Hit a deer?

 

Finally changed out mine today..bought the car in august 08 and the filter has never been touched. Bought it from a nissan dealer go figure.

 

Is there any procedure for taking apart the actual air conditioner main unit and cleaning it? I'm sure there is all kinds of gunk on mine inside. It doesn't smell totally funky, but I can tell something is up. It's probably all this dirty, hot and humid air that we get down south here.

I just ordered a helms manual (finally, after 8 years of TL ownership) so that might help with my above question.

 

Oh, forgot I have 102k miles

 

if smells remain after filter change- you can use a product that either sprays in the vents-to kill mold and mildew OR there is hi tech stuff you inject in the the system, not in the ac line- inside the evap box iirc

Try some Ozium or Lysol spray in the vents to kill anything bad
Open the center console vent to the rear seats and leave it open- that also helps when heat on- wont melt contents of console storage
With that vent closed, air still goes in- but cant get out and moisture issue could happen

Turn AC off a few blocks from home and run fan only on 3/medium- that will dry the moisture out for you

 

very few used car sales- even thru acura- have the filter changed.
- if you dont know how to do it and only look in the repair time book 1.something hours,, and it doesnt get done
Or dealer tells customer $125 for new cabin filter- which they may not be aware of having,,,and they say No thanks
Can you believe they get an HOUR for this job!?!
You can start a business in your town replacing TL cabin filters for half the price

 

ac cabin filter replacment is as easy as putting air in your tires..

 

I dont have to remove any panels or glovebox to put air in my tires!
Where are yours located?

 

ok, maybe not THAT easy. But if you can change your intake filter, you can change these filters.

 

Dude, that's nasty. I thought So Cal smog was bad. I changed mine after our wildfires(couldn't see 5 feet in front of you because of all the ash) and it didn't even look close to that. It must be nice to be able to breath in your car now. And yes, charging 1hr labor for that is robbery.

 

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but for those of you that own 98-02 Accords this is pretty much the same procedure. Removal of the glove box AND the metal support arm behind it is necessary though...

 

Btw wat a stupid design to cut the plastic? what idiot thought of that!


80k total, not sure if it was ever changed, had car since 55ish K never changed it. i'm sure filter has atlest 40k on it :P

 

well if you had to cut the plastic, then the filters never been touched.....

but as far as the plastic cutting idea, its a lot easier and cheaper for the manufacturer to mold the plastic panel on, than have a second bot on the assembly line screw it on

 

the plastic cover its designed to be broken off at the tabs- then turned sideways where the mounting screw has a place waiting for it and the end slips in to secure the unit

Its pretty smart considering where they had to locate the filter
Should replace cabin filter once a year- along with the brake fluid

 

mine was last changed at 40k when i bought the car from the dealer. at around 60k the dealer told me i need to change it and tried charging me over $100. i was like wait i gotta change this shit every 20k miles. gave the dude the finger and completely forgot about it till now. i purchased a filter from ebay for 14 bucks shipped and changed it in like 25 mins. man was that shit black

 

if the dealer doesnt know its been changed before - they quote the standard rate of 1 hour

Should take 20 minutes if done before
Charcoal filters or bosch with ozo~something spray on them, are popular aftermarket choices

 

Everyone should take the blower motor out when doing the filter
The electrical connector has a tendancy to fry and burn-melt
Similar thing happened on my bike at a main electric connection

The Fix is open the connector- apply $1 pack of Dielectric grease to male and female parts and close connector
Reduces temps and rust, protects all electrical connections- cheap insurance

 

why not put the piece sideways right away. Whats the point of cutting. Maybe at dealership they don't cut it?

 

no they do cause mine was cut and thats the first time i did it. the previous owner had everything done at the dealer

 

you have to cut it to remove from the main plastic panel - mass manufacture and molding presses determine how cars are made

Once its tabs are cut the only way to get it to hold the filters in place is turn the cover sideways
Its ingenious- just admit it

 

while the DIY on here used a dremel and cut all the tabs- I used scissors to cut one sides and then bent the panel back and forth till the opposite tabs broke off and the panel came out
No burnt plastic smell that way!

 

I douno it just sounds and looks very cheap... Any OEM part that requires u to cut stuff inorder to install it is a fail.

lol yeah i said it!

My friend was actually doing it, i was doing a foglight mood on the other end of dashboard , when he said i gotta cut thought this, i was like , you deffinitely read something wrong hah

 

if you had seen the part intact,, you would understand why its that way

Just like foglights are cast into the lower bumper on 01s but they didnt offer foglights until 02

Note to pre 02 owners- when you remove the intake resonator box, cut open the driver side fake foglight for greatly enhanced airflow--
hint cut between the lines for a stock look

 

ask the idiot in Acura's finance division making seven figures.....

like 0tl4tl said, its a pretty smart method

 

Just got my done yesterday and it really made a big difference. I love the cleaner,fresher air. Thanks a lot.

 

man i notice every1 here uses bosch filters... anyone use the STP one?

 

i just use the acura one. If youre going to be changing it out once a year I dont see the need to spend $50+ on something fancy like bosch.

 

true, well just got done doing mine at 43k miles but some1's already done it before me so my filter wasn't really dirty at all which was a relief, i heard a guy on found a dead mouse in his air filter
...that's wat i was really afraid of

 

You would know if if there was a dead mouse in there- it would have stunk really bad.

 

So is it worth it taking apart the condenser or blower unit? Do they get dirty and sludgy in there too?

 

good god yes. I had a dead rat on top of my battery in my integra and it smelled SO bad for days till I decided to take a look under the hood. i almost threw up.

 

vacuum out the leaves and crud- a shop vac works well- be careful not to damage any metal fins, install the new filters into the old plastic holder, install in car and enjoy
NOTE IMO
Its a good idea to pull the blower motor and put special dielectric grease inside the electric connector to the blower motor--prevents a problem later

Bosch cabin filter 2 pack (thats what we all need) with micro allergen sprayed on are under 20 dollars at parts store.
The charcoal filters are more, and if you live where its really bad air or lots of stop and go traffic with exhaust pipes pumping fumes at your car...
they are worth it just for the health aspect of your life

 

Did anyone else run into this? The stretchy pully thing that attaches the dampener to the piece that holds the dampener together with the glovebox came loose.

I tried pulling the thing from the dampener and putting it back into the piece that has the screw, but it wouldn't stay in. It didn't look broken when I looked at it though.

Anyone know how to fix it? It's not a big deal, but it'd be nice to not have the glovebox swing down all of a sudden when you open it =X

 

Looks like the tabs on the dampener broke. I had the tab on one side break, but it still holds.

Easy fix though. Just unscrew the piece on the glovebox and put it together with the dampener. Then find a piece of plastic or something to plug the hole. Actually there might be room to use a really small nut and bolt.

 

awesome, i plugged the hole with a screw and it seems to work fine now

 

^

 

Just did it. 137k miles. It was never replaced. ughh.. You can imagine how effed up it was in there..

everything worked fine, except I had the dampener break also. Its too dark to worry about it now. I'll try to fit a tiny nut in there tomorrow.

can't wait to breath clean air tomorrow!!

 

if you remove the screw in front- you remove the breakage issue during removal

 

I did remove it - and it seemed fine. But the end piece that you screw through fell off. The tab is there on one side, but it doesn't hold. Nothing looks broken, but when I put that piece back on the dampener, it doesn't hold when its pulled out (if that makes any sense!)

 

Thanks for this DIY, worked likea charm... Just as you guys described, just used a kitchen knife to cut the plastic. Went and bought the filters from autozone for 15.99 and air is much fresher.

135k and never been changed haha, black as dirt..