Do we Tundra owners have a cabin fan air filter? I was thinkin maybe it'd be a good idea to replace it now at 60,000 miles. I know some vehicles don't, if we do where is it located at?
I don't know if we do or not...not a bad idea though. If you wanna see something disgusting at 60K, and you've driven on the dirt before...try this...
REMOVE THE REAR SEAT!! There are two air vents behind the seats and any dust/dirt that may have passed through them. I couldn't believe all the crap I found behind there...Looks like a great place for a filter or two...
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2004 Pontiac GTO
2005 Dodge Magnum Special Edition SXT
1991 Honda Nighthawk 750
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I'm almost positive we don't. If we do, then yours is going to be the nastiest thing ever! My wifes Camry has one and it recommends changing at 15k, which I did, and it was pretty dirty then. Cant imagine what 60k would look like I think they are nice though, you wouldn't think it would cost too much to add it. Oh well.
Originally posted by BirdDog0 I don't know if we do or not...not a bad idea though. If you wanna see something disgusting at 60K, and you've driven on the dirt before...try this...
REMOVE THE REAR SEAT!! There are two air vents behind the seats and any dust/dirt that may have passed through them. I couldn't believe all the crap I found behind there...Looks like a great place for a filter or two...
Actually, I stuck some of the foam that you put around a shop vac motor for "wet use" in those vent holes. It's porus foam, not too thick and lets air pass (obviously, since its for a vaccuum) but the dust is stopped from going through.
Anyway, my $.02
alan
ps. Those vents are something. I wonder if they finally fixed them in the '03 models. I'd like to see what they did, if they did.
huh, that sucks. I really think every vehicle should have one. I looked in the owners manual and didn't see anything about it. Good idea to clean the vents out behind the back seat though, maybe I'll try to rig something up for the incoming air.
Great stuff guys. I have a 2000 and just broke the 26,000 mile barrier. I was thinking of doing the rear seat mod anyway...so I have a reason to put some foam back there. Thanks for the ideas.
Cage
2000 Tundra 4x4 TRD package SR5
Mods: K & N drop in filter, flowmaster 60 series muffler, Fabtech basic 2 1/2" suspension lift, 3" body lift, Smitty built nerf bars, Smittybuilt front bush guard, Eclipse deck, 2 Eclipse 160 watt 2/1 channel amplifiers, MB Quart tweets and mids (Discus Line), MB Quart 6" three way speakers in back seat (Discus Line), JL Audio 10" stealth bass under center console, chrome tip exhaust, Leer bed lid, Toyota bedliner, Smittybuilt rail guards for bed, Toyota rugged rubber floormats, American Racing Baha Rims, Goodyear Wrangler 30570r16 MTS tires, Lift Lips to cover engine and body lift, Hellig anti-sway bar and upgraded bushings for front swaybar, Y-pipe custom fab job, Downey Headers, Hella conch horns,
Future mods: Back seat mod, tinted windows, light kit to put on bush guard, plus an ever-growing list that we all have. PICTURES to come when friend lends me his digital camera!
For what it's worth, the HVAC fan motor is easily accessible, and may offer a place to insert filter media.
On the right side of the dash, just above where your right toe would be, is the fan. Remove 3 8mm hex-head screws, and it drops down. There is a two-wire plug that is easily unplugged. You can then look up into the housing and see that it MAY be possible to add some type of filter media material for filtration. I am not sure about the direction of air flow, so that will factor in your plan.
However, the factory only pays 2/10 of an hour for labor to change the fan, so you know it is easy and fast. I already had to replace my fan motor....it sounded like crickets chirping and once it just didn't start at all....just got hot. I couldn't find anything in the housing that would prevent the fan from turning. No way to oil the motor, either. Dealership charged me $55 for a new fan/motor ***'y, and I installed it myself. Piece of cake, even for a 55-year old fat guy. There is limited room for a driver, but my old Makita cordless drill motor worked great and fit the confines of the interior.
Great post Chevloray, I'm not far behind you. Anyway, just knowing where the fan is will let us investigate a filtration possibilities. Other manufacturers boast about their "microfilters" and we have nothing.
