My scans are from the 04 service manual, so I don't know what else I can tell you. I am probably going to do mine soon and I hope it is easier than it sounds here.

Removing the cabin filter isnt as hard as it seems. I have an '05 and it was pretty simple.
Also, I can confirm the charcol filter does work. I went to visit some friends of mine and they live near 2 dairy farms. Talk about your cow pie smell. It was all over the city when I first hit the area my car stunk like sh**. I turned on recirculating, when I got to their house and stepped out of the car I notice the air outside did stink.
Same thing when I left the air stunk but once I got in my car it was clean. Maybe not 100% but like 80%.

awesome thread! thanks guys. this will save me the $140 at the dealer and when i mod the housing, it will be a snap to change in the future. i'm soooo glad i caught this one. thanks again.

also, rockauto.com price on the filter is awesome. $13.52 for the ATP filter versus $40 at dealer and the dealer's filter has no charcoal. wow!

Great DIY... thanks, I have to go attempt this

This is a great DIY. Thanks to all for the helpful info...I was able to change my cabin air filter myself today because of this thread. I have an '04 TL, VIN # 56XXX, and I have the two push pins noted by the thread author. I want to clarify something for those of you who are having problems pulling the housing out--the housing pulls out horizontally, not down! I started out by trying to pull the housing down, and something just didn't feel right...there was too much resistance, I thought. So, I tried pulling it horizontally (i.e. toward the passenger seat as opposed to towards the floor) and it came right out! Hopefully this helps some of you DIYers who are having problems. Good luck!

i ordered one today from rockauto for 20.13 shipped ATP HA5 ,hope to get it soon and replace my old one

Glad to see those pics and details. Thanks guys for the helps.

I "chose" to do it, at 27k mileage, while doing B2 maintenance.

It looks like I must be the first person who ordered the Bosch C3600. That is the one that the BOSCH web site says fits a 2004 tl, and the same one that the rockauto.com site says fits the 2005 TL.

It does not fit, at all. It is 11.5 in x 3.75 x 1.25 inches. 2 come in the box along with a paper that says "This cabin filter fits: Honda Accord, model year 1998-2002; Acura TL, from model year 1999; and Acura CL, model years 2001-2003."

Well the bastards are wrong, and it should obviously only go to 2003 (2g). Now I am stuck with the shipping and I guess I will be purchasing the ATP filters from autobarn since others have proved that is the correct one.

(mods, you might want to copy this to the first post)

I guess I should have posted this a while back... Autozone came up with one for me (C3600). Like you I noticed right away that it was wrong.. Only thing is I hadn't paid for it yet.... ATP it is..

I did. Thanks for the heads up.

Bless you, my friend. You may just have made my spring/summer in-cabin filter change nightmare go away. I will most definitely take your advise since I have two TL's to do this for.

I'm having problem with "slowly pull out entire thing". How much pressure can I use? Is there anything to break? I can hear some sort of double sided tape being wripped.

I pulled hard hoping it would pop out without any problems-I think I got lucky because there are lots of clips, plastic things that could have broken.

The upper right side came off fairly clean, but the rest of it took a bit more effort. I was concerned after it came off that I had used too much force, but it when I put it back in, is snapped back on just fine. Looks good, no rattles.

i wasn't quite as lucky. i pulled straight out but i broke two clips in the upper left corner. odly enough, even though they were right next to each other and it seems they are suppose to hold that corner, i put it back together and everything seems to be staying in place with no rattles.

Just a quick thanks for taking the time to post this info.

I used your instructions a few weeks back to replace my air filter and the whole thing went very smoothly. I pull straight out on the housing, as mentioned in another post, and the whole assembly popped right out.

The trick is to apply the pull on both the top and bottom edges. I started at the right side, then worked my way towards the console side.

It takes some amount of pull and it will pop loose suddenly so be prepared for that.

I left the glove box attached to the housing and while it was a bit awkward, it was managable.

K

1. Am I pulling this entire thing "Horizontally" towards me or "45 degrees" or "Towards floor"?

2. So I should use both hands, one hand on top near "aluminium" trim and the other hand near bottom panel that sits right on top of passenger foot?

Thank you so much for your directions, they worked like a charm for me (though I didn't take out the screws holding the glove box on.

The filter was pretty black after 2 years / 28k.

However, I broke one of the pushpins, the center piece that you push in fell somewhere and I can't find it. Can I find these pins at an auto parts store? If not, where can I get a replacement?

It's pretty common to break on of the push pins. I did in my '04 last year and my wife's 05 last weekend. Go to Pohanka parts department and take your good pin with you to see if they have one.

thanks!! I'll give them a try.

Do you know whether the Cabin air filter replacement the same as the Honda Accord?

it says u can buy here;

you can buy it from: http://www.rockauto.com/ for $13.78
ATP Part # HA5
Category: Cabin Air Filter
Item Price: $13.78
currently 14.14

was wondering if someone new the correct air filter that is in engine to order from them as well

is part number CA9600 {AIR RIGID PANEL AIR} the correct one for the air filter in engine...?

Piggy-backing on the above,
Has anyone found a "carbon/charcoal" filter that actually fits the 3G/TL?? I tried the Bosch but it wasn't remotely close etc..


Thanks

Well laid out post.

