2005 Corolla CE Air Filter Housing 2nd filter?

[dvs01]

This has been driving me nuts since I first replaced my air filter.

I noticed that inside the top cover of the air filter housing, which the MAF is connected to, there is a built in rectangular filter, similar material to that of whats used in housing ducts (A/C, Furnace, etc). I have been searching for hours on end trying to find out any info to what this is, or the purpose of it since it seems that having 2 air filters seems a bit restrictive.

I searched the web, crawled the forums, and even went out and bought a Hayes Manual, and still no luck.

It's a 2005 Toyota Corolla CE (Canadian) 1.8L 5 Speed.

If anyone has any info on it or knows how to remove it , please let me know before I decide to get a honda! (j/k)

[mikered30]

It is a charcoal filter for emissions, I think it is riveted on. Do you find it restrictive? I am not sure if it is required for emissions testing.

[dvs01]

Ah, ty. It was driving me nuts. And yes, its riveted, but I dont have to worry about emission testing, so I might pop it out and see.. Thanks!

[thebrokeenthusiast]

Let me know how it goes (removing the second filter). I noticed the same thing yesterday, but all I could think of was "Yo dawg! We heard you like air filters. So we put an air filter above yo' air filter so you can filter air while you filter air!"

[JasonA]

I removed mine, but it didn't make any difference. I would recommend not going to the trouble. The 5 minutes it took to remove it was time wasted really.

[dvs01]

Thanks guys. I guess I won't bother to remove it. And yes, thebrokeenthusiast, I was thinking the same thing. Maybe I should add another filter above the filter that is above that filter. lol