maybe an animal got in there & battled it's way out? check inside the venting & fan for remains. see any feathers or hairs?

 

No feathers or hair (or turds) in the filter. Just dirt. Yeah, I suppose I could take the fan out and take a look (it's not hard to do). I've never had critters in the AC system and I know no critter got stuck in there (would have smelled that because that would have been awful). Unless he went back outside?

Or like the previous post, maybe something fell on it and dented the filter and got out, but of course left the filter dented and then the fan made the hole eventually.

Yeah, what @rumrunn6 said makes sense, but I was quite confident there was no entry to get in through the fresh air intake since I've never had an issue before. I'll take a look at it.

Ive had some recent denso air filters not fit in correctly and they buckle slightly, may contribute to this, i have to trim them in a weird way to fit nice

The filter looked perfect when I installed it last year. It's definitely buckled at the far end, so the theory that a critter landed in there could explain that.

 

Maybe they don't build them like they used to....................

 

Huh, that's crazy! Looks like you had the air flow pointing in the right direction. There is some dirt on there, but yeah nothing compared to what I've seen before. Maybe like ^^^ said, it's just a bad filter. But by Denso??? Might be worth bringing up with Denso! Or like the previous post, maybe something fell on it and dented the filter and got out, but of course left the filter dented and then the fan made the hole eventually.

 

Ive had some recent denso air filters not fit in correctly and they buckle slightly, may contribute to this, i have to trim them in a weird way to fit nice

 

animals do that...

 

Update: I installed a new Denso cabin air filter and made absolutely sure I installed it correctly. Turned it on and everything sounded great. 2 days later I notice it's making some noise again. I was planning on checking it when the noise got super loud. Well this is what it looked like when opening the cover plate. I had to yank it out of there and the second photo shows what kind of shape the brand new filter is in now:

I took a look at the cowl and everything is secure. I do not believe any kind of critter has made it's way in there. I operated the fan just for 10 seconds after removing the filter and it sounds fine. What the.....? What is causing this?

I haven't had the chance to actually remove the blower motor yet, but it sounds fine as long as there's no filter in there.

 

A shoe bootie? Guess someone decided to take it off at high rate of speed. 😂

 

Ive got It! It’s missing the tray that the filter should fit into. My mothers 2002 Camry requires a tray to hold the filter in place. Yes?

 

@https://www.toyotanation.com/members/john-anthony.207788/

Ive got It! It’s missing the tray that the filter should fit into. My mothers 2002 Camry requires a tray to hold the filter in place. Yes?

I thought the same, but saw a video on YouTube that shows no tray for OPs Corolla year. Guy just pulled the filter out and put a new one in. I presume the filter sits on a grate when inserted into the filter slot.

 

What about water softening it somehow?

 

Is it possible the air intake side is restricted so the fan is pulling really hard on the filter and sucking it down towards the fan?

 

I think this makes the most sense. Possibly something blocked in the plastic vent area next to the start of the wiper blades.

Something like this maybe:

 

Try one one of those charcoal cabin air filters on Amazon. I find the stock one to be quite meh and flimsy…one of the few Toyota components I can say that about.
I use the spearhead odor defense one.
If it does this on that filter + 2 stock filters, something else is wrong

 

Try one one of those charcoal cabin air filters on Amazon. I find the stock one to be quite meh and flimsy…one of the few Toyota components I can say that about. If it does this on that filter + 2 stock filters, something else is wrong

The thing is that I have always used the Denso filter without any issue (until now).

I think this makes the most sense. Possibly something blocked in the plastic vent area next to the start of the wiper blades.

Something like this maybe:

That's a good point. I just popped the hood and took a look at the cowl by the wipers. It's all clean of debris from the passenger side all the way until you get to the driver side where there is a little bit of debris I can see with a light through that small grille vent on the driver side. Doesn't the air intake come in only from the passenger side? Here's a photo. I have that grille circled in yellow. That's the only area where there is debris down there. Everything to the left (passenger side) of that grille is clean. I guess I can go in there later this week and clean what little debris there is on that side.

I removed the blower motor. It looks fine. The only debris were tiny bits of the filter in a few spots, but nothing to cause any issue. Here's a photo of that with the biggest pieces at 11/12 o'clock. The other pieces are tiny and on various fan blades. Nothing to cause any issue.

With the motor/fan removed I could see the vent opening which goes to the drivers side. I stuck my hand in there almost as far as my wrist and I didn't feel anything in there. Couldn't fit my hand in any more than that. I ran the motor and it runs fine. There's only about 1/8" of play, and it doesn't wobble. Here's a less than 10 second video showing the fan motor operating:

Cabin fan motor working fine.

2004 Corolla cabin fan motor removed and shown running.

rumble.com

A shoe bootie? Guess someone decided to take it off at high rate of speed. 😂

Yep, a Denso shoe bootie.

