]

One of the things I used to hate is when they had some gullible customer, often a woman, in the waiting room with me. They'd come out in the lab coat carrying a clipboard, with a serious look on their face. They'd try to up-sell the poor lady all kinds of things she didn't really understand. It was hard to keep quiet during this assault. I think more than once I didn't succeed.

Are we talking about oil change places or dentists?

 

[aja8888]

While sitting in a dealership waiting room I've seen a tech come out of the back with a dirty filter in his hands. He showed it to the customer and recommended they change the filter. Cynical me wonders if they just have a dirty filter sitting around that they can show their customers so they upcharge them.

Yes, that's the old "dirty filter" trick. Commonly done.

Another one is leaving your oil filter unchanged during an oil change and just taking a rag an wiping any accumulated dirt or grime off the outside or you existing filter and charging you for a new filter.

Another one, relatively new, is the tech will have a box cutter with him and put a small slice in your wiper blade then showing you the cut blade saying it won't pass state inspection.

Oh, others are "injector cleaning" is needed....(remember that gasoline is a pretty strong solvent by itself), Coolant pH is low (or high), depending what "spoiled" coolant is kept in a jar on the workbench to stick the test strip in, on, and on,.....

Let the buyer beware!

 

[pacergal]

We have a wonderful gas station/car repair shop nearby, been in business 70+ years, handed down one son to another, I think in the 4th generation now. Well liked and generous to the kids/schools sports.
They change our air and engine filters as needed, when we get work done. DH doesn't trust himself to do any work with the newer cars anymore!

 

[John Galt III]

Of course the Elephant in the Room that no one seems to notice is "Why not just throw out the darn filter, so you won't ever have to change it again?' If the duct work needs the structure of the filter for some reason, just cut out the paper part, and reinsert the structure. How ever did we survive before cabin air filters? It's not filtering out any of the toxic gases you encounter on the road, anyway. Just dust. Yeah, maybe some of the dust has contaminants on it, but really. Mine is a bear to change. Looks effortless on Youtube, but I have to grab it with a vice grips and Charles Atlas the thing out. YMMV.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I'm happy to pay a few dollars a year to keep out the dirt dust, leaves and bugs that get trapped in it. In my vehicle, it just takes 2 minutes to change it (after I watch a short video to refresh my memory)

 

[ERD50]

Of course the Elephant in the Room that no one seems to notice is "Why not just throw out the darn filter, so you won't ever have to change it again?' If the duct work needs the structure of the filter for some reason, just cut out the paper part, and reinsert the structure. How ever did we survive before cabin air filters? It's not filtering out any of the toxic gases you encounter on the road, anyway. Just dust. Yeah, maybe some of the dust has contaminants on it, but really. Mine is a bear to change. Looks effortless on Youtube, but I have to grab it with a vice grips and Charles Atlas the thing out. YMMV.

I'd guess it is more to keep the dust and leaves (and cat hair!) from clogging the A/C and heater fins.

But you are right, I've owned cars with AC (and they all had heat!) that didn't have cabin filters, and I don't recall any problems. Maybe those are made smaller nowadays, and more susceptible to clogging? I don't know.

OK, I found several sources with something like this:

CARS.COM — The cabin air filter, a feature found on most late-model vehicles, cleans the air that comes into the interior through the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. It catches dust, pollen and other airborne material that can make riding in a car unpleasant, particularly if you have allergies or other respiratory problems.

OK, but I don't have a filter on when I go for a walk, and bike riders don't wear one. So why do we need it in a car?

-ERD50

 

[RobbieB]

You don't need one, but if you have one it's good to change before they look like the above pics. Otherwise that crap is gonna pack up in the pipes.

 

[yakers]

Had to change mine after Burning Man, really full of dust

 

[RobbieB]

I do mine once a year, about 10000 miles. They cost 10 bucks each and it takes me more time to replace it than the filter costs. Not going to remove all those screws and put back just to check it. Yeah engine air filters are easier.

 

[euro]

As I was reading this thread, I thought some cheaters would just claim to have changed it to "make" extra profit... I wonder how many customers they have forgotten to actually change ?




Older cars like DW's doesn't even have an air filter for the cabin. I like that my van does.

