Mazda6 Cabin Air Filter- 3 Years Old

[meangreen01]

After changing out the OEM filter after three years in service, I felt it was too dirty and planned to do it every other year. Well it slipped my mind and went three years again-

The dirty one and the new replacement are TYC brand. They're pretty inexpensive compared to others, but seem to be of decent quality. The pleats are evenly placed and secured to the paper/fiber frame securely. I pick 'em up from amazon when I need to fill out an order to get free shipping.

 

[cutter]

That actually doesn't look too bad for three years. In one year, mine would look like a yeti.

 

[Spazdog]

mine isn't even a year old and it looks worse than that!

 

[bxd20]

How often are you changing the one in your Contour SVT? Used to have a 99. They sure didn't make that one easy to swap.

 

[meangreen01]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
mine isn't even a year old and it looks worse than that!

Well in TX you're probably running the A/C even when the car isn't being driven, LOL.

Yeah, IDK what exactly causes some designs/factors to clog more quickly than others. I suppose a combination of many- miles, HVAC use, environment driven and parked, and design of HVAC and filter size/placement.

In the case of my 6, it gets driven only about 12k a year, lots of window down time, and is garaged a lot. I'm stll surprised at how much gunk wound up in there. Two years next time.

Originally Posted By: bxd20
How often are you changing the one in your Contour SVT? Used to have a 99. They sure didn't make that one easy to swap.

It is a PITA. Those who complain about having to drop the glove box clearly haven't had to tear apart their cowl for replacement. And the plastic screw head caps that don't want to snap back on... I'd love to just have to drop the glove box. Still better than having no filter IMO.

I did the SVT and 6 together back in '09. The SVT isn't driven as much anymore, and really doesn't accumulate nearly as quickly as the 6. So, I'm going to run at least one more year, maybe two, on that one

 

[Eddie]

I just change mine (Mazda CX7) every 2 years at ~ 24K miles. The used one looks similar to the 3 year one posted. Ed

 

[HTSS_TR]

I used discarded pantyhose as pre-filter for both engine and cabin air filters. Replaced the pantyhose pre-filter once a year, it catches leaves, sands, bugs ... and the air filter is much cleaner.

 

[Eddie]

Interesting HTSS

 

[CharBaby]

I would like to at least check the cabin air filter(s) in my daughters '06 Mazda 3(which has 2 filters)but, from everything that I have read online, it looks as though it's an ~ 4 hour job just getting to the filters. If I am going to do all of that labor, I'm changing them. I'd just hate to do all of that work getting to them and finding that they're OK!

Both of our cars(wifes/mine) are right in the glove compartment and easily accessible.

 

[R2d2]

Meangreen, that looks pretty good for 3 years, If I was you I'd stick with that change interval. My cabin filter looks worse then that after 12 months, it is however extremely easy to change.