 

I must say, I have never seen a blower motor suck hard enough to collapse a relatively new filter! Either the filter is not allowing enough air through or the blower has switched to hyperdrive!

Personally, I would install a new filter and watch it work (keep the filter lid open while the blower is blowing on high speed, then close the small filter lid and see if the filter is sucked downward). This way you can see what is happening.

 

I have changed hundreds of cabin filters and never saw that happen, I mean ever even when the old one was completely clogged. Either that is the proverbial knock off part twice or the wrong part altogether.

 

The blower motor is definitely working and is pretty strong. But for @John Anthony he may have a squirrel or field mouse that’s dropping presents that damage the filter in the first post.

It’s efficient.

 

Is this a genuine Toyota filter? As in bought from a stealership? If so, I would take it back and ask them WTF... If not bought from a stealership, I would wonder if it is authentic and not a knockoff. Goodness knows that there are knockoffs for everything else, including oil filters and spark plugs, so anywhere these bastards can steal a dime, they will.

 

The original filter and the second new filter (also destroyed) were both DENSO filters. Correct part number 453-2039. This is the same cabin air filter I usually use. Whenever I can, I always use the DENSO brand for whatever part I need.

From where did you get the filters? There are counterfeit parts around.

My preference and go-to is Rock Auto. In this case I bought the Denso filter from Amazon (not from an affiliate, but Amazon itself). The filter and box look like the same genuine Denso filters I always buy. I have just purchased and recieved today two new filters, one Denso, and the other is the cheapest filter I could find for less than $6 on Amazon. The cheap filter is the PENTIUS brand and it looks the same as the Denso filter except it's marked/labeled as Pentius. I bought the cheap one as a sacrifice to test out my theory that my full glovebox is responsible for causing the airflow to be restricted and thus causing the filter to be sucked into the fan assembly. I do not believe there is any critter getting in there.

I have just installed the Pentius filter and I have left the glovebox in the back seat for now. Let's see what happens with my driving around tonight and tomorrow. If the same thing happens, then I'll know it's not because of the full glovebox and I will have only sacrificed a cheap filter.

 

From where did you get the filters? There are counterfeit parts around.

 

i have absolutely no evidence for this, but there's always the slimmest possibility of spooky ghosts and/or space aliens 👻👽or the ghost of an alien robot 🤖
anyway, what a weird situation, super vacuum suction car blower

 

That will be my next theory if my first theory proves wrong. Aliens are always suspect, ya know.

As long as it’s not the high voltage and cooks them in the car.

That would not be a pleasant to the senses.

 

Lesson learned: Keep your glove box tidy.

After removing the glovebox all together and then reinstalling the glovebox after removing all the junk contents which I had in it, I haven't had any problems with the cabin air filter. I believe it was my ever increasingly overloaded glove box which constricted available air. Nothing got sucked out of the glovebox and into the filter, so I didn't suspect that at first. I've always had junk in there without an issue, but I guess I added the straw which broke the camel's back.

Here's what the glove box looked like recently and another photo showing the contents all dumped out (found some unopened beef jerky, too - no, not gonna eat it):

 

Lesson learned: Keep your glove box tidy.

After removing the glovebox all together and then reinstalling the glovebox after removing all the junk contents which I had in it, I haven't had any problems with the cabin air filter. I believe it was my ever increasingly overloaded glove box which constricted available air. Nothing got sucked out of the glovebox and into the fan, so I didn't suspect that at first. I've always had junk in there without an issue, but I guess I added the straw which broke the camel's back.

Here's what the glove box looked like recently and another photo showing the contents all dumped out (found some unopened beef jerky, too - no, not gonna eat it):

View attachment 430063 View attachment 430066

Is that a cheese grater?

 

no gloves, hmmm ...

 

I think it’s missing the tray. I bought a pack of OEM charcoal cabin air filters and they come with a tray.

It seems aftermarket are oversized and replaces the tray. But Denso filters should fit perfectly on the tray.


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@Esso you have the exact same model & year as the OP?

 

@Esso you have the exact same model & year as the OP?

I forgot what year his was. But this post category is 03-08 corolla. Which this cabin air filter was spec’d for.


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Never seen a "tray" on the cabin air filters I've purchased over the years for a 05 Corolla. (shrugs) which reminds me, probably time to replace the current cabin air filter. 😆

 

@Esso missing tray was my guess cuz my Mother's '02 was missing the tray & I had to buy one. somewhere along the line, it went missing. but when I suggested it, I got shot down

 

yum

 

Quite the rollercoaster, thanks for posting a solution!

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Question: where do you get the cabin air filter with the tray. I have an 05 corolla. Bought a lot of cabin air filters from dealer and never got a tray. Thanks.