Yeah, My DW drives very few miles (maybe 2k a year), so I haven’t paid too much attention to her air filters. But the other day, I decided to change it on her car anyway. Cracked it open and: no air filter at all!!!! My best guess as to what happened is that before I FIRED, I didn’t have time to do oil changes, etc so she took it to the shop to get it done. She always hated it because every time they tried to upsell something to her - well, I suspect one time they tried for a cabin air filter and took it out to show her how “bad” it was, and when she declined, they just didn’t bother to put it back in! Or, even worse, they may have talked her into paying for the new filter but then never bothered to put it in. Who knows, and who would check? While it isn’t a lot of work, you do have to remove the glove compartment in most cars to access the filter, so of course nobody will bother to check whether they really put in the new one. After all, if you did that then could just replace it yourself for a fraction of the cost.
Anyway, DW now has a cabin air filter for the first time in a long while…. Plus, now that I’m FIRED, I do all the trivial maintenace on her car, so she doesn’t have to deal with the upsells anymore…...

 

[Sunset]

I'd guess it is more to keep the dust and leaves (and cat hair!) from clogging the A/C and heater fins.

But you are right, I've owned cars with AC (and they all had heat!) that didn't have cabin filters, and I don't recall any problems. Maybe those are made smaller nowadays, and more susceptible to clogging? I don't know.

OK, I found several sources with something like this:


OK, but I don't have a filter on when I go for a walk, and bike riders don't wear one. So why do we need it in a car?

-ERD50

Careful, you could start a trend as the furnace filter would be next on the list. Why filter the air in the house, when the next day I open the windows for a breeze

 

[sengsational]

I usually change both the cabin air filter and the engine air filter at the same time.... usually every 12 to 18 months. About $25-30 from Amazon as I recall.

I replaced our stock of cabin, engine and house AC filters the other day on a $100+ Amazon order. I looked up the ratio of when to change cabin vs engine to determine if I should buy more or less of one or the other. The maintenance schedule had cabin getting changed more often, so I bought 2 cabins to each engine. Now they'll sit on the shelf, I'll forget I have them, and pay the quickie oil change place way too much to do 2 minutes labor with a $10 part

 

[ERD50]

Careful, you could start a trend as the furnace filter would be next on the list. Why filter the air in the house, when the next day I open the windows for a breeze

I know you put in the 'winkie' emoji, but just so no one gets the wrong idea, the furnace filter is there to protect the motor/fan from collecting junk, or having a large piece get in there and create damage. Filtering the air for humans is secondary - I just use the cheap filters, but some people I guess get relief from allergies by using the highly rated ones.

And I'm definitely *not* suggesting that people run their cars w/o the filter. If it is designed to have one, you should check it and replace/clean as needed. I was just wondering (as was John Galt II), why these are on recent cars, but were not on the older ones.

Is it a bit of a scam to generate a regular income stream for the dealers? Did customers ask for them?Do they help keep the AC and heater cores clear, and if so, why wasn't this a problem in the past?

I am curious, but haven't found much info on this.

FYI: When I visited DD at her new house, I noticed the furnace fan was vibrating noticeably, I told her to have it looked at, that is not good. They did have a warranty from the previous owners, and a guy came out and cleaned the fan (apparently had picked up a lot of drywall dust, probably from when the basement was finished?), and that did the trick. That drywall dust is so fine, I guess it goes through a standard filter (or the previous owners ran w/o a filter for a time?).

-ERD50

 

[FindingForward]

I know you put in the 'winkie' emoji, but just so no one gets the wrong idea, the furnace filter is there to protect the motor/fan from collecting junk, or having a large piece get in there and create damage. Filtering the air for humans is secondary - I just use the cheap filters, but some people I guess get relief from allergies by using the highly rated ones.

And I'm definitely *not* suggesting that people run their cars w/o the filter. If it is designed to have one, you should check it and replace/clean as needed. I was just wondering (as was John Galt II), why these are on recent cars, but were not on the older ones.

Is it a bit of a scam to generate a regular income stream for the dealers? Did customers ask for them?Do they help keep the AC and heater cores clear, and if so, why wasn't this a problem in the past?

I am curious, but haven't found much info on this.

FYI: When I visited DD at her new house, I noticed the furnace fan was vibrating noticeably, I told her to have it looked at, that is not good. They did have a warranty from the previous owners, and a guy came out and cleaned the fan (apparently had picked up a lot of drywall dust, probably from when the basement was finished?), and that did the trick. That drywall dust is so fine, I guess it goes through a standard filter (or the previous owners ran w/o a filter for a time?).