I know you guys love to do mods, but in this case I think it would work better if you just bought an Ionic Breeze air purifier from Brookstone (they make 'em for cars and trucks also) and plug it into the electrical outlet. I have the big ones you get for the house. They are totally silent and work great, no filter to change ever, just wipe the mirror plates clean and your good to go. They pick some nasty black crap out of the air (looks exactly like soot) must be all the diesel and pollution we get here in Los Angeles.
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Originally posted by BirdDog0
I don't know if we do or not...not a bad idea though. If you wanna see something disgusting at 60K, and you've driven on the dirt before...try this...
REMOVE THE REAR SEAT!! There are two air vents behind the seats and any dust/dirt that may have passed through them. I couldn't believe all the crap I found behind there...Looks like a great place for a filter or two...
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I just did the back seat mod. with 4 rubber cushions and didn't remove the back seat completely. I did today to find the vents. It appears these are one-way vents to exhaust cabin pressure. They have a thin rubber membrane that is designed to 'open' to the outside and close when the cabin pressure is equal to or less than the outside pressure, a barometric damper. This occurs when the windows and doors are closed and the fan motor is used to bring in outside air, in vent mode. The membrane is normally closed to keep out the dust and water and critters that crawl around the outside of the truck trying to get in. These vents are probably necessary as the door and window gasketing is really tight, to keep out noise and debris (and critters).
To install a filter and filter the exhaust air from the cabin only keeps the outside air a little cleaner.
Originally posted by jsimontrout quote:
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Originally posted by BirdDog0
I don't know if we do or not...not a bad idea though. If you wanna see something disgusting at 60K, and you've driven on the dirt before...try this...
REMOVE THE REAR SEAT!! There are two air vents behind the seats and any dust/dirt that may have passed through them. I couldn't believe all the crap I found behind there...Looks like a great place for a filter or two...
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I just did the back seat mod. with 4 rubber cushions and didn't remove the back seat completely. I did today to find the vents. It appears these are one-way vents to exhaust cabin pressure. They have a thin rubber membrane that is designed to 'open' to the outside and close when the cabin pressure is equal to or less than the outside pressure, a barometric damper. This occurs when the windows and doors are closed and the fan motor is used to bring in outside air, in vent mode. The membrane is normally closed to keep out the dust and water and critters that crawl around the outside of the truck trying to get in. These vents are probably necessary as the door and window gasketing is really tight, to keep out noise and debris (and critters).
To install a filter and filter the exhaust air from the cabin only keeps the outside air a little cleaner.
I think the vent idea works better in theory than in practice. Often the rubber will even fall off.
Actually, I wish they would fix those darn things and put in a better system that reduces more noise. There is a LOT of noise that come through those things.
Alan
I am a firm believer in Consumer Reports, however I can tell you positively (and I'll put my future credibility on the line here) that the ionic breeze machines that I have in my house ABSOLUTELY WORK (I have the 2002 models with the germacidal zapper). About every 2-3 weeks I wipe some gross black soot and dirt off of the mirrors. I dont think the machines are manufacturing soot and when you think about there are literally tons of microscopic diesel particles in the air (remember I live in Los Angeles). I will say this though, I also have a smaller unit that plugs into the bathroom wall socket and that thing does NOT work good (got it free when I purchased the large unit). So maybe you're right the small units for the bathroom MAY not work but the regular size units for the house DO work. (I havent tried the one for the car yet so I dont know for sure if it works or not)
The noise issue could be corrected by building a set of baffles to absorb the sound. Seems there's enough room there to do it. I noticed allot of noise just in the city with the back seats out and wasn't sure if it's from the vents or the poorly insulated rear wall. I was going to plug the vents and test drive again.
Without the seat there is a ton of room back there...lots of ideas about what to do with that space. It allows the driver seat to be laid flat. That one is electric. Funny though, the passenger seat which is mechanical wouldn't go all the way to the floor. Oh well.
I'll let you know what I find out about the noise issue. Maybe just some better fitting sound-absorbing insulation would work better than the 'felt' used now.
Cabin Air Filter?
I think they are nice though, you wouldn't think it would cost too much to add it. Oh well.
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