Cleaning the cabin air filter.

Just in case you need any convincing. This was in a Volvo I was working on a couple weeks back.

That reminds me, I need to change the one in mine.

When I got the car, there was no airflow. Pulled the cabin filter, which was a solid block of small leaves and moist crud.

We see alot of them like that, half the customers just want them put back.

Changed my recently and it was pretty gross. Car was maintained routinely too.

dropstep wrote: We see alot of them like that, half the customers just want them put back.

I dunno what your shop charges, but I keep getting offers from the Scion dealer to change my cabin air filter for $49. For $10, I can buy one myself and change it in 2 minutes.

(If I still had a Scion. My Acura pre-dates cabin air filters.)

I fixed the AC in my buddy's 08 Accord by changing the original cabin filter. Besides freezing up the evaporator, there was a dead mouse on it.

Been meaning to do this on the Cherokee. Still smells like musty carpets when I turn the heat on, even though the musty carpets went in the trash and the floor is now bedlined...

I did that job on my E36. What a PITA, but it was worth it. Mine wasn't quite that bad, though.

The E39 uses two of them, and they're actually positioned to be easy to change (like in seconds) and not get wet or easily clogged - I am thankful for this looking at the picture and reading the responses above. If you can get them, the filters with activated charcoal for removing odors from the outside air are great.

EvanR wrote:

dropstep wrote: We see alot of them like that, half the customers just want them put back.

I dunno what your shop charges, but I keep getting offers from the Scion dealer to change my cabin air filter for $49. For $10, I can buy one myself and change it in 2 minutes. (If I still had a Scion. My Acura pre-dates cabin air filters.)

21 bucks for most. These are cars we see over and over. I have nothing against people who do it themselves to save money!

Until about 18 months ago I didn't have a car new enough to have a cabin filter. But that does remind me to change the one in the Wife's Accord. She would like that. And our anniversary is soon. What could go wrong?

I like them because they double as mouse walls. When the little rat bastards get into the duct work, they tend to stop there and build their nests. The filters save a lot of blower motors and make the cleanout a lot easier.

I just spent $38 on one for the Sienna. It sure made a difference.

Here's what the old one looked like. Yuck.

dropstep wrote: We see alot of them like that, half the customers just want them put back.

We generally don't pull them to inspect unless they are SUPER easy to get to, which they usually aren't. Plus, half the time you need to get the vacuum cleaner ready so leaves and crap don't fall in to the filtered side of the HVAC system.

15k seems to be a good figure for them. Or "My [heater/AC] doesn't work." That is because the filter is plugged and no air is moving anymore, when was it changed last? "It has a filter?"