1998 Corolla no cabin air flow

[Ollie123]

Hi, my mum-in-law has a 1998 Corolla Linea Terra hatchback. There's virtually no cabin air flow from the vents even on the highest fan setting. I thought the pollen filter might need changing but reading other threads there doesn't seem to be any cabin air filter in this model. What should I look at to try improve the air flow? Where does the cabin air come from? Mechanics said ti would be a big job to fix and didn't do anything.

Thanks for any advice.

[fishexpo101]

There were not any cabin air filters in the North American markets for this generation, may not apply to your market.

Assuming that it doesn't have a cabin air filter - does the fan speeds all work, i.e., running though all fan speeds, note an increase in airflow/fan speed? Have you tried other modes, i.e., recirc, defrost, vent, etc.? Can you hear the air "flapper" move when you change modes - should be quite obvious when you change where the air is directed? Made sure that the vents are switched off - here the vents have a manual switch on/off on the side-most vents?

Chances are - the blower is just buggered up with all sorts of debris - leaves, twigs, dust, etc. and not able to move as much air as it should. I know when I cleaned mine out - I was shocked by how dirty it got.

[Ollie123]

Hi fishexpo101, where is the blower and air intake for the cabin air so I can check for debris?

[GaryGoatse]

It should be located behind the glove box. open the glove box and remove the bolts in each corner and i think 4 screws up top and it will all pop down in a few seconds(there might be a bolt in the bottom right corner behind the floor corner panel. Also, an important thing for us to know, does your fan even work? Does it only work on the HI setting? If it only works on the highest speed then you need a new blower motor resistor. If it all works and you can hear it whirring you should :

1. Check the blower motor box which is behind the glove box and will have a plug to the motor as well as 3 screws underneath it holding it in.

2. Remove the wiper blades(2 nuts underneath the base, a little piece flips up for that), then remove the black piece across the blades that is like a vent going into the car. Underneath this vent you should find the big hole(usually hidden so get a friend with elastic arms) that goes into the car and into the blower motor case. If you can't find anything clogging up in these areas you either missed something or have the actual vents clogged.

hope that helps, i have pictures of when i did mine but its from a 1999 VE Corolla 4 door with regular trunk

[Ollie123]

Hi, I got a Hayne's manual for the car (for 1997-2002 Corollas) and there is a pollen filter in it. The filter is housed vertically directly under the blower. Access to the filter is from under the glovebox (no need to open or remove the glovebox) -- 4 circular headed push clips need to be removed and the 3 fold filter can be pulled out.
A huge amount of dirt was held in there -- an immediate improvement to the air flow was had just by removing the larger debris.