Pollen Filters

fred246

The first time I went to service my other car I went to GSF for the parts. I asked for a pollen filter. NOBODY changes the pollen filter was the reply. It's on the schedule so I'll do it. I bought one. What a pain to fit it was. Hidden behind the windscreen wipers. You had to unclip it, then slowly move it across to the drivers side, put a new one in then fiddle it all the way back. Looking at the Ford website the service schedule for vehicles over 4 says 'check condition and serviceability of pollen filter'. What will they actually do? You would NEVER take it off and put the same one back in. Do they tell everyone it needed renewing and charge extra or do they just ignore the task completely? service4service say they check pollen filter. What does that mean?

Crabman

I've never seen a pollen filter check on a service list before, it's either a replacement item or it's not inspected at all.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Crabman wrote: »

I've never seen a pollen filter check on a service list before, it's either a replacement item or it's not inspected at all.

its listed in my service schedule.


Carbon Active Filters take pollutants out of the air for the cabin.


some CAF filters for certain brand models can cost upwards of £100.00 merc and BMW spring to mind.

molerat

The "budget" Ford service schedule says check, the proper schedule says replace every year.

Crabman

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

its listed in my service schedule.


Carbon Active Filters take pollutants out of the air for the cabin.


some CAF filters for certain brand models can cost upwards of £100.00 merc and BMW spring to mind.

Sounds like you've got a more high end filter/car, I've never come across a carbon active filter before. I've only helped to replace filters on three different cars (family and a friend) which have been made from basic corrugated fabric material. Incidentally those filters have been fairly easily accessible with the glove box removed.

molerat wrote: »

The cheap Ford service schedule says check, the proper schedule says replace every year.

It sounds odd to simply check. The filters don't cost much and given the effort involved in getting to them it makes more sense to simply replace annually.

molerat

Ford do a "standard" and a "plus", the plus is a carbon version. Many after market suppliers list 2 versions for most cars.

The budget service schedule is at lower cost to bring older cars into the dealerships, check and replace if it is falling apart / full of crap and charge extra.

Iceweasel

I wouldn't know how or what to check about it - I change mine every year in the springtime and it's absolutely black.

Nobody in their right mind would want to shove the dirty one back in.

The carbon activated ones are more likely to be found in cars with climate control.

londonTiger

fred246 wrote: »

The first time I went to service my other car I went to GSF for the parts. I asked for a pollen filter. NOBODY changes the pollen filter was the reply. It's on the schedule so I'll do it. I bought one. What a pain to fit it was. Hidden behind the windscreen wipers. You had to unclip it, then slowly move it across to the drivers side, put a new one in then fiddle it all the way back. Looking at the Ford website the service schedule for vehicles over 4 says 'check condition and serviceability of pollen filter'. What will they actually do? You would NEVER take it off and put the same one back in. Do they tell everyone it needed renewing and charge extra or do they just ignore the task completely? service4service say they check pollen filter. What does that mean?

when i bought my used car it had serious condensation issues, one of the causes was a warped pollen filter that was bent out of shape either from humidity or from being taken out and put back in, a lot of service centers will just remove a pollen filter and blast it with air and put it back in.

anyway, i was looking at everything, checking for wet spots, door/window seals etc to fix the leaks, then one day decided to purchase a new pollen filter on impulse. then all the condensation problems went away.

londonTiger

carbon filters are worth it, much better than the paper only filters.

i drive down blackwal tunnel and rotherhite tunnel, rotherhite is paticularly bad as it's victoria and doesn't seem to have ventilation like blckwall has.

on the paper filters you can smell the exhaust smells while driving through the tunnel with windows closes, with carbon filter you dont smell a thing. goes to show how effective carbon filter is

straighttalker

I bought an Alfa 147 a few months ago. It smelt terrible. Like wet dog and sick mixed together. I changed the pollen filter which involved removing the glovebox and also used an aircon cleaner which was an aerosol which you let off inside the car with the aircon running and all the doors closed.

The above process got rid of the smell totally.

I think you should change the pollen filter regularly as it filters the air entering the cabin. Also it can hold bacteria which is just recirculated in the car if you don't change it regularly.

Weird_Nev

This is one of those things I change the first time I service a new-to-me car. It transforms how the air con/climate control system works. Cars that mist up too much of have 'weak' fans - often it's down to this filter being neglected and clogged.

They're often much easier to access on cars designed as RHD - they put them on the passenger side behind the glovebox. On LHD cars they can end up squished away amongst the steering column/pedals etc and can be horrific to get to.