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question about secondary pleated grey filter in air filter housing
Changed my AF today and noticed that there is a pleated grey "filter" in the housing that sits above the regular air filter. It look to be a charcoal filter. What is it? Does it ever need changing?BTW, It's a 2009 C350.
I called the dealer. The parts guy didn't know about it, but he asked a tech and the tech said it's a life time filter that never needs changing. Apparently this is a California emissions thing.
Am I correct in assuming you are talking about the cabin air filter, the one under the glove box (see image below), not the air filter in the air box which is in the engine compartment. Correct?
If so, I am not aware of any activated charcoal filter being a part of that system. And I cannot find any such part listed in the parts list.
Originally Posted by dennish
Apparently this is a California emissions thing.
There is an emissions related "vapor canister" that also uses "activated charcoal" that is supposed to eliminate fuel vapors from escaping into the air/atmosphere. But that is neither "pleated" nor is it anywhere near the cabin air filter. It is in the front of the engine compartment.
NO, It's not the cabin filter. It is a secondary AF that is mounted in the AF housing above the regular AF. Obviously only in cars destined for California.
yup Partial Zero Emission Vehicle. The filter is molded into the housing and cannot be removed without destroying the box. If you need a new filter you gotta buy the entire new box.
Depending on the engine, the charcoal secondary air filter will be be directly behind the orange paper filter. This is why I HIGHLY recommend you do a FULL removal of any air filter assembly. Don't cut corners and try to save like 5 minutes of extra time to do a filter change, you might notice something you didn't before....
Ok, I'll bite, so why is a second intake filter needed for the engine? Some kind of trick to wring out a little lower emissions or + .0001 gas mileage?
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