Camry & Solara LoungeDiscussion area for every generation of Toyota's family car, the Toyota Camry. Lexus ES250/300 owners welcome! Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance and more.
How much money are you really saving? $20 every 30K miles. How much money is that really in the overall maintenance of your vehicle? IMO not a whole lot. So are you not going to change your oil for 20K miles because you want to save a little cash? You'll be paying more to repair it in the future. As for the long term problems you might encounter, you'll probably lose air flow due to dust, pollen, leaves etc. that will accumulate on the filter element. You can do other things other than skimping on not changing your cabin filter. BTW welcome to the Nation!
As for the long term problems you might encounter, you'll probably lose air flow due to dust, pollen, leaves etc. that will accumulate on the filter element.
And when this blocks the air flow enough and it is a very humid and hot day the coils will ice up and block the flow even more if using the A/C.
I know this from a past experience when I did not know my wife's 2003 Corolla had one. Found myself in 100 degree heat with practically no air moving through the ducts.
You can do this one yourself for around $20 or so. Here's a YouTube video with step by step instructions by what looks to be a 16 y.o. doing it. One thing... he says get the filter from Toyota for ~ $20 - but Toyota charges more than that. I get mine from a 3rd party parts supply.
You could burn out either the fan motor or the fan motor speed control resistors. The fan motor won't like the extra resistance a clogged air filter provides. The speed control resistors are likely in the airstream for cooling and reduced or minimal airflow will heat up the resistors, perhaps enough to burn out.
If you can't afford to replace the filter right now, at least follow the U-tube video to remove and replace it. Then just vacuum out your old one with a shop vac and reinstall it. That way you should not have any major problems until such time as you can afford to replace it.
Not sure how well this might work or if it will cause harm, but a furnace air filter is about $5 and you could probably cut 10 filters to fit your car from one of them if it really came down to it.
If you can't afford to replace the filter right now, at least follow the U-tube video to remove and replace it. Then just vacuum out your old one with a shop vac and reinstall it. That way you should not have any major problems until such time as you can afford to replace it.
Mike
That's what I do.. Bang the debris out and vacuum.
Quote:
Originally Posted by touringcamry
Not sure how well this might work or if it will cause harm, but a furnace air filter is about $5 and you could probably cut 10 filters to fit your car from one of them if it really came down to it.
I'd take a guess and say that the OP wouldn't take the time to do that.
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2007 Magnetic Gray Camry LE V6:
Lit door sills, F/R cathode, trunk cathode, K&N SRI, IS250 chromes, LED tails/ bulb swaps, Katzkin leather
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Cabin Air Filter
Bang the debris out and vacuum.
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