OEM Air and Cabin air filters

If you want the Toyota filters, get them from the dealer. You can also clean the filters with compressed air and avoid a replacement or two.

 

That cabin filter needs an occasional removal just to get the pine needles and junk out of the way of the airflow...

 

A search on eBay will pick up sellers who offer OEM parts at reduced prices. I just bought some cabin air filters that came in Toyota boxes for far less than my dealer would charge.

 

yea i tried those, they are all right for a cheap replacement, but i'm going to go back to OEM to notice if I can notice any diff in smell and such. I HATE DIESEL SMELL WITH A ******** PASSSION

YES ITS LOW SULFUR TOO that's the worse part! it did not get any better! till the new diesel engines kick in to take advantage of it...

 

Ditto that. The only way to get rid of it is to not let it in in the first place: in other words, keep the air in recirculate at all times unless required for defrosting.

 

Yea, I'm always hitting auto and then recirculate whenever I turn the heat on--never leaving the vents open, except when I switch to defrost, which opens the vents. When I hit defrost again, it will go back to auto+recirculate.

 

Just out of curiousity, while "avoiding a replacement or two" of relatively inexpensive but critical engine air filters, do you use synthetic oil and change it every 5k miles?

 

they're talking about cleaning cabin air filters - not engine filters. For the record... some people do use synthetic oil and change it every 5k miles - to prevent the risk of losing warranty on the engine...

 

One advantage of synthetic oil is it stays on moving parts longer between startups. It is also available in lower viscosity to reduce pumping losses while maintaining superior protection.
I will clean an air filter every service and change it when it looks dirty. I tap out the lose dirt then lightly blow across the filter in line with the pleats to remove further dirt. Not only do I use less filters and dump less filters in land fill but my air filter is cleaner than one that isn't cleaned between replacements.

 

I totally agree with your method.

When I read "clean the filters with compressed air", my mind immediately conjures up a full blast of high pressure air directed perpendicular to the pleated surface, a very different and much more potentially harmful scenario than what you describe.

My reference to synthetic oil was simply my oblique way of pointing out the disparity between the use of that expensive (and in my opinion unnecessary) compound, especially at 5K mile intervals, in the Prius as compared to saving a few dollars on an air filter replacement.

PS: I always enjoy reading your posts.

 

You do mean from the back (output) side of the filter, right? Blowing onto the front (inlet) side of the filter would tend to drive dirt into or through the filter, which does no good.