Chessie724

So, I notice when the air kicks on, I get a whiff of a musty, dank smell in the cabin so I ordered in a replacement some time ago. The garage-DIY thread popped up on page 1 and that reminded me to finally get around to it this afternoon.

No ch!t, this is exactly how the old one looked when I took it out.



Bought my '05 this past November, so I've only had it for five months and about 4.8k miles. I'm guessing this is the cabin filter it left the factory with. The clean carfax report on this car showed very regular service at mostly stealerships, yet none of them seemed to have looked at the filter, let alone replace it. I want to know where the leaves and larger debris came from? Surely someone knows the airflow path from the cabin filter out to wherever it intakes. Is there nothing like a trap or screen that blocks the bigger stuff? Anyway, I'll be sure to check on this now and then.

Thanks again to the members that contributed to the DIY(s) on this.

haiinguyenn

thats grosssss.

Yonkers914

iTrader: (1)

dam!!

Riga89

Damn.......bet the air smells & flows a whole hell of a lot better now.

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

The air comes through the vents which are located at the back end of the hood, right below the wipers. Whatever gets through the vents has a chance to get to the filter.

The cabin air filter is the actual trap/screen that blocks the "larger stuff".

It's good to see you did this on your own. The stealer will charge you $120 for this alone.

Change it out once a year, and you'll breath nice, clean air. Next time, purchase this from Rock Auto. They offer the ATP HA5, which is charcoal activated!

SouthernBoy

The "musty, dank" smell you're getting is more likely due to mildew in the drip pan and drain lines from your A/C evaporator. This is generally caused by using the recirculate option too much and not going to outside air. Also, not turning your A/C off several miles before you get to your destination, after having used it for a bit, then running your fan on high speed to help dry the evaporator.

ASASN21

I need to get on this as well. I did it on my previous car and it literally took less than 2 minutes. All I had to do was remove the glove compartment and the filter was right behind it. Is it the same in the TL? Got the link to the DIY?

Hapa DC5

Believe it or not I've seen worse cabin air filters then that (cars that my buddy's shop services) and some people choose not to change it!

laakness

I use the recirculate all the time with the AC on. I should probably do this more as I do smell that musty smell the morning after coming home with the AC on.

I will also need to do the filter anyway as previous owner didn't seem to do much other than the regular oil changes.

Chessie724

ASASN21,
Here you go. https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/diy-replacing-cabin-air-filter-3g-garage-diy-f-130-a-583555/ Yeah, pretty much the same as you just described. My glove box did not have the first two clips as shown in this DIY. I just flex the liner so the tabs clear and the box just drops down/open.

SB,
Thanks for the further info. I'll try and dry out the system.

Morrissey25

iTrader: (4)

That is absolutely gross... So this should be done once a year, I better get on that

Hapa DC5

You can go by the MID when it prompts you to. I do mine once per year since I drive about 12-15k per year and my cabin is absolute toast when I pull it out.

ASASN21

Yeah that's what I had to do too. Thanks for the link.

Got a link to this?

laakness

www.rockauto.com

Will have to browse catalog yourself as I'm lazy right now

ASASN21

I found it. Thanks!

TL6SPD

Yeah, that is nasty! I am going to change mine tomorrow.

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

Gross.

As for cabin filters- this is probably one of the best you can get for our cars. It has Arm & Hammer backing soda and carbon to filter and clean the air. I installed it in my car about a month ago and the air does seem to smell fresher and is drier. Get it. It's only $15 on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ef=oss_product