NickMayer

Apologies for the self promotion, as I'm trying this YouTube thing.
But, no need to watch video, thumbnail sums it up. Or jump to 08:00 in video.

I almost didn't buy my 2015 GS 350 due to a weird smell, which I attributed to it sitting for several months. After pulling out the cabin filter, the smell makes more sense.

Has anyone seen anything like this? Car had 49k on it when I got it, so I'm assuming filter was never changed. But still, seems excessive.

Either way, credit to this forum and YouTube for helping me do this myself and save money. I'm so far from being the guy who works on his car, lol.

https://youtu.be/rIvE5nVAsCY

jdpdata

Damn! That's gross. You have been breathing in all that stuff? I changed all filters myself in all my cars, super easy to do and save from letting the dealer sodomized me

NickMayer

Right?! They wanted 200 bucks, love that I finally realized how easy this was. But damn I couldn't believe the state it was in. Like, were they off road ing on wet cardboard? Hahahaha

bclexus

Nick - Since your cabin air filter had so much loose debris on top of the filter you're probably lucky that none of it fell down into the duct work or into the fan housing. That kind of debris could become lodged in the fan and cause the fan to lock-up, or the moving fan blades to catch some debris and make an irritating noise inside the cabin.

I'm guessing most of the larger debris that was loose on top of the cabin air filter came from the previous owner parking the car under the same tree a lot, which dropped pollen pods, leaves and pieces of bark in the cowl area.

NickMayer

Hmm, that would make sense I guess. It was the consistency of wet cardboard that dried in sun, so pieces of tree would make sense. From what I could see, the fan directly below filter seemed clear in the video. (i don't remember).

To be sure, could I remove the filter and turn fan on to see if it's clear? I never notice any sounds when is on, though I don't hardly use it, and never turn it up high (fan speed)

Freds430

I changed a friend's in his ES. When I asked him had he ever changed it he asked what is a cabin air filter. Over 50% of it had green mold on it. I replace mine once a year and at six months take it out and hit it with my leaf blower.

NickMayer

Ewwww, lol

So you think blown it out at least every 6 months to a year? Makes sense. I'd love to know if or when this had ever been replaced.

bclexus

Unless some pieces of debris dropped off when you pulled the laden cabin air filter out I doubt anything dropped down into the fan or duct work. I wouldn't worry about it now. If you don't hear anything whacking the fan blades it sounds (excuse the pun) like all is good...

PS - Does it make you wonder what else the previous owner didn't do that he/she should have?

NickMayer

Fair enough. It did seem to all be on top, so I guess the filter was doing its job.

bclexus

We don't have many Kentuckians...at least not on the GS 350 forum. What part of Kentucky are you in? I think member Knucklebus is in Bowling Green.

NickMayer

Most of Kentucky doesn't even claim us, lol. Northern KY, closer to Cincinnati Ohio than anything. Independence, KY to be exact.

charley95

Clean the the bird bomb off your fender before it stains the paint! Glad you corrected your cabin filter.

NickMayer

They were out to get my wife! Only happens when she drives. It was inside the damn door as well! I made her clean it, hahaha.

So glad I didn't ignore this for sure!

NickMayer

Right?! Car was in a wreck as well and wasn't eligible for CPO. But I got a great deal. Don't think it was abused, but you really never know. No owners manual in here, which was disappointing. Like how hard is it to keep that stuff, and the window sticker.

But what you going to do? 😁

yardie876

All that paper seems to be the work of a mouse. Glad it didn't chew any wires up!