2009+ Vibe cabin filter question - direction?

[tonycheung]

Hi,

I decided to check the cabin filter after reading some post here - and I worried about my filter is as dirty as what they post!!!

Fortunately it is NOT - some dust on one side but pretty clean.

The problem is when I want to put it back, I noticed that there is a direction indication on the filter. I assume that the dirty side should be the air intake, and the clean side is the filtered air exhaust.

But wait...on my car, it seemed inverted. The dirty side is on the arrow tip side! Please see the picture which is found from internet. Not my car but the same idea.

IMG_1085.jpg (59.55 KiB) Viewed 1989 times

I tried my hand into the filter place and feel that the air flow is from bottom to upper. So I assume I should have the "arrow" upwards? But this will blow all the dust to my face!

Can anyone confirm the correct direction of the cabin air filter? I can buy a new filter if necessary....

[Rayven01]

The OEM filter arrow just indicates "Up" it doesn't indicate air flow. The air flow is top to bottom, thus all the junk on top. Just to make it extra confusing most after-market filters will have arrows that do indicate airflow and the arrow will be backwards from the OEM filter.

[tonycheung]

I will try again later - since I feel the air flow is from bottom to top.

Then I will put the dirty side to the air intake side avoiding blowing everything off in the car!!!

[tpollauf]

Guys . Straight out of the service manuals. Hope this helps ................................................ Tim

[Rayven01]

Guys . Straight out of the service manuals.

Cool! You can also look in the Toyota Matrix owner's manual online. They put it in the do-it-yourself-maintenance section. It's slightly different for some things but the cabin filter appears to work the same.