Does road salt shorten the life of cabin air filter?

Asked by drj888 Feb 28, 2014 at 03:26 PM about the 2008 Toyota Sienna XLE Limited AWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I recently had my car serviced and the service manager showed me my cabin air filter and
asked if I wanted to replace it since it was dirty.  I said yes.  Afterwards, he explained that
due to the excess road salt from this harsh winter we're having, the cabin filter gets dirty
faster.  Does this make sense?

2 Answers

2,025

Sure does. That salt turns into dust, and dust gets sucked into the filter no matter what kind of dust it is. You can buy a replacement filter inexpensively online and replace it yourself. if you don't know where it is or how to remove it, stop back by the dealership and have them show you where it is, ask them how they do it.

1 people found this helpful.
Best Answer Mark helpful

Thanks for your answer ... it's starting to make sense. I guess that's why car exteriors are dirtier in the winter months than other times during the year. My initial thought was that the manufacturer recommends replacing the filter after 12 months or 20,000 miles and I would have thought that included periods of driving through dusty environments. After that incident with the dealer, I went on-line and purchased several filters. I also watched a video on how to replace it myself. I'm amazed at how easy it was and I'll deal with it the next time this issue happens again. Thank you.

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