I changed the cabin air filter in my 2005 Honda Accord today and thought I'd discuss it here. Just about every car has a cabin air filter, sometimes called a pollen filter, and it is simple to change. On most cars, as on the Accord, it sits behind the glove box and is accessible from inside the car. On the Accord no tools are required to change it, and the job takes about 10 minutes.
The filter is a square piece of pleated paper, about 9 inches on each and about 1 inch high. The cost is $23.94 from a Honda dealer or $12.45 from
HandA.
To reach the filter, the plastic glove box must be rolled from its normal position until the opening faces the floor. To do this, first disconnect the glovebox dashpot (it keeps the glove box from swinging wildly opened when the glove box is unlatched) by disconnecting the plastic hook on the right side of the glove box door. (Use your thumb.) Then notice two slots in the glove box walls at the back of the box, one on each side. These slots allow the side walls of the box to be pushed in about 1/4" to clear the stops which prevent the glove box from opening further. When the stops are cleared the box will rotate downward until it faces the floor.
Doing this exposes the cabin wall behind the glove box. In the wall you will see a black plastic rectangle about 2" high and 10" wide with plastic latches at either side. Undo the latches with your thumbs and slide out the black plastic square tray that is approximately 10"x10"x2". The tray holds the cabin air filter. If the filter has not been changed for a few years, it will probably be black and sooty. This hinders cool air entering the cabin from the air conditioner.
Both the replacement filter and the black plastic filter box will have arrows showing direction of air flow, and these must be aligned. (The flow is down.) The fore and aft edges of the replacement filter must be inserted over a plastic bar at the fore and aft edges of the plastic box. (This is difficult to describe without a picture, but you'll know what to do when you see it. It keeps the pleated paper filter from shrinking and drawing away from the edges of the box.)
When that is done, simply slide the black plastic tray holding the filter into its slot (the plastic latches snap in place automatically), and rotate the glove box into its normal position (the sides of the glove box automatically override the stops.) Finally push the dashpot arm back into position on the right hand side of the glovebox.
It probably took me less time to change the filter than to write this post. I usually change the cabin filter whenever I change the engine air filter. It's so simple I'm teaching my cat to do it. But the thumbs thingy seems to give him a problem.
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