GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I finally checked my engine air filter today....




It may be the original one, being a Toyota one? I don't know how many people actually go back later for an OEM ones. Unless they ordered it online, which IS possible. When I was putting it back, I could see dust poofing from it.

I looked up the part # on Google, and Amazon sells them, but of course... it's wrong as usual for cross referencing. It's screaming that it's not compatible with my 2003 Vibe. http://www.amazon.com/Toyota-178010D020 ... B0044AXQAI

I wonder how the cabin air filter looks like.

Welcome to the forum!

I haven't checked it yet. It's less vital than other, more pressing things the car needs such as the engine air filter, surpentine belt (I just stuck one on PayPal credit for $19.99 shipped from ebay, a genuine GM one! cheap!!), timing chain tensioner O-ring and oil change. I will get all that stuff done within January. Maybe in early spring I'll get around to the cabin air filter.

I found that I can order the Toyota filter for $17 with tax and pick up from the local Toyota dealer, so I'll probably do that. Unless I order on Amazon from another seller besides the one I linked, which has it for $15. But I may as well get it directly from the dealer for $2 more.

Check the cabin filter. Trust me.

Will do. Replacement wont be until February though, at least.

Mine was completely black and my son's Sonata was too. Look here: viewtopic.php?f=40&t=44660#p508879

Maybe it's not too bad in mine since the airflow out of the vents seems proper. I'll check it tomorrow if I feel like it. It's not hard to do, but I'm lazy about going outside in the cold unless I am actually going somewhere. It was nice and sunny today so I washed some of the windows inside and out, but then I got lazy and quit when my hands got too cold, due to being lazy about gloves.

Oh, and what cabin filters do you guys use? I see O'Reilly sells a MicroGuard for $12.50. OEM is $20 so it's a pretty big difference in price for something like that. It's not like an engine air filter where your engine's health matters in regards to filtering. WIX is $30. WHY?! OEM from a dealer is cheaper! Go figure!

Although, MY health and breathing matters. I have some breathing, asthma and allergy problems. I can tell the difference in my breathing when I vacuum and run a HEPA filter at home, so... I would want the best filter possible in that respect, I suppose.

i bought a wix cabin filter at O'rilley for under $15 bucks. which reminds me, i'm probably due for a new one-its a good time to check. i'll add that to my afternoon project list.

BenWA wrote:Oh, and what cabin filters do you guys use? I see O'Reilly sells a MicroGuard for $12.50. OEM is $20 so it's a pretty big difference in price for something like that. It's not like an engine air filter where your engine's health matters in regards to filtering. WIX is $30. WHY?! OEM from a dealer is cheaper! Go figure!

Although, MY health and breathing matters. I have some breathing, asthma and allergy problems. I can tell the difference in my breathing when I vacuum and run a HEPA filter at home, so... I would want the best filter possible in that respect, I suppose.

There you go. Your health matters. In fact these filters were invented by a boy whose father suffered from hay fever (pollen allergy). The price difference is mostly hype supported by some degree of filter efficiency. The Wix may be able to filter smaller particles than the MicroGuard. However the more efficient the filter the faster it will be saturated (rule of thumb). In your case I would go with the MicroGuard and expect a replacement every 12 month. If you feel that it does not help enough then you can upgrade. Only direct comparison will tell what works for you. Starting with a low price will limit your risk.

Turns out my direct deposit was in today since tomorrow is considered a holiday, soooo, I just ordered the OEM engine filter for $15.10 shipped from Evans Toyota in Indiana, through Amazon.

Zimm wrote:i bought a wix cabin filter at O'rilley for under $15 bucks. which reminds me, i'm probably due for a new one-its a good time to check. i'll add that to my afternoon project list.

Sadly, O'Reilly prices it as $28.99 here, so that's what I'd have to pay. Rockauto has it for $14.80 plus shipping (before 5% off). Napa prices their Gold (WIX) filter at $23.99. May as well go OEM # 88568-02020 unless WIX is better, since OEM can be had for about $17.50 online, including shipping. I could get something cheap from ebay, though. Might be worth it in the short term, if I find the filter really bad off, and it warrants relatively immediate replacement.

vibrologist wrote:In your case I would go with the MicroGuard and expect a replacement every 12 month. If you feel that it does not help enough then you can upgrade. Only direct comparison will tell what works for you. Starting with a low price will limit your risk.

May as well go with a $5.39-$8.50 one from ebay in that case. I doubt it would be much worse than a MicroGuard.

