Has anyone replaced their air conditioner filter? I'm doing my 30k mile service and this is the last job. I talked to the dealer and they said it's behind the glovebox, but it is not easily accessible and I'm wondering if anyone has done this and can give me a tip on getting access to the filters.

TIA

 

Hi P.L. I 'll look this up in my helms manual tonight. Don't trust the dealer, they need to generate income. Say Hi to Mikey for me. :p

 

Why does it need to be replaced? Do you really use your AC that MUCH>!?

 

Hey look at a weather map, down here we don't have heaters; we have ac.

:o :o

 

Thanks Fender. You can post or email me the information. Glad to know that you got the Helms manual Might contact you direct next time...just kiddin'

Hope all is well in FTW. Michael and the rest of us are still kicking here in Plano.

 

Jens Heydel posted step by step instructions on how to do this on 3/18/01. I will do a search and see if I can find them. I have aprinted copy, but no scaner.

 

Here is the excerpt from Jens on changing the "panel filter":


To access the interior air filters you will need a phillips screw driver a pocket flat blade screw driver and a sharp knife.Open the glove box and empty it of whatever you have been hiding in there.
there is a air piston on the right side that slows the opening speed it is attached to the door with a screw,remove the screw, pop of the air piston.
There are two stops on the inside the glove box, pop both out with the small flatbade.
The glovebox will now open downwards,there are two phillips screws holding the door to the dashboard structure,remove both screws the door can now be removed.
You will now see two phillips screws that appear to hold nothing inplace,remove these leave the metal clips in place.
There is a serrated panel visible it must be cut away from the dash board structure,save this panel as it is to be reused later.
There is now a vertical white plastic panel visible that can be snapped out of the way and removed.
The filters are the two vertical boxes now visible,remove the bottom one first by pulling it towards you then lower the upper one and remove it as well.
Exchange the filters noting that they have arrows on them for airflow,the boxes that contain the filters are marked as well.Install the filters in the boxes and reassemble the filters in to the airbox.Take the white panel and snap it back inplace.
Now take the previously cut out plastic panel and turn it so the two hooks engage the two slots in the dash structure,the two screws that did not do anything are now used to secure this panel in place.
Reassemble the glovebox in reverse fashion from disassembly.
This job should take you about twenty minutes or less.
Jens


link: http://www.acura-cl.com/cgi-bin/ulti...c&f=1&t=002736

The whole deal (no pictures) is there...

 

why not trust the dealer, i'm talking to an acura tech right now, he said it takes like 10 minutes

[ 07-19-2001: Message edited by: acura_service ]

 

You are young or you work at a good dealership/shop. If I told you all of the times that a "dealer" serviced one of our cars screwed something up, you would NOT believe it.

The last dealer -- Keyes -- left parts off an AEM CAI install. Torqued my header nuts so much that they look like pliers were used on them. I even had one of those "John Doe test drove your car" notes, and I could here the sway bars rattling under the car before I left the lot -- they forgot to tighten the bolts.

Unfortunately, not all of us have a Jens and Wayne (or other great dealers) to "take a load off".

I will be trying a new dealer and will hope for the best. Funny, but I never had a problem from my own work. Wish I could say the same for the "car dealers" I've visited over 25+ years!

 

its too bad there are dealers like that, i guess you have to find people that one: think acura owners are special, two: take pride in there work. three: actually care

 

Now that someone posted the instructions, has anyone replaced it yet? If so, how long did it take you?

 

Thanks EricL, you're one of the good guys on this board.

Dan, I'll put the filter in this weekend and let you know. I had gotten as far as dropping the glovebox but I clearly needed instructions from there. I would not cut away plastic without some instructions! I bet it is a 20 minute job based on what I've seen and the instructions.

 

wireless; how did the filter install go?

 

I have mine changed every 10K miles, due to my allergies ! It really depends on your area conditions etc....I ALWAYS have the A/C on due to allergies ! Never drive with windows down ! My dealership charged me 50 bucks to change them....

 

http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.net/



60653_Product No.

021 Illustration No.
_
2 Required Quantity

_
ELEMENT, FILTER__
$7.36_x 2
plus ~$7 shipping

 

Just follow jens' instructions. Took me about 30 minutes the first time since I was afraid I would break something. Second time maybe 10 minutes. My dealer charges almost $100 to install those $20 filters. Go slow, be careful and save yourself $80.00

 

For those of you that like visuals...

Air Filter part #


After glove box door removal, you will see this.

-Red arrows indicate where you need to cut on the serrated panel
-Green arrows mark where the two screws ("that appear to hold nothing in place") that are needed later on to secure the serrated panel back on
-Blue arrow marks the black vertical plastic Evaporator case lid. Theres a grey patch of styrofoam attached to it (the bush ). Remove this lid by pulling from underneath and out towards you.

After black Evap. lid removal, now the two white air filter frames are visible. As instructed by Master Tech Jens , pull the bottom one out first. And note the arrows point towards the left, so be aware of the directional arrows.


Old vs. New filter dirt comparison, relatively low after 11k miles.
The sunlight test was ok too, and I still could see light through it.
You can also see a spider die a terrible death in between the crevaces of the filter, muhahaha.




Ok here is reassembly of the serated panel. The design of this is what you would call, "ass-backwards" (quoted from one of my pals)



That's it for todays show kids, stay tuned for Dexter's Laboratory...

 

By the way, www.acuraautomotiveparts.net has the lowest prices on this... $7 a piece. You'll need 2 units.


One of my IS300 pals did a Home Depot install, by buying a large HEPA filter piece, cutting it up to fit his square filter frame.
Quite a clever trick.

 

Will cutting those plastic tabs void the warranty?
I'm not doing this now, but if I was to do it in a few thousand miles, I don't want to have my AC die later on and them not fixing it under warranty cuz the platic cover is missing...

 

You are suppose to cut the tabs, it is required to do the filter removal.
There's no workaround to it. In fact the tabs are there for you to cut. I used a box cutter.

This is why it is an "Ass-backwards" design as mentioned above.
No warranty issues are a problem here. It's just that your dealership may be out of a $50-90 install charge.