[rupdeb]

Cabin air filer, as the name suggests, helps keep the air that comes into the interior through the HVAC system clean. It catches dust, pollen and other airborne materials that are aplenty in Indian metro cities.

This is a very simple DIY and a very first one for me. My Nissan Micra is a 2012 manufactured K13 model where the filter housing is located beside the glove-box that can be accessed from the front passenger side foot-well. Nissan India recommends replacing the cabin air filter every 6 months / 10000 kms and after looking at my old filter I believe that is very much needed for Micra, if not for other cars as well.

Step-by-step process

1. The location of the filter housing. For accessing that region you need to sit outside the car on ground level and have the front passenger seat slid back as much as possible. I used a newspaper to sit on the ground.



2. This white plastic part needs to be pulled off and this will expose the filter housing entrance.



3. The filter has to be pulled out from that chamber; it may have been pushed in a bit too much the last time so you need something to pull it out. In my case my fingers could reach the filter and it was easy to take that out.



4. Just see the condition of the used filter. Extremely dirty. I had got it replaced last year around April and I must admit I've done a mistake not replacing it in the last 6 months . A clogged filter will allow less volume of air to enter the cabin and also lessen the cooling effect.



Just see the new filter and old one side-by-side.



5. The new filter needs to be squeezed in the middle and pushed inside the filter box(the old one also had been squeezed in the middle). Refit that white plastic part otherwise on starting the AC blower, major amount of air will leak through there.



Cost involved

I've used a ZIP filter, costs Rs 200, for replacement which is not as good quality as the older one (OEM) and I'll try to replace it with a better one.

Time taken

Total time taken for the whole process is around 15 mins but the next time I will be able to do that much faster.

I hope it will help other Micra and Renault Pulse owners to keep their cabin air clean.

[AbhiJ]

Thank you Rupdeb. Seeing your thread I got the confidence to change the Filter for my Nissan Sunny. For anybody interested, its the same filter, same location.

The old one had become black in colour and caked with dust. Hope the A/c Works a little better now.

Another thing I noticed is that the radiator and Ac condenser are caked with dust. I have access to compressed air and got the same blown on, but the dust is still definitely there...

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by AbhiJ

Another thing I noticed is that the radiator and Ac condenser are caked with dust. I have access to compressed air and got the same blown on, but the dust is still definitely there...

I think you can clean the condenser with running water at low pressure.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[rupdeb]

Originally Posted by AbhiJ

For anybody interested, its the same filter, same location.

Abhi, I'm glad that my DIY was of help to you. I was skeptical if the Sunny also shares the same filter and location but your affirmation would help a lot of other people.

A request to the Mods, if you could please update the thread title to include Nissan Sunny, Renault Pulse and Scala for easy discovery.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

I think you can clean the condenser with running water at low pressure.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Last year when my car developed a leak in an AC duct I took it to Daga Autolek for repair work. I remember they had used water spray to clean the condenser.

Regards,
Debrup.

[arnieshwartz]

Originally Posted by AbhiJ

Thank you Rupdeb. Seeing your thread I got the confidence to change the Filter for my Nissan Sunny. For anybody interested, its the same filter, same location.

The old one had become black in colour and caked with dust. Hope the A/c Works a little better now.

Another thing I noticed is that the radiator and Ac condenser are caked with dust. I have access to compressed air and got the same blown on, but the dust is still definitely there...

Thank you, AbhiJ for the very helpful note regarding the location of the cabin air filter in the Nissan Sunny. It was by pure happenstance that I stumbled upon your response in this thread. After the second service, I've been a little sceptical of the service center's claim that the cabin air filter was replaced, and have been wanting to check this myself.