Just finished changing mine. 20 minutes and 2/3's of that was running back and forth between the car and computer double checking. I didn't have the 2 push pins and just gave the right side a yank. It came off w/o a hitch. I did take the glovebox off and would do it again---less weight to deal with. Filter was extremely filthy!! Next time should only take 10 minutes tops!!

My thanks to all who contributed to this DIY

I also did mine today, first time, on an '05 with 29K. Elected to use the official Acura paper filter, since I was at the dealership -- the filter price in August 2006 is $29 including 6% tax. Next time I'll shop ahead and get 2 from http://www.rockauto.com as others have done in this thread. Autozone lists the part, but I don't know about their stock or price.

Entire procedure took 3 hours researching threads here and 20 minutes of actual work. (The engine air filter also took 20 minutes, because I dropped a screw under the battery.)

Recent dealership quotes I've seen are $187 including labor, just for the cabin air filter. If you opt for a "full B2 service", which is:

- lube-oil-filter,
- tire rotate,
- "check your fluids",
- this cabin filter, and
- the engine air filter

-- at Open Road Acura of North Brunswick, be prepared to fork over $440. This is not a misprint. I confirmed this price three, 3, three, times. Each time the service advisor kept a perfectly straight face and did not elaborate. (For that money, they should throw in the transmission, brake fluid, and antifreeze swaps.)

Yeah, and a little dance with some stand-up comedy might be in order.

I did my cabin air filter yesterday. And K&N air filter. I guess I should have looked at the thread first! It was an easy 20 minute cost savings.

My thoughts: I'm an engineer, but I have more hands-on than book smart. So I figure if a $10/hr guy can do it with a manual, I can probably do it without! I'm amazed at how much people just roll over to the dealer's urging when it comes to repairs on the vehicle. My dealer tried to up sell me on about $800 worth of stuff. I told her "just change the oil". I've started rotating my own tires just so I could get the wheels off and clean inside! I don't want to change the oil because I just don't like driving with a tub full of used oil in a vehicle to the auto parts place for recycling. Maybe I'll go back to doing it myself.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only meticulous cleaner. What is it with TL owners? I've never seen a dirty one on the road or parked. At least not a 3rd Gen.

Great threads and pics!

Definitely get back to changing your own oil. I do it for both of my TLs and my Ranger pick.. and every car I've owned since my second one (a long time ago). I keep two 5-gallon gas containers just for used oil and take them in to recycling.. in my Ranger, not one of my TLs.

I also rotate my tires, mostly because I'm so anal about my car. When I do this, I do it in my garage, in the morning, after the car has sat all night, so I can change the air pressure in the tires, properly torque the lug nuts, and like you, clean the inside of the wheels.

I'm so anal, when I had tires put on my TL last May, I jacked my TL up in my garage and put it on jack stands. Then I removed the wheels and took them into the tire dealer in my Ranger to have the new tires installed. That way, they didn't have to drive my TL and I could balance out the air pressure, wash the wheels, and torque the nuts when I put them back on. No muss, no fuss.

Yep, I'm an engineer, too.. software engineer.

This was something we were considering. The issues I had were, 1, I didn't know how much hassle it would be to always get K&Ns, and 2, thought I saw an Acura bulletin warning about "high pass-through" filters. Though they might have been warning more about hydrolock on a CAI as opposed to replacement stock filters.

There is no reason for the design of these filters OTHER than to get people to bring business into the service bay at the dealership.

Try to buy 5-quart size plastic bottles (like at Walmart) then pour the used into the same container the new came in. Less hassle than quart bottles or cans.

Over the last several years, we've had enough interesting experiences with discount places that paying 2-3X at the dealership is OK for the peace of mind during warranty. But I'm thinking about going back to dino oil (and doing it myself) because I don't like the same oil filter in over 5K... and if you change out synthetics at 5K you're wasting money.

(And besides, you can use up the used oil wiping down your tools so they won't rust.)

wow, just found this thread. TWO THUMBS UP, gonna do this tonight!

I did it!!! Went to dealership and bought a new filter, came home...took about 20 mins, however.............. the 2 pop out screws that on the top inside the glove box can't be popped in... it goes in but just hanging there..... is there a trick to it? Other than that, everthing is fine. Gonna check the rattles....

To remove them, you push in the center, then pull up around the outside. Once you've gotten 1 out, you'll see how (for the other).

On reinstalling, straighten that "popout" and push it into the housing. Once it goes in, it will seat itself; the bottom widens much like a drywall anchor.

The entire plastic glovebox - dashboard apparatus is like a high-tech molding of Rubbermaid trash cans. It all smushes together neatly. It's all designed to collapse and neatly cushion the RF passenger in the event of a head-on. It is NOT designed for you to figure out, to remove -- but rather to intimidate you.

This is not your father's solid-steel Studebaker... there isn't an ounce of extra weight on the entire car, though the dashboard is simply designed to be opened by vocational school graduates who can read instructions. All you need to do is find the key (which is here).

^ thank you sir, gonna try that now

got it!! Didn't know you could pull and straighten that screw. Thank you very much jginnane!!

arent there two cabin filters? one for the passenger side and one for the drivers side?

correction, my mistake. just checked on it. there is just that one. there are not anymore.

What is wrong with getting another OEM filter? Is the ATP one better? I found the Atp for $22.83 shipped and also the OEM one for $20.75 shipped (with each additional one only $16.75). I dont think the atp is a micron filter.

OEM filter appears to be the same from 04 to 06, 80292-SDA-A01, suggested list price is $20.82.

anyone know?