Cabin Microfilter Maintenance

[RockyNv]

I have yet do this on my car, but if there is anything in the way, I will get out my dremmel wheel and cut out any offending parts... I have had it with the anti-customer maintenance engineering of the car makers, I had this with my 2001 odyssey also...

Lol, that's the spirit!

I took this approach with our washing machine. The "coin catcher" became clogged and there was no access panel. You are supposed to disassemble the entire machine; which is a bear for a front-loader. The first time this happened I spent an entire day and I swore if it ever happened again I was going to cut a hole in the *****. Well it did happen again and without a moments hesitation I cut a hole in the *****. 10 minutes later the clog was removed. Took a few minutes more to fashion an access panel out of an old metal sign. Third time, the job was done in a matter of minutes. We have a big dog, so the "coin catcher" tends to be a dog-hair catcher.

We have a older front loader we'd like to replace with a newer model. The problem is ours has the easily removable front panel(2 screws) and you have easy access to everything under the door. Problem is ALL the new front loaders I've seen(and I've been looking) no longer have the access door, I can only imagine how one would access the "coin catcher"(which I've had to do several times) or access other things like the shocks which I've replaced both over the years. Having to disconnect the hoses and drain and slide the washer out from under our cabinet to do these basic things is UNACCEPTABLE! Because of this I guess I'll have to keep our 15+ year old washer and keep working on it, at least I can

Mine has the door however when the factory service tech came he simply pulled the machine away from the wall tipped it back and reached up from underneath and was done checking if that was the problem in a flash. Power surge had blown one of the many fuses epoxied into the $250 Main Board so it cost $250 + labor to replace the 25 cent fuse. Thankfully the extended warranty took care of that.

 

[Kristis]

I'm planing on buying a new filter, What have u chosen for the replacement?
I'm seeing ebay full of woven, carbon and hepa filters + oem filters. Is there any difference? I'm planing on getting hepa, but still not fully decided
HEPA:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HEPA-Cabon-Cabin-Condition-Filter-Air-Intake-For-Nissan-Tiida-Qida-27891-3DF0A-/282221740352?fits=Make%3ANissan%7CModel%3ALeaf&hash=item41b5ba0140:g:F8EAAOSwmLlYAb9I&vxp=mtr&autorefresh=true

Carbon:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Carbon-Fiber-Cabin-Air-Filter-for-Nissan-Cube-Leaf-2010-2014-OE-B7891-1FC0A-/231898497792?fits=Make%3ANissan%7CModel%3ALeaf&hash=item35fe3a4300:g:eycAAOSwAvJW~mDn&vxp=mtr

Stock:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GENUINE-NISSAN-LEAF-CABIN-POLLEN-FILTER-B78911FC0A-/151902004590?hash=item235e10a56e:g:ZlIAAOSwv-NWXgFI

Any recommendations?

 

[rexki]

HEPA and Carbon - Appears to be the stiff cloth I tried and destroyed after not being able to get it to jump back to full size after rammed through the rabbit "square" hole - Would steer clear!

STOCK - looks like the only one I would buy.

 

[LeftieBiker]

The OEM filter does nothing to remove odors from the plastic or anything else in the car. The Fram Fresh Breeze filter removes them very well. So I'd only use filters with charcoal.

 

[arnis]

The OEM filter does nothing to remove odors from the plastic or anything else in the car. The Fram Fresh Breeze filter removes them very well. So I'd only use filters with charcoal.

Actually cabin microfilter is not filtering/scenting air in the cabin at all. So saying that any hyper-ultra other type of filter will remove
odor of the chicken that is now living under the seat is technically BS. It can only hide the smell with some other chemical.
Microfilter filters outside air before it passes heater radiators. Only exterior smells can be removed.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Not true, Arnis. Any time Recirculate or Partial recirculate is used, the filter can remove interior odors - if it has charcoal. Interior smells are worst when recirc is used. I drove about 1.5 years with the OEM filter, then several more with a Fresh Breeze filter, and for about 18 months the difference was obvious. Even with the charcoal "dead" now, the FB smells less.

 

[Kristis]

Tere, Arnis

I'm not looking for the best filtration out there, what im looking for - a working filter, thats it My 2013 (2012 model) Leaf has only 15k km and has never had a cabin filter changed, and its now clogged as a brick

 

[arnis]

Not true, Arnis. Any time Recirculate or Partial recirculate is used, the filter can remove interior odors - if it has charcoal. Interior smells are worst when recirc is used. I drove about 1.5 years with the OEM filter, then several more with a Fresh Breeze filter, and for about 18 months the difference as obvious. Even with the charcoal "dead" now, the FB smells less.

Ok, in case of recirculation it can. But usually smells come from outside.
To get rid of inside smell you have to get rid of all chicks and tomato sauce stains.
Aka if you get into a car that has been standing it will smell. Filter can temporarily
make it better, but it is wrong way to deal with interior contaminations.

Kristis, teretere,

start with just replacing filter. You can get them from dealer. If you want to save money then you can also find them on Ebay

Actually it should not be full after 15Mm (megameters, aka 15 000 km). But it might stink due to mold/moisture/bacteria.

Also I would recommend getting the interior clean if you have problems with smells

 

[Kristis]

Previous owner (Italian) was carrying a dog and had an excessive amount of perfume applied everywhere in the interior... U can guess the current result but yeah, stock filter is completely black and had a lot of leaves in there too

 

[Nubo]

Lol, that's the spirit!

I took this approach with our washing machine. The "coin catcher" became clogged and there was no access panel. You are supposed to disassemble the entire machine; which is a bear for a front-loader. The first time this happened I spent an entire day and I swore if it ever happened again I was going to cut a hole in the *****. Well it did happen again and without a moments hesitation I cut a hole in the *****. 10 minutes later the clog was removed. Took a few minutes more to fashion an access panel out of an old metal sign. Third time, the job was done in a matter of minutes. We have a big dog, so the "coin catcher" tends to be a dog-hair catcher.

Mine has the door however when the factory service tech came he simply pulled the machine away from the wall tipped it back and reached up from underneath and was done checking if that was the problem in a flash. Power surge had blown one of the many fuses epoxied into the $250 Main Board so it cost $250 + labor to replace the 25 cent fuse. Thankfully the extended warranty took care of that.

Yeah, I ended up putting the machine on its side at one point. Oh, those crafty engineers had thought of that one. The magic sensors weren't going to let me get off that easy. After putting the machine right-side-up, it was dead to the world. Eventually I found the secret diagnostic button-press sequences online and was eventually able to clear the error. But, maybe just tipping the thing a bit would have got me in under the radar.

 

[grandizer52]

The filter with arm and hammer, hands down does the best to kill the funk...your only going to rid 60% of interior stank in recirc mode. want to keep the stink down, stray your self with fabreeze. I brought some filters that I been using to Nissan headquarters and we did some un-official tests, the filter housing isn't large enough to rid the interior volume of the hard stink.

 

[LeftieBiker]

If I used febreeze I'd then have to sell the car. The Fresh Breeze has charcoal & baking soda, IIRC. If you are sensitive to odors and are willing to have the filter changed once every 9-12 months, I'd definitely get one of those.