Cabin air filter replacement
Ensure that the air in your vehicle is clean
Replace your cabin air filter every 12 months or 25,000 km to keep the interior of your car feeling fresh and clean. If you start to smell odors in your car or if you notice that your HVAC fan is running more loudly, book a service appointment with us and we’ll change your cabin air filter for you.
Cabin air filter replacement in Surrey
The cabin air filter, a feature found on most late-model vehicles, is a flat, pleated, typically rectangular cartridge made of a framed combination of paper, mesh, and/or cotton that contains activated charcoal. Just like your engine’s air filter screening the air entering the combustion cycle, the cabin air filter strains the air you breathe inside your vehicle.
You could think of cabin air filters as gas masks, keeping the pollution, smoke, and that bro-dozer’s disgusting coal-rolling out of your lungs and out of the hospital for acute asthma, bronchitis, and other respiratory diseases. It catches airborne dust, pollen, airborne contaminants and debris that can make riding in a vehicle unpleasant, particularly if you have allergies or other respiratory problems. They are usually housed behind your glovebox or at the base of your vehicle’s windshield, underneath the hood.
When should you replace it?
Recommendations on when a cabin air filter should be replaced vary by manufacturer — some say every 15,000 or 20,000 kilometres, others longer — and how often can depend on how much you drive and where. Check the maintenance schedule in your owner’s manual. If you drive in heavy traffic in an urban area that has poor air quality, you could need to replace the cabin air filter annually or even more often.
Outdoor allergens are trapped in the cabin air filter, which ensures cleaner air quality inside the vehicle. For optimal results, it is best to change the air filter once every 12 months or 25,000 kilometres.
Signs of a dirty cabin air filter
The signs of a dirty cabin air filter are pretty easy to detect, that is unless you lack the sense of smell. Here are the most common ways to determine if your cabin air filter needs replacing.
Smell of outside odours
The easiest sign of a dirty cabin air filter is the scent of something outside of the vehicle, such as wildfire smoke, cow pastures, or skunks even when you have the climate control system on recirculate.
See particulates or smoke
Clearly, there’s an issue if you see smoke or other particulates coming in through your vehicle’s vents. This may also indicate your cabin air filter has a tear, rip, or break and needs to be replaced immediately.
Poor air flow
When a cabin air filter becomes clogged due to years of neglect, your car’s climate control system may not be able to blow as vigorously as it did when new.
Hear fan struggling to push air out
Likewise, you might hear the climate control system struggling to push the air through the car. It might sound louder than usual or as if something were blocking a vent.
Benefits of changing your cabin air filter
Many drivers and car owners forget about the importance of changing their vehicle’s cabin air filter regularly. We will sometimes offer to change this filter when changing your car’s oil, but many customers decline this service because they feel it’s too expensive or they don’t realize the importance of replacing it. If you live in a city or more densely populated area, you may need to change the filter more frequently. Were you also aware that regularly changing your filter can make a big difference in your vehicle’s engine performance?
Pollution reduction
Pollution is one of the biggest cited reasons for changing the cabin filter, because replacing it regularly helps to reduce the smoke, ash and smog from entering the inside of your vehicle from any fires and dirty exhaust from other vehicles. By changing your filter on a regular basis, you can ensure that pollution remains on the outside of your vehicle so you can breathe healthier air on the inside.
Better climate control system air flow
Because the engine powers the HVAC system, it has to work much, much harder to provide power to your heating and air conditioning when the cabin air filter is dirty and clogged. However, when the filter is unclogged and clean, the engine doesn’t have to work nearly as hard to power the HVAC system. What does that mean for you? Better fuel efficiency. It also means your air conditioning and heating systems will work much better, too — so your cabin will cool down more quickly in the hot summer months, and it will warm up more quickly in the cold months.
Fewer allergens
Have allergies? You know how bad it can be when those pesky allergens get to you. Cabin air filters also help to reduce the amount of those allergens that can get into your vehicle. Pollen, dust and allergens can build up in your filter during heavy pollen season, so you may need to change it sooner.
Fewer odours
When you don’t change your filter for some time, mold can build up on it, which can cause bad smells and odors. Mold is also extremely bad for your health, as it’s very unhealthy to breathe in. By replacing the cabin air filter regularly, you can avoid inhaling that unhealthy mold.
When was your cabin air filter last replaced?
If you’re not sure, ask us to take a look. If you need new one, we can replace it.
Your questions, answered
When should I change my cabin air filter?
For optimal performance, most manufacturers recommend changing the cabin air filter every 12 months or 25,000 km whichever comes first.