Such a pain in the neck changing cabin filter

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Changed the cabin filter today for the first time on my Subaru Baja in signature. Previously I had my mechanic friend do it but hes on vacation for the next two weeks & I wanted it done yesterday. Anyways, watched a you tube video on it & still took me a good 45 minutes of sweating and swearing to get it accomplished. Why do they have to make simple things so difficult. Heck my Camrys over the years were total of 3-5 minutes and done. Seems like the norm now for cabin filters is what my mechanic buddy told me???

Dale

Ps. Hope everyone has a good/safe Fourth of July weekend.
 
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Same to you for the Fourth.

Some are easy. Some are difficult. Sometimes the ducting isn't designed such that there's an access panel behind the glovey-poo.

My fave was the Honda which required sawing a metal strap away so the cabin air filter could clear. What jerks.....
 
We had an '05 Odyssey that required a) open the glove box, b) empty the glove box, c) pop the two supports off (ball joint style) which allowed the glove box to swing down farther, d), release two tabs and pull out filter tray. NO tools required.

Our '14 Fusion requires removal of side panel, then remove a dash trim panel that extends from the passenger door to the center console, removal of 6-8 screws .... and I forget the rest. It's obviously enough that I can't memorize the process, put it that way !
 
The Mk1 Focus is kind of difficult to do it on. Getting the cowl panel off, trying not to damage it, or the filter when sliding it back in. It's half covered by the windshield, half open. Then try to get the cowl back on in one piece.

And the 90s Camry (and probably a few other 90s cars that had cabin filters) you had to go under the steering wheel, near the pedals, behind the IP to replace it! It was a weird two-piece thing
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The late 90s Maxima doesn't even have one
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Yeah some cars are a PITA. My Accord requires taking apart half the dash, which is why the last cabin filter was in there for 60k miles lol
 
2013 Maxima is major nuisance. The rectangular slot at bottom back of passenger footwell / firewall for the filter is 1/2 the size of the actual filter, so you have to compress the dang thing before it comes out - if you can extract in 1 piece at all. Putting the new one in requires that you compress it, slide it in, push in the rest, hope it all expands within the housing. Then clip in plastic door. I've broken said door clip once already - fortunately the dealer only charges $3 for new one.
 
the early 2000's models were harder..

Taurus required removing wiper cowl.. bunch of fussy clips and such

Most of the recent ones take 5min or less to complete
pop the glove box out change filter, put it back.


On the 2014+ cherokee its very easy also.. but very easy to break a clip on the 25cent plastic door that costs $28 to replace.
 
I love the ones on the recent Civics. My 8th gen and 9th gen are both the same. I actually went out and checked the CAF yesterday on the 9th gen.

Simply push the sides of the glove box in so that it drops down, push two tabs in to pop a lid off, pull the CAF out, put the CAF in, get a cool glass of water.

The one thing I don't like about the 9th gen versus the 8th is that the 8th gen had a neat tray for the CAF to sit in and there was a lot of clearance between the top of the tray and the blower motor housing. So if your CAF had a bunch of junk sitting on top, all of that would come out with the CAF. On the 9th gen there is no tray strangely, the blower motor housing also meets the top of the CAF, so if there's anything on top of the CAF, it's going to get scraped off and into the housing as you pull the CAF out (unless it happens to get scraped into one of the CAF folds). I just pull it out from time to time and "make room" by getting the [censored] out of the pleats/folds.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Some Honda's take an HR or more and require many nuts and bolts be removed.


Old ones perhaps, most new ones are a piece of cake!
 
Originally Posted By: mclasser
Yeah some cars are a PITA. My Accord requires taking apart half the dash, which is why the last cabin filter was in there for 60k miles lol

Wow, my 2007 Accord is a piece of cake. Takes only a couple of minutes and no tools.
 
The only car I've had that approached difficult was the XC60. You had to roll the stupid passenger carpet out of the way and contort yourself.

Fortunately ze Germans have it figured out. At least what I've owned. My favorite was the Phaeton. The filters were actually installed into the hood frame:
 
What I don't like about my '03 Acura TL-S is it needs changing more frequently than the recommended 2 years, more like 9-12 months. Looks clean when changed. Use OEM filter, as some aftermarket filters have higher resistance.

The automatic fan, when on its lowest speed, starts smoking the fan transistor (not resistor) assembly, which costs $55, and more labor. You can catch it early by keying on the sick to my stomach burning smell coming from the vent air, and crank up the fan speed until the weekend.
 
Quote:
Yeah some cars are a PITA. My Accord requires taking apart half the dash, which is why the last cabin filter was in there for 60k miles lol

Not their best design. Just watched a youtube on it, requires glove box removal. Otoh, 01 Civic was pretty much like most Hondas now. Just a few clips, drop the glove box down at hinge to expose CAF cover, open to replace. EZ.
 
Originally Posted By: BAJA_05
Changed the cabin filter today for the first time on my Subaru Baja in signature. Previously I had my mechanic friend do it but hes on vacation for the next two weeks & I wanted it done yesterday. Anyways, watched a you tube video on it & still took me a good 45 minutes of sweating and swearing to get it accomplished. Why do they have to make simple things so difficult. Heck my Camrys over the years were total of 3-5 minutes and done. Seems like the norm now for cabin filters is what my mechanic buddy told me???

Dale

Ps. Hope everyone has a good/safe Fourth of July weekend.


I bet you have the design where you remove a bracket and corresponding fabric screen that's Velcro'd underneath to get better access to the filter cover. It took me over 45 minutes too and couldn't find a video until I found one from a Legacy even though my father has a 05 Outback. All the youtube videos for Outbacks showed the 5 minute easy replacement design vs. ours. Just think, the next time you do this, it'll take 20 minutes and then after that, 10 minutes...
 
My Accent is hard t get he glove box to drop. Mainly because my hands are so big and you have to have the box somewhat closed for some slack to get the rubber stoppers out. The Gen Coupe is a breeze with just an easy to get to stop arm needing detached and let it drop.
 
I feel your pain. The manual makes it sound so easy on a Legacy. Tried doing it only to pospone it for later.
 
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