Cabin / Air Filter Combo

Yeah would be nice if engineers would put their minds to this, come up with something that'd shed the water, and/or make the evaporator accessible, an easy-to-service item. Meanwhile...

 

Auto mode is technically supposed to do it on gen 5 but I'm not sure how well it works.

 

I tell my dealer I go by the Book! not big on dealer recommend service items!

 

Where can you buy a legit filter for that price? Can you get genuine toyota parts for that price?

My cabin air smells moldy every time i turn the fans on...goes away after 1 min...i think i need new filters

 

New filters won't help; they're not the source of the mold smell. The mold smell is from... mold, growing deeper in the system, on the AC radiator's (techinically known "evaporator") cooling fins or nearby. It's like a glass of ice-water on a hot day: humidity condenses on it.

When you use AC a lot, and use it till the car's shut down, humidity condenses, deep inside the dash, in a warm/dark environment. And mold grows.

Toyota and others sell cleaning solutions, I'm not sure how effective they are though. The only effective way I know to avoid this is to use AC sparingly, and always turn it off about a mile before destination, leaving the fan running. This is an onerous workaround, and not a lot of owners will put up with this hassle.

The evaporator and associated passages are terrifically difficult to access, make the car look like someone tossed in a hand grenade.

 

That’s true because they are not part of the required service at this point.

 

You should be able get it from your local Toyota dealer parts website. But I would check multiple dealers part site around you if you have more than one around you. Some dealers part prices are cheaper than others.

 

there are online toyota parts sites that discount, and you can ask local dealers for prices and discounts. they are often happy to meet online prices.

 

Clean the evap every three or four years

 

Curious why you don’t do the cabin filter yourself? Thx

 

It's a mild PITA for me. I'm basically one-handed, so the cabin air filter is just enough of a hassle for me to not want to do it myself. And part of the standard service is for the service tech to inspect the filter, so they have to pull it out anyway to do that. So as long as they aren't charging me additional labor beyond the standard inspection cost, I figure why not let them install it. (plus I'm still in my two-year Toyota Care window, so even the inspection is free)

Now if they start charging me a separate fee, that'll be the day I start doing it myself.

 

Thank you for clarifying! Changing Gen 2 filter is a pain plus you never know what surprises you’re going to find when the filter gets pulled out. : ) I was concerned changing the Gen 5 was more complicated. My dealership does charge labor but I’ve also never been in the position to have the free 2 yr Toyota Care…yet.