Cabin air filter is basically a feature found in most of the cars. The basic function of cabin air filter is to purify the air entering inside the cabin from air conditioning, heating or ventilation. Soaking up dust, pollen and other minute particles from air. This filter becomes very dirty in just a matter of time.
Replacement is another virtue, which surely depends upon your vehicle and the conditions you mostly drive in. Usually a cabin filter should be changed between 25,000 kms – 50,000 kms. But if you drive mostly in city or dusty area’s this replacement can be asked earlier by your car.
The usual instructions and time of replacement is written inside the user manual of your vehicle.
The main signs of replacement depends upon some conditions, such as how long have you been using the filter or when you start getting less results from the HVAC system, for example, when you increase the fan speed and you get more noise than the air flow. Also, if you start getting bad odor inside the cabin during the working of HVAC means that your car needs replacement for the cabin air filter.
A cabin air filter is usually placed behind the glove box area of the cabin and can easily be approached by removing the straps of the cabin. For some vehicles this air filter might be placed under the dashboard from where the outside air enters and in some cases it might be placed outside of the cabin at the inlets of air.
The replacement costs are not huge and depends upon the product you are using. Usual costs revolve around 300 INR to 500 INR and by seeing instructions over internet you can also replace the cabin air filter yourself, thus saving yourselves some good money.
[Image Source : Nappafilters.com]