I should change mine soon too! I bet it's as bad or worse than what's on the OP's photos. I've been seeing some small air filters at target for home air filters that will seem to fit the tC's filter holder. They are like half or a third of the price as the ones from Toyota and you might possibly not have to cut them to size (like I've been doing with Filtrete house filters). Just been lazy to bring in the filter holder when i go to Target. I'll try and do it the next time I'm there and report back if I find one that fits.

Chombi

 

The warning is most likely due to restriction in air flow, since it will have zero effect on vibration or the actual components of the cooling system. Using the websorber material adds little restriction to air flow in the system. We dont have the strongest blower in the world, which is probably why they left it out and started recommended not using one.

 

I am amazed though at the filth that builds up on some of them! Shows the air quality I guess. I forgot about mine and ran it for a year and it still wasnt as bad as the OP's! I guess our air here in the twin cities is fairly clean like they say

 

Dunno about anyone else, but any filter media installed in mine reduces the effectiveness of the A/C by about 80%. On a 100º+ day in '05, I pulled over to the side of the road, yanked the filter, and threw it out the window.

I can handle a little dust. But I want my A/C.

 

haha mine too...gotta do that today probably

 

i just put in a filter for my car without running one for 2 years. AC output and effectiveness seems the same to me. i guess it depends on the kind of filter you use. for me it was filtrete.

thanks OP for the reminder.

and thanks doc for littering! haha

 

I tried 4 different kinds of electrostatic furnace filters. All showed a dramatic decrease in airflow.

 

Mine seems to do about the same. I pulled it after a while to see if I noticed the difference but didnt really. Using the websorber in mine, which is a very loose filter.

 

Should you still change them even if you don't use AC? I'm more the fresh air type of girl...All windows and sunroof are always open even if 95 degrees. We always get nice lake effect breeze.

 

You only need to change it if you look at it and its dirty, I use the ultra allergren one from filtrete, top of the line one, and I'd say it restricts my flow down one or two bars top on the a/c unit. Like if I have all the bars up, it feels like its operating about a bar or two less...not bad too me clean air + air = healthy living!

 

I use a fram cabin air filter, i think its the part number used for the camry. The a/c works great and the filter is black with dirt now that I changed it after 15k. I think that the filter you are using may be too good.

 

I'm gonna take a cue from engifineer and try the Web Absorber on the Vegas trip. Ten bucks makes about half a dozen filters. So we'll see...

 

Got mine at Home Depot if it helps, Seth. I havent ever tried running it on a hot day, then removing it and seeing the difference, but I didnt really notice any difference after putting it in either, so I think it is a probably a pretty good one. Not as good of a filter as the others, but still filters and allows the air to pass fairly free. Let me know if you notice a difference as well.

 

Got mine at Lowes day before yesterday. I can see through it, so that's promising in airflow terms.

 

"cooling system issues"? The tC already has a bunch of them with or without a cabin filter

 

Just as a side note about "airflow" if one holds one of the actual OEM (Denso) filters a few inches in front of one's face and blows through it, one can easily feel that with a hand on the other side.

It appears that actual filters designed for this are not all that restrictive...

Tom

 

Does the air flow through the cabin filter if you are recirculating the air rather than bringing it in from the outside? I have not observed any problems and I am on my second filter.

 

Yes, it does filter recirc air. In fact that's all my a/c unit runs on and my filters still get really dirty. Here's a youtube vid I made of the air diverter that allows the unit to either use outside air or cabin air. It directs the air right on top of the filter http://youtube.com/watch?v=K4cECEGsGZU