Clean or replace your own cabin filter, improve air flow & save a bundle

[Truckin']

When I started complaining that the AC in the Ridge just wasn't working the way it did last summer, you know something's definitely wrong. I drove my Trooper for three summers with nor AC and my Jeep's is in need of attention now, so I'm used to driving in the hot vehicles. In the RL I expect comfort and it was no longer there.

Last summer I generally kept my vents pointed at the ceiling and I often used the dual temps to keep it from blowing directly off the north pole on my side of the truck. BIGGUY loves it full blast and doesn't take it off Lo until the snow flies.

This year on fan speed seven I ceased to feel a breeze about 20 inches from the dash. You could hear it blowing like gang busters, but nary a whisp would reach your face. It cooled a bit, but not enough for the terrible heat wave we had all through July.

Our dealer gave us a ridiculous price to replace the filter. We decided (after reading another post on the ROC) to take the old filter out and simply clean it to see if it made any difference. It did: NIGHT and DAY. Now it blows strong enough to be felt in the back seat. On fan speed two it feels about as puny as seven did before we cleaned the filter. If your AC isn't working well, give this free fix try. If I hadn't insisted on taking photos it would have been about a fifteen minute job, but that was only because it was SO dirty.

[Truckin']

The filter is in a plastic tray. Pull the tabs out so it will slide and take it out.

[Truckin']

We have 15 months in our truck and thousands of miles of dirt roads so there's no doubt this was well overdue. If we had a replacement filter we wouldn't have bothered cleaning it, but we were desperate for air and wanted to see if this would help. Our first tactic was to drop it squarely on the ground. That got a lot of dirt to shake loose. Then some picking of the bigger debris and bugs helped too. Finally some vacuuming to get as much as we could from the folds. We could see absolutely no light through it when we started.

[Truckin']

Then some general cleanup and put it back together. Insert the filter and push until it clicks. Hook the arm on the post on the right of the glove box. Line the keyhole up past the metal stopper on the backside of the opening and insert the rubber stopper. Click the tabs into place.

[Lingered_I]

What a great post. Thanks for documenting it so well. I'm amazed at all the dust that you have under your dashboard.

[Madridge]

Trucking
Thanks for that detail cleaning of your A/C .Now i know how to take mine apart when it's due. I leave in Florida so my A/C is always on 63. I will use your pictures when doing my A/C again thanks for the Info

[Truckin']

We have a zippered pouch from our dealer that holds all our booklets and paperwork. In addition, I have a well stocked glove box. I love how big this puppy is. My jeep has the most worthless glove box I've ever had. It would hardly accommodate a pair of gloves if it were completely empty.

My cubbies store a bunch of little stuff for me too, but it's all covered up with our dash plate.

Back to normal again, enjoying the full force of our AC!

[meanmachine19]

Thanks for a great, detailed post, Pam. This is something I really need to do since I live on dirt roads and often notice my glovebox getting dusty!

[Truckin']

Originally Posted by Lingered_I

What a great post. Thanks for documenting it so well. I'm amazed at all the dust that you have under your dashboard.

I'm glad to do this. Lets get these simple tasks demystified. I am appalled that they would let someone pay $70 to pull this out and drop a new one in!

Now we just need to find a place where the replacement filters are less than $40!

You think that's dirty? Not me. I'm surprised there isn't more. You should have seen how dirty our truck has been, over and over. We spend a lot of the good weather days off the pavement. She still cleans up pretty when we come back to town.

[Truckin']

Originally Posted by meanmachine19

Thanks for a great, detailed post, Pam. This is something I really need to do since I live on dirt roads and often notice my glovebox getting dusty!

Thanks, Kevin. I'm sure you'll see great improvement.

HeHe. This post means I'm back in business with my photo program. Pictures of our meet last Saturday are ready for me to post. I just need time to pick the best out. I don't think that's going to happen tonight though. Uploading was too pokey while I put this together. Back to the grind in the morning and I need to shift gears to be ready for it.