Was wondering what the procedure was for changing the cabin air filter?

I see it's behind the glove box. I'm sure it's very simple. I believe the dealer charges a bit to do this on top of the filter price. I'd rather save a couple of bucks and do it myself. tx

 

I am not sure, but may I ask why you are doing it so soon?

 

The dealer is recommending I replace the cabin air filter when I come in for my next oil change. I didn't check but maybe the rec. interval is 6 months for the filter? It believe they charge $50 CAD for it. I've had my car since June 2 so that would be 7 months. I hope to have this car for 10 years, changing the cabin air filter that often would get pricey though. I was thinking of changing it myself every years.

Others opinions on this?

tx

 

I really don't think I would chnge mine yet. I don't even think you engines air filter would need changing yet and it get alot more dirty faster. I can not find anything on this and unless someone else chimes in here I would call another Toyota dealer to get a second opinion.

 

The maintenance manual recommends that the cabin air filter be CLEANED at 15,000 miles or 18 months - not replaced unless you do a lot of driving on dirt roads or other very dusty conditions.

The manual then recommends that the cabin air filter be replaced at 30,000 miles or 36 months.

Your dealer, unless you have put a lot of miles on your car, is merely trying to up his profits.

 

How do you clean a filter like the cabin air filter? I have not pulled mine to see what type of filter it is, but if it is the same as all the others in my dealer's service department, it is not a cleanable filter. That would be like cleaning a standard fiberglass home filter.

I personally think the cabin filter will get dirty FASTEr than the engine filter due to air flow. When you don't have recirculate on, all the air coming tru the a/c is going through that filter, and the a/c system can produce a larger volume of airflow than the engine. Also our engine is designed to run at the least RPM possible reducing the consumption of air, and even turns off thus reducing air consumption even more. All this translates into much more airfloow through the cabin filter than the engine filter.

Either way, I think once a year is MORE than enough. The dirtier a filter is the better it filters to a point. Once the filter gets so dirty that it can not efficiently pass air through it, it will start to have some of the dirt pass through it, so you should replace the filter just prior to that point for best economics. What that point is, I don't know.

 

I have had 3 cars with in cabin filters and the engine filter got dirty 3Xs faster in each car.

 

Do you drive with recerc on mainly?

I have found in my TCH I drive with outside air more b/c I want to minimise the use of a/c. In my other vehicles I have always just left them on max a/c, so the filters would not be getting dirty as fast.

Also were your other cars hybrids, were engine usage is minimsed?

I could be wrong, and I will be keeping an eye on it to see what happens.

 

Change the HVAC filter before 10K miles. Trust me on this one. On my other car equipped with a HVAC filter, it was black at about 9K mi! On our Camrys, the HVAC filter is a snap to replace. Just unclip the glove compartment door and release the damper cord. The filter assembly is staring right at you. No special tools are required. Just strong fingers! Don't bother cleaning the filter element. Waste of time and messy. Just buy a few filters for $21 each and get a discount! Changing the HVAC filters on '02-06 Camrys is a real chore and a half! We have it made -- save your money and buy yourself a lunch at Chilis!

 

This is interesting. If someone does change thiers at 10k I would like to know what it looks like. I mostly keep mine on recirc to keep outside smells out so maybe that is my deal.