-ERD50

These are the same questions I ask about refrigerator filters. We all got along fine without them for years - now suddenly my fridge nags me every 6 months to buy a $25-50 replacement filter. I know some people have disconnected theirs.

 

[Sunset]

These are the same questions I ask about refrigerator filters. We all got along fine without them for years - now suddenly my fridge nags me every 6 months to buy a $25-50 replacement filter. I know some people have disconnected theirs.

If you lived in Flint MI, you would appreciate having a high quality fridge filter to have filtered out the lead, who wants heavy ice cubes

After learning about Flint, and how officials didn't do the right thing, and here in Chicago where they shut off some drinking fountains due to high lead.
https://abc7chicago.com/news/drinking-fountains-reactivated-as-city-addresses-lead-in-water/2077645/#:~:text=But%20hundreds%20of%20the%20Chicago%20Park%20District%20drinking,ran%20continuously%20from%20the%20fountains%20for%20a%20month.

Lots of lead pipes in Chicago are planned to be replaced over the next 600 years.

I'm glad to filter my water, as I can't trust officials even when I don't see why they would make such bad choices.

 

[ArmchairMillionaire23]

One of the car's filters was pretty bad and the other was not too bad but still needed changing. Probably should have done it sooner.

Between DW & I we have 6 vehicles in our livery. Her 2015 Cruze is the only one with a cabin air filter. We bought the car in 2016 and found out about and changed the CAF in 2020. Due to major road construction in front of the house, the car had been sitting in the driveway and was not driven for 3 or 4 months. The external side of the filter had been chewed by mice, but not all the way through. It was a pretty simple swap once I figured out the clips to drop the glove box door.
The other vehicles, a 2010, 2003, 1992, 1979 and 1977 do not have cabin air filters.

 

[roh3]

Of course the Elephant in the Room that no one seems to notice is "Why not just throw out the darn filter, so you won't ever have to change it again?' If the duct work needs the structure of the filter for some reason, just cut out the paper part, and reinsert the structure. How ever did we survive before cabin air filters? It's not filtering out any of the toxic gases you encounter on the road, anyway. Just dust. Yeah, maybe some of the dust has contaminants on it, but really. Mine is a bear to change. Looks effortless on Youtube, but I have to grab it with a vice grips and Charles Atlas the thing out. YMMV.

The other elephant in the room is that a dirty filter actually filters BETTER. The larger pores in a filter naturally clog first and the smaller pores to do a better job filtering.
Notice all the dirt is on the outside of the filter. Why is that a problem?
So the real answer is the filter does not need to be changed until it either restricts flow, or comes in danger of collapsing, which is unlikely in the case of the cabin air filter.

 

[RetMD21]

If you lived in Flint MI, you would appreciate having a high quality fridge filter to have filtered out the lead, who wants heavy ice cubes

After learning about Flint, and how officials didn't do the right thing, and here in Chicago where they shut off some drinking fountains due to high lead.
https://abc7chicago.com/news/drinking-fountains-reactivated-as-city-addresses-lead-in-water/2077645/#:~:text=But%20hundreds%20of%20the%20Chicago%20Park%20District%20drinking,ran%20continuously%20from%20the%20fountains%20for%20a%20month.

Lots of lead pipes in Chicago are planned to be replaced over the next 600 years.

I'm glad to filter my water, as I can't trust officials even when I don't see why they would make such bad choices.

Our refrigerator just uses activated carbon filters. I'm not sure they filter out lead.

 

[JoeWras]

I remember with my old car, I'd turn on the blower and get little pieces of leaf and other debris flying in my face. How nice.

I appreciate the cabin filter. Even though we mostly garage inside, it still collects a surprising amount of debris that makes it past the outside grill intake (close to the wipers on my car).

 

[CaptTom]

The refrigerator manufacturers make a big deal out of the "danger" of having the water filter fail, and leak all over your kitchen. They warn against waiting to long between replacements, or using "counterfeit" replacement filters, for this reason.



Yeah. And of course they have no bias.

 

[GravitySucks]

Or how many recommend swapping the filter regardless if it needs changing?

I’d recommend putting a new one in right before going for an oil change and see what they say.

Did that with the engine air filter once. Changed it 2 days or so before getting an oil change. The shop recommended I get a new air filter as that one looks pretty dirty.