Someone wrote this:

Postby jaimedc0 » Sun Apr 04, 2010 3:26 am
I have just replaced the cabin filter, my self, for the first time. I will never pay someone else for that service. Giant waste of money. I also see the the cabin filters purchased at AutoZone or CAP are a dumb purchase. For now on I am going to Sears and buy a home furnace filter. I will cut it down to size. The Sear filters only cost a few bucks. If I cut them correctly, I would get at least to cabin filters out of one home filter.

vibrologist wrote:Someone wrote this:

Postby jaimedc0 » Sun Apr 04, 2010 3:26 am
I have just replaced the cabin filter, my self, for the first time. I will never pay someone else for that service. Giant waste of money. I also see the the cabin filters purchased at AutoZone or CAP are a dumb purchase. For now on I am going to Sears and buy a home furnace filter. I will cut it down to size. The Sear filters only cost a few bucks. If I cut them correctly, I would get at least to cabin filters out of one home filter.

I suppose if you were getting home HVAC filters for FREE it might be worth it. Otherwise it's an amazingly stupid waste of time. I used to have to buy HVAC filters (admittedly, the LARGEST ones they make, 24x24) and they weren't too cheap. I'd buy a cheap $5-8 ebay one before I'd try to hack a filter to fit. Plus I don't have to store the remains of the filter for a year or two, while it sits around collecting dust of it's own.

Ok, so I checked the cabin filter and while it's dirty, it's not a mountain of crap like that that pic above.

I'll just grab a $7.26 one from Amazon with free Prime shipping, for now. My Prime is up in a few days I won't be renewing at this time, so yeah, I'll make final use of it and have the filter by early next week. I might get Prime again later, but I'm paying off a custom gaming PC on PayPal Credit (no interest for 6mo) that I built a couple months ago, so $200/mo is being funneled toward paying that off before I get slapped with compounded interest. Once that's done, I'll be in the clear again to buy more extra junk... and take road trips in the Vibe!

BenWA wrote:Ok, so I checked the cabin filter and while it's dirty, it's not a mountain of crap like that that pic above.

I'll just grab a $7.26 one from Amazon with free Prime shipping, for now. My Prime is up in a few days I won't be renewing at this time, so yeah, I'll make final use of it and have the filter by early next week. I might get Prime again later, but I'm paying off a custom gaming PC on PayPal Credit (no interest for 6mo) that I built a couple months ago, so $200/mo is being funneled toward paying that off before I get slapped with compounded interest. Once that's done, I'll be in the clear again to buy more extra junk... and take road trips in the Vibe!

I'd buy more than one then, if you aren't renewing Prime. I usually buy 5-6 at a time from Amazon, and change it once a year. But, I have two Vibes.

Nah. I can order them later on ebay for about the same price, within the US. I don't want to buy air filters ahead if I'm only replacing annually. I'd have to store it away and in a year from now, I'd probably have long forgotten I ever bought it. Now If I was replacing MONTHLY, I could see how having them ahead would be a good idea.

I swap mine out about four times a year: Sping, Summer, Winter and Fall.

Rockauto.com has the TYC branded cabin filter for $3.53.
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinf ... 446&jpid=0

Here's another thread talking about this filter.
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=43657&p=508075&hil ... er#p508075

I purchased a bunch of these, and they work great. It's not worth your time to make one from a home filter.

??? Yeah, 2 minutes to cut out a square (or two squares if you double it up like me) from a furnace filter is certainly taxing on time
If you like paying a ridiculous amount of money for paper filters, knock yourself out. I for one enjoy replacing my cabin air filters as often as I need knowing it costs a very small amount.

Yup. That's one definitely yielded its maximum service life....

when we got ours it had a K&N in it. Still there now, and debating on if we should just go back to stock filter.

Thoughts?

Browning wrote:when we got ours it had a K&N in it. Still there now, and debating on if we should just go back to stock filter.

Thoughts?

It's a matter of personal preference. The K&N needs to be washed out and oiled from time to time. It can be inconvenient.

Browning wrote:when we got ours it had a K&N in it. Still there now, and debating on if we should just go back to stock filter.

Thoughts?

I think they were talking about the cabin filter earlier. Nevertheless, for your engine air filter I would go back to a name-brand paper filter and give the K+N away or better to just throw it in the trash.

The K&N is less efficient, that's a fact. http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html
Especially soon after it's been cleaned.
Look through it and you typically see pinholes.
Will it let in enough dirt damage the engine before the body gives out?
Why find out in exchange for a tiny performance gain in a stock engine?