Magazine for the auto service professional
Issue link: http://asp.epubxp.com/i/684411
42 | ASP June 2016 Technical According to MAHLE, cabin air flters are generally made of pleated paper or feece and activated carbon. It sounds simple enough, but automakers and flter engineers have invested substantial R&D; hours in order to determine materials, size, shape and location for these flters. Granted, cars of yesterday weren't equipped with passenger compartment air-fltering devices, and nobody griped. Back in the 1960s and '70s, if someone said we needed to install an air intake system that would flter cabin air, he or she would have probably been laughed at and perhaps tarred and feathered. In today's health-conscious society, you'd be ridiculed if you said there was no need for such a system. Te world keeps changing and we simply need to adapt and keep up. Cabin flters are here and we need to deal with them. Cabin air flters provide three key benefts: • Tey improve breathing safety by removing dust, pollen and other allergens. • In certain instances, they also help to remove unpleasant odors via the flter's activated charcoal layer (at least helping to nix the stink of a skunk, the perfumed air of a farm's fertilized felds or the petro smell from an over-fueling diesel). • Cabin air flters help to protect the vehicle's HVAC system blower fan from ingesting damaging particles. Note that once a vehicle has been outftted with a cabin air fltration system, this creates an air path to the HVAC blower fan. If airfow through the flter is restricted, the blower motor is forced to work harder (similar to a clogged flter on your home furnace). Generally speaking, cabin air flters should be replaced about every 15,000 to 30,000 miles. Vehicles operated in dusty environ- ments should be treated to a fresh flter at least every 15,000 miles. Air quality issues aside, be aware that humidity and storage times can easily contribute to flter issues. In damp condi- tions, especially for a vehicle that is stored for extended periods, the flter can easily become moldy, storing spores that are trying to work their way through the flter. It should be obvious at this point that I recommend adding cabin air flters to your shop's routine vehicle check, and for you to recommend a cabin air flter change at the same time as every engine's air and/or oil flter change. Simply make it a standard part of routine maintenance, instead of treating it like the "flter whose name must never be mentioned." Let's stop ignoring it and add it to the daily grind. Te customer paid for this technology when he or she bought the vehicle. It just makes sense to maintain it. Do your research and determine the loca- tion of cabin air flters for the vehicles your shop encounters. Depending on vehicle age and model, the flter will likely be accessed underhood, via a removable cowl panel on the passenger side; or via the glove box compart- ment (the glovebox tray may need to pivot down to gain access). Stock cabin air flters for your most popular vehicles. Also, change your signage to include cabin air flters along with oil changes or other routine maintenance jobs. Explain the benefts of the cabin flters to the customer. He or she may not even be aware that their vehicle is equipped with this system. Once they understand that the flters help to keep the cabin air clean and protects their blower fan from wear, selling replace- ment flters should be a piece of cake. ■ Outside air that is forced into the passenger compartment can contain dust, allergens and as- sorted pollutants. Maintaining clean cabin flters, for those vehicles so-equipped, needs to be con- sidered as a routine part of any regular service job. To provide complete service, a standard "oil and flter" change should now automatically in- clude cabin air flters along with engine oil flters.