Having a cabin air filter is essential for keeping the air inside your car clean and safe. Without it, you risk inhaling pollutants, allergens, and other debris that can cause serious health problems. Additionally, the lack of a cabin filter can lead to a host of other issues, such as low airflow, frozen evaporator, and a frozen expansion valve. In extreme cases, the clogged filter can completely obstruct the airflow, either by causing the fan motor to fail or by sucking the filter out of the housing along with all the debris that seeps out.
This is the most serious risk for anyone who does not change the cabin air filter because the result is an acute failure of a major vehicle safety system that will be very expensive to repair. Dirty or clogged cabin air filters will reduce the amount of air flowing through the vents. Of course, the most notable problem with the lack of a cabin filter is air quality. It will inhale all pollutants thrown on the road by other vehicles, such as diesel fumes and burnt oil. Allergens also enter and are not cleaned before driving around the cabin.
If the air conditioner is used long enough without a cabin filter, the fan will clog with dirt and dust much faster. This can cause problems related to low airflow, such as lack of cooling, a frozen evaporator, and a frozen expansion valve. Your car was built to last longer with all of its components in place, including the cabin air filter. When updating your car's maintenance records, you'll see that replacing the cabin air filter is recommended. The cabin air filter is a small pleated filter made of multi-fiber paper cotton or other engineering material.
It also restricts the flow of air through the condenser and heating coil into the passenger compartment. Changing the cabin air filter isn't just about air quality, it's also a safety issue and a maintenance requirement for the climate control system. If you own a vehicle manufactured in the last decade, your on-board computer will try to compensate for the lack of an air filter by altering the power supplied to the fans, but that can reduce the life of the entire climate control system. If you find yourself driving in heavily polluted areas or traveling on dirt roads, you should change your cabin air filter every 5,000 miles. Learn more about quality cabin air filters, find your car part, or find where to buy your auto part today. On other cars, you can find it under the hood or behind the dash more at the cabin air cleaner location at the end of this article. When you remove that restriction by removing the cabin air filter, a host of problems can arise.
If you are an installer, make sure your customer understands these most serious risks by refusing cabin air filter service.
