as a self declared weekend mechanic..i am ashamed!
 

hahaha..i had to get some pro-work done on my wife's subaru. (i thought it was head gaskets)..car is fixed up awesome!!

on the way out, the service guys said.."hey, you ever look at the cabin air filter?"
me: "huh..what air cabin filter?!"

seriously, we have owned this car since new..2005! 75,000 miles and i never knew it had a in-cabin air filter. i walked straight into the parts department, where the parts guy was listening our conversation..he had one ready..hahah.. i got REAMED! price-wise..but i had to know.

we went out for dinner, and that was the only thing on my mind..got home, grabbed headlamp and tore into the dash in the pitch darkness.. holy !@#$!@#$!@$#@!%!!! that was the filthiest filter i have ever seen in my life!!

wow..wow..wow. i cant believe i let this one slip under the radar for nine years. glad i have a day job.

Just another filter to change.

ha ha

Had the same thing (also with the wife's 2005 we've owned since new). However, I caught my error back in 2010 or so. There were pine needles and leaves and whatnot embedded in there.

Deer hunting season here...got them on the move (that and rutting). I nailed a big buck on the way home tonight from work in the rain (about 10PM) in my Cayenne. Not really much damage when a 6,000 lb vehicle hits a 150 lb deer. Looks like I will need a new plastic bumper and a few other bits...Probably would be less than my deductible ($1,000) if not for the Porsche tax.

He he. BTDT.

Even with the dry tumbler. Wife complains the laundry won´t dry. I check it out and conclude its broken. Will have to buy new one. In comes father in law going - "have you perhaps bothered to check the filter..?"

Oops. Black. New filter. Works as a charm. :rolleyes:

I am such a tool.

I'm pretty sure my vehicles have in-cabin filters, but i've never changed one. Wouldn't know where to look.

You get a pass on this one because it was just a cabin filter. People want fresh air, just open a window.
Now if it had been the air intake filter, well you should have been drawn and quartered.

:D
Les

I bought a used Nissan Armada with 60k from the DFW area for our family car. I proceeded to do what I call a baseline on it being a used car - fluids, filters, etc just to get it totally updated on maintenance. When I pulled the air filter, I found a few acorns in it. Looking around the engine, the V of the V8 under the intake manifold was full of acorns. And when I pulled out the pollen filter (mounted horizontally) it was FULL of acorns. Probably several inches worth stacked on top of the filter. I can only assume that it was a family car for squirrels as well, I guess they stayed in DFW.

Not sure how humans survived when cars didn't have cabin filters...

Nope, you're a doctor! As Engineer the saying is: "If I can't fix it, it's BROKEN!"

Nothing in the owners manual about changing that filter? Should be some sort of maintenance schedule somewhere. Bad vash!
That reminds me, I should read my trucks OM. :)

You are not alone Vash.

The first time I had dealt with a cabin filter was on our BMW. Never had a clue they existed until then.

air cooled Porsche don't need cabin air filters. The burning oil smell is the equivalent of new car smell for lesser brands

I love the smell of burnt oil in the morning, it smells like victory

like my 1970 bug even ever had windshield defrost due to ever tearing flex / alum coated paper flex tubes with constant holes in them for zero pressure.



Front Wing Windows at 70 degrees steered air over inner of windshield with inside ice scraper applied as needed with toweling to wipe dew off in front of the 3 fm and 2 am radio presets.

underdash Kraco 40 power booster amp next to the 8 track or cassette was high tech. Auto Reverse? not invented yet.


of course the intake manifold, (older single port or hi-po dual port 1600cc) also iced up on cold days too.


points and condensers and plugs, every year replaced. How many 20-30 Gen X kids have ever file points flat and set dwell and timing..........strobe lights............8 degrees advance timing.


in-cabin air filters? Is that part of the new blue tooth GPS mp3 navigation system?

I've adjusted points and replaced a cabin filter in the same work session :eek:

I set dwell and timing on my 71 camaro when I was a teen. I barely understood it tho.

Knocked the loose stuff off the filter. It was almost a solid film :)
Oddly the blower still moves the air the same ; feels the same.
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/36...1e447eebce.jpg

Crank oil seal went out on the '00 Camry. Was off a tooth on the rear camshaft gear when installing the timing belt. This past Monday morning, I re-time the engine, spin it by hand, then fire it up. It ran really rough and had knocking. Fuchs.

I'm a fair weather wrencher, so as the week goes by and it gets cold out, it sits in the drive. I ponder, lose sleep, and become depressed that I ruined a non-interference engine somehow.

Today, I check the timing again, rotate by hand, then crank with the EFI relay pulled. Install the relay, and she purrs like a kitten.

I'm somewhat ashamed about missing one tooth on the cam gear, but more so baffled as why it's all right now.