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Road trips used to be as much about the smells as the sights: the sweet aroma of honeysuckle, the hint of metal during a mountain rain, and the granddaddy of all-the salty ocean, with a slight undertone of Pina Colada suntan lotion. Ahh, just the thought of these scents makes you want to hop in the car and take off across country. Before you do, however, check your cabin air filter (CAF), or you may be inhaling something entirely different that's not so pleasant.
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Several 21st century conditions raise the importance of your vehicle's CAF. To start with, the days of rolling down the car window to freshen the air inside your vehicle are long gone, pushed into obscurity by the dreaded smog from increasing urbanization.
Next, we spend more and more time in our cars, commuting, running errands, etc. Just look at the features on newer vehicles-entertainment centers, phone systems and laptop hook-ups. Apparently, we live in our vehicles.
Thirdly, where air conditioning was once a real luxury, now it's pretty much standard equipment. All these factors combined create a picture of a large population of folks breathing recycled air while tooling through a freeway interchange, working, chatting on the phone or watching movies. So, what about those cabin air filters?
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Most vehicles, 2000 or newer, have filters as part of the HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) system, either as standard equipment or an option. Just like the air filter for the engine, the CAF removes contaminants from the outside air before it reaches the inside of the car.
Most CAFs are made up of three layers of filtering material; the two outer layers capture larger contaminants like dust, mold spores, pollen, fumes, bacteria, soot and other industrial residue and smog. The third layer is made up of activated charcoal or is electro-statically charged to pull out gases and odors.
In the world of filtration, small particles are defined as less than 2.5 microns. To put that in perspective, a human hair is roughly 50 microns thick and one cubic foot of air includes 10 to 80 billion particles. To make this even scarier, particles less than 1 micron can accumulate in the alveolar region of the lungs.
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European automakers started including cabin filters in their vehicles in the 1980s; Ford was the first American manufacturer, with CAFs in the 1995 Contour and the Mercury Mystique. Some manufacturers, like Honda, have designed one air filter for the heater and A/C system, and a second filter for the ventilation system. It's estimated that between 60 and 80 percent of new vehicles today include a cabin filter, or at least a place to put one.
Just knowing a little about cabin air filters doesn't let you off the hook, though-you have to change them. Manufacturers recommend replacing the filter annually, or every 10,000 to 15,000 miles-depending on the volume of smog or dust you generally drive through. If you don't, the air you breathe in your car can be six times more contaminated than the air outside the vehicle. Once the filters clog up, the contaminants become more concentrated-like a pot of soup that keeps getting reheated, bringing out the flavors-but not in a good way.
This concentration does not bode well for passengers with allergies, or for anybody. According to a recently published medical study by the University of Washington, women, especially post-menopausal women, may be at a higher risk for air pollution-induced heart problems. The particles a filter is designed to screen out are associated with cardiovascular disease, asthma, allergies and bronchitis.
In addition to human health, a well-functioning cabin air filter protects your HVAC system from dirt, debris and possible corrosion. A heater or A/C that has to pull or push air through a clogged filter is overworked and won't function as well as it should. The first sign of a clogged CAF is the pervasive musty odor of that high-density contaminant soup when any element of the HVAC system is on. Instead of checking under the seat for a pair of old socks, check your cabin air filter.
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That brings us to the replacing the CAF. Check your owner's manual to find out if your particular vehicle has one. If the filter was offered as an option, but your vehicle doesn't have one-you're in luck. There is a place designed for the filter and all you have to do is put one in (or have your mechanic do it). Unfortunately, if your car model never offered a cabin air filter, there is no way to retrofit your vehicle to include one.
Manufacturers of aftermarket CAFs, like Wix Filters, Bosch or MicronAir, have websites to help you find the correct filter. Wix goes as far as including detailed, illustrated instructions to help you find and replace the filter. Some vehicle filters are under the hood, others are located under the dash beneath the HVAC module. Some replacements can be done with simple hand tools; in other cases, filters can be popped out with no tools at all. CAFs look very much like the filters for your engine's intake system, but are more pliable since they often have to be coaxed into tight places.
One final word-there's nothing wrong with rolling down the windows and breathing in fresh air. But, when you're driving on dusty roads, through urban or industrial grime, you can switch on the HVAC system and know the air you're breathing is still fresh.
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