jim1000

Guys,

I recently got an ad from a local Toyota dealer stating "Cabin Air Filter" for $59. Ever hear of such a filter?

I called the dealership and found out that it was the A/C filter. He said that my car 1999 4Runner does not have it. He recommended that I use outside air circulation to keep my vents clean.

Do you guys have any other suggestion to keep it cleaners? Like spraying Lysol in the air intake to keep the vents clean? By the way, where should I spray Lysol? In other words, is there such a thing as "air intake" for the A/C?

Flamedx4

Most new cars have a filter in the airbox now. (Some have had this for 10 years now.) A Real Pain to change years down the road, in most cases.

Spraying Lysol won't clean anything. Might make it smell nice though. Select outside air and turn the fan on high and spray it in the cowl intake (the vent grill in front of the windshield.) The only way to actually clean the system is to disassemble it. Major PITA and hardly worth it. Shouldn't be a problem for 20 years...

Parsh

The cabin air filter is for the AC/Heating system. VERY different from the engine air intake. It just stops stuff like leaves, bugs, and dirt from blowing straight through the system into the cabin. On the newer models the filter is easy to change. I wouldn't worry about it if you don't have one. Like Flamedx4 said, just let it blow on high for a while if you think there is stuff in there.

Tacoma Dude

ewww... you like that rented bowling shoes smell???

Flamedx4

Many new cars actually have a HEPA filter in there and will stop pollen and stuff. Nice idea, but they clog up eventually (sooner rather than later in some cases.) The earlier ones required a teardown of the heater box to get it, which of course required tearing out half the dash... Imagine telling a guy with an $800 1987 Oldsmobile generic midsize POS that all that was wrong with his a/c blower is the filter was clogged tight and he now owes $500 labor for the service? (GM products....) Most of the newer ones are hidden behind the glove box and come out pretty easy.

Yoda

The one on my Taurus takes about 15 min to change....$13 at NAPA. Car didn't have one, but the space is there for it. I just put it in.

mt_goat

I changed the pollen filter in my 97 BMW. Had to stand on my head in a contorted yoga postion for about an hour and take half the dash apart, lots of fun. Here is a picture of the old one and new one http://community.webshots.com/photo/...52945883SlEOOK

ALBPM

The old one looks pretty Funky

steelhead

For a good smelling interior there are some better things than lysol. If you have a auto detailer supply store nearby they often have scented pressurized cans like bombs you buy for killing bugs in your house. To use it you start you car, turn the fans on high, recirculate setting, place the bomb off in car, close it up. The smell good stuff lasts for a while but it actually gets ran through your circulation system.

Sac State

$59 bucks!!!

My dealer wanted $34, I got them down to $17.

It is nothing more than a piece of dryer lint stretched over a plastic housing. I'd say about $2 worth of material.

You'd be shocked at the people who would pay the $59.

Darx

When I was at the dealer yesterday I saw the posters up all over the place for these things. I mentioned it tothe parts dept. guy and he said my truck didn't have one. I said I should just build my own somehow.

He started mumbling about it being possible to get an appropriate sized K&N filter and put it in some place, I don't remember now, and probably having to cut it down etc. I was interested.

I cannot find in my Field Service Manual where the outside air is coming into the cab. I could maybe try to put something after the blower motor behind the glove box if the air passes through there and into the vents.

Can someone give me a description of where I should be looking for the location of the outisde air intake for the cab on an '01 Taco?

r0cky

dealerships will charge you as much as they can get away with. it's like with every charge, they have a 50% chance of getting called on their bluff, and a 50% chance of slipping some overcharge past you.

aviator

Toyota does make a nifty looking powered cabin air filter for the surf/hilux trucks. It is one of those ionizing pollen/dust removal gizmos it has a fan in it (I think). It mounts on the ceiling in place of the centre light (it has lights in it as well). It is sold in the north african market. I saw an ad for it when I looked up toyota north africa on the web for some other non-NA factory parts. I tried to get some info but I guess no-one at that dealer speaks/ reads english oh well. Maybe some of our forces members posted over there can get some skinny for us... Cheers and happy long weekend Aviator.