How did we survive before cabin air filters?

[Vaca]

I wonder how dirty the ventilation systems in old cars became before cabin air filters.

I remember as a kid changing the heater core on an old AMC Hornet, but don't remember there being any leaves or nasty dust and grime in it like we see here in some of these "nasty cabin filter" posts here.

Maybe the old, pre-cabin-filter cars were designed to keep that stuff out, or maybe it just built up inside the air handler somewhere?

 

[Elkins45]

I know when I pulled the filter from my wife's Toyota it was covered with hickory nut cuttings and mouse droppings. I would rather have those caught on a filter than blown into my face.

 

[nascarnation]

The real question is....having grown up in the 1950s downwind of the Cleveland steel mills and refineries...and swam in Lake Erie all summer long as a child...how did I make it to 70 yrs old?

 

[EA82]

That's a picture of me trying to clean with a sprayer after removing the blower motor in my van, because of no filter the ac is acting up.

 

[earlyre]

i still don't have one. my 2009 didn't come so equipped.

 

[Leo99]

Originally Posted by nascarnation
The real question is....having grown up in the 1950s downwind of the Cleveland steel mills and refineries...and swam in Lake Erie all summer long as a child...how did I make it to 70 yrs old?


You probably drank from a garden hose, too.

 

[philipp10]

I don't think cabin air filters do Jack. They surely don't filter what matters most, the sub micron particles that can deposit deep in your lungs. A couple of leaves or mouse droppings never killed anyone. Nice I suppose to help keep your heat exchanger clean.

 

[The_Nuke]

Originally Posted by Leo99
Originally Posted by nascarnation
The real question is....having grown up in the 1950s downwind of the Cleveland steel mills and refineries...and swam in Lake Erie all summer long as a child...how did I make it to 70 yrs old?


You probably drank from a garden hose, too.


I used to drink from the garden hose all the time as a kid, and it wasn't even sourced from a municipal water supply. Yet, there is nothing wrong....

jimmy crack corn and IDK
JIMMY CRAK KRON IDK
JIMMYYYYYY!

...with me!

Drats! I've got another one those headaches...you know the ones I'm talking about right? The ones where your head starts hurting, and then BLAMMO! You come to in a pool of your own sick and missing all your body hair below your armpits...

I HATE those headaches!!

 

[The_Nuke]

Originally Posted by philipp10
I don't think cabin air filters do Jack. They surely don't filter what matters most, the sub micron particles that can deposit deep in your lungs. A couple of leaves or mouse droppings never killed anyone. Nice I suppose to help keep your heat exchanger clean.


That's why I never leave home without at least 2 of my tinfoil hats - one for driving and one in case I pick up any hitchhikers that forgot their tinfoil hats at home.

 

[wemay]

Our nose hair filtered out most of the junk.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted by wemay
Our nose hair filtered out most of the junk.


I trim those to the same length as my chest hairs. Don't you man-groom, bro!?

 

[bullwinkle]

We rolled down the windows (BY HAND) & all the junk blew out the window!

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted by gathermewool
Originally Posted by wemay
Our nose hair filtered out most of the junk.


I trim those to the same length as my chest hairs. Don't you man-groom, bro!?

 

[PandaBear]

It wasn't "filtered" all the time even if you have one.

 

[SureshR]

Originally Posted by philipp10
I don't think cabin air filters do Jack. They surely don't filter what matters most, the sub micron particles that can deposit deep in your lungs. A couple of leaves or mouse droppings never killed anyone. Nice I suppose to help keep your heat exchanger clean.


Well, a clogged heat exchanger and then a leaky compressor cost $$$ to fix so better an el cheapo cabin air filter than a huge bill for a non functional aircon

 

[Imp4]

Originally Posted by nascarnation
The real question is....having grown up in the 1950s downwind of the Cleveland steel mills and refineries...and swam in Lake Erie all summer long as a child...how did I make it to 70 yrs old?

This is the textbook example of survivorship bias.
See here to learn more.

Life expectancy of a male born in 1950 was 66.5 years.
A male born in 2007 was expected to live 75.9 years.
CDC reference data here.

Take off those rose colored glasses. The bad old days were just that.

 

[rubberchicken]

Originally Posted by The_Nuke
Originally Posted by Leo99
Originally Posted by nascarnation
The real question is....having grown up in the 1950s downwind of the Cleveland steel mills and refineries...and swam in Lake Erie all summer long as a child...how did I make it to 70 yrs old?


You probably drank from a garden hose, too.


I used to drink from the garden hose all the time as a kid, and it wasn't even sourced from a municipal water supply. Yet, there is nothing wrong....

jimmy crack corn and IDK
JIMMY CRAK KRON IDK
JIMMYYYYYY!

...with me!

Drats! I've got another one those headaches...you know the ones I'm talking about right? The ones where your head starts hurting, and then BLAMMO! You come to in a pool of your own sick and missing all your body hair below your armpits...

I HATE those headaches!!


+2 this comment needs more love.

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted by Imp4
Life expectancy of a male born in 1950 was 66.5 years. A male born in 2007 was expected to live 75.9 years.

The bulk of that can be directly attributed to advances in modern medicine. Which can now cure, or else prevent a lot of what killed us before. Not cabin air filters on cars. Or banning Lawn Darts.

 

[joekingcorvette]

My 2014 F-150 super crew 5.0L 4x4 does not have a cabin filter. All of my other vehicles do in my signature. I don't know why they didn't have it on this truck.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Originally Posted by nascarnation
The real question is....having grown up in the 1950s downwind of the Cleveland steel mills and refineries...and swam in Lake Erie all summer long as a child...how did I make it to 70 yrs old?

Must have been tough swimming around the fire flowing into Erie from the Cuyahoga River...