Cabin-filter faux pas

[pmh013]

Well, I was out of town last week, and turned on the A/C, and my fan is making this horrible squealing. The higher the fan setting, the higher pitched the squeal was. It didn't matter what setting the controls were on: floor, defrost, etc. ARGH!! What do I do? I'm out of town, on my way to go to another city 5 hours away, and it's damn near 30 degrees C outside. So, I find the first GM dealer I can (not even a Pontiac dealer), and I plead my case. "We can't even look at your car until tomorrow." ARGH AGAIN!! "Well, can you at least listen to the noise and tell me if you think it's safe to drive?" I asked.So, he listens, says my blower motor is probably shot, and the car will be OK to drive. I'm getting practically no air flow, and am sweating profusely. Yuck.So, I drive away, and listen to the squealing. It's coming from near the glove box. I wonder if something is up with the filter. So, I pull into a parking lot, and disassemble the glove box, and open the filter compartment.A while back, I replaced my in-cabin air filter with a home-made one that I fashioned from a furnace filter. I was concerned because my home-made filter had that wire mesh on it (which keeps the structural integrity of the filter) would get too hot, so I removed the one side (it proved to be much more difficult than I hoped, so I gave up).The filter had collapsed, and was sucked into the air duct. I pulled it out, and no more squealing!! Yay! What a girl.So, I'm now running filter-less, as I haven't had time to get a new one, and I'm a little chicken to put in my home-made ones with the grill.I just thought I'd share, so nobody makes this mistake.

[Houston]

Thanks for the heads-up.