Monday, December 12, 2011

Why it is important to check your Cabin Air Filter

Cabin Air Filter
This morning we were greeted with a typical complaint: The fan motor makes noise. This usually is due to the blower motor or squirrel cage being broken or loose. On this car however, another culprit was to blame.
What a typical Blower Motor "Squirrel Cage" looks like
The Cabin Air Filter is a relatively new addition to automotive heating and air conditioning. It is positioned upstream of the blower motor/squirrel cage (pictured above) and functions to limit environmental agents form entering the cabin of a vehicle. Gone are the days when leaves or other detritus would blow out of your air vents.  Because of it's position in the system, the cabin air filter often gets plugged, whether its just dust from back roads, pine needles, leaves, or small sticks.  Rarely do we see a situation as we did today.  A rat or mouse evidently found the cabin air filter to be quite comfy and decided to use it for a bed. The noise the customer was hearing was from the walnut shells in the photo above, that the rat had dropped into the squirrel cage.  Besides the shells, the filter was also contaminated with feces and urine.  While this is not a common occurrence it high lights the need to periodically check and replace the cabin air filter

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