jimflutes Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Just came back from 30,000 mile oil change and system check , they found the cabin air filter black and completely chewed up by mice. This is a filter that many do not know about so keep it mind if you are up at my mileage range (30 k). By the way the dealer only charged me 25.00 for the filter and labor. I changed my engine filter last month , it was also very dirty , but it was very easy to change , the cabin filter seemed tricky so I ask the dealer to do it. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drolds1 Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 In my experience, they need changing by around 15K miles. $25 is very reasonable. The MSRP for the filter alone is $24.98. Careful about the mice. They can cause very expensive damage by chewing on wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimflutes Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 drolds1, When I saw how dirty they were (both filters) , I can see changes at 15,000 miles. I ask about putting screens at the air intake to stop the mice problem but the service manger did not think that was a good idea . Yes I was surprised by the low charge. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveB_TX Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 $25 is very reasonable. The MSRP for the filter alone is $24.98. Much cheaper to order the filter from RockAuto.com. Currently $11.72 for the Motorcraft filter. I have ordered 4 of them for our vehicles over the past couple of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drolds1 Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 (edited) Much cheaper to order the filter from RockAuto.com. Currently $11.72 for the Motorcraft filter. I have ordered 4 of them for our vehicles over the past couple of years. Yeah, but $25 was dealer pricing including labor. Edited October 23, 2015 by drolds1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveB_TX Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Yeah, but $25 was dealer pricing including labor. Yeah, but don't forget the hassle of taking time to make an appointment, getting the car to the stealership, waiting (im)patiently while they do the work, worrying about the lowest paid tech screwing up your car, etc, etc, etc. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimflutes Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 SteveB , Is the cabin filter located behind the glove box ? When I looked up the instructions it said something about removing the dashboard trim , that had me a little worried. RockAuto is a good site. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveB_TX Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Senility has set in. I know you have to basically take the right side of the dash apart on the Ford Fusion, but for the life of me I can't recall how much of the dash to disassemble on the Z. I know it is not as involved as the Fusion. I have a set of filters I need to install in both. Guess I will do that this weekend and hopefully not break something. LOL :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drolds1 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Yeah, but don't forget the hassle of taking time to make an appointment, getting the car to the stealership, waiting (im)patiently while they do the work, worrying about the lowest paid tech screwing up your car, etc, etc, etc. :) Agreed. I'd never make an appointment just for that but in this case, the car was already in for service. In those circumstances I'd let them do it for $25. Back in the day, when Lincoln offered a "real" complimentary service program on one of my LSes, they covered everything (filters, wiper blades, brakes, etc.). They replaced my cabin filter, no charge. The others I did myself. The last generation MKZ was a real PITA. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drolds1 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Senility has set in. I know you have to basically take the right side of the dash apart on the Ford Fusion, but for the life of me I can't recall how much of the dash to disassemble on the Z. I know it is not as involved as the Fusion. I have a set of filters I need to install in both. Guess I will do that this weekend and hopefully not break something. LOL :) You have to remove the glovebox. You have to pop off the cover piece of trim on the right end of the IP, seen with door open, to expose fasteners. I'm not home right now. I'll try to post pics from the SM next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeBrown Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 So, it appears it's not "really" a DIY item. Is that correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drolds1 Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 IDK, Joe. That's somewhat subjective. It's probably not that hard. The last-gen MKZ was no fun either. You had to drop the glove box down, disconnect a restraining/damping cable mechanism and snake your hand into a narrow space, but it was doable, although I'm sure most Lincoln owners would never attempt it. Certainly harder than it was on the LS, if you ever changed that one. For $25, I'd let the dealer do it if the car was already in for other service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeBrown Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 IDK, Joe. That's somewhat subjective. It's probably not that hard. The last-gen MKZ was no fun either. You had to drop the glove box down, disconnect a restraining/damping cable mechanism and snake your hand into a narrow space, but it was doable, although I'm sure most Lincoln owners would never attempt it. Certainly harder than it was on the LS, if you ever changed that one. For $25, I'd let the dealer do it if the car was already in for other service. Yes, the LS was a slam dunk. Now I understand why Jim Flutes' filter was black and had and been damaged by mice. With this removal procedure you can't even check to see the condition. I agree it will get changed when I have it at the dealer for something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimflutes Posted October 25, 2015 Author Share Posted October 25, 2015 Well there are good points being made here. Yes it was in for service so I ask them to check out the cabin filter. The removing the dash trim requires some kind of trim remover tool so I did not feel comfortable with doing that. The engine air filter is very easy to check and replace , but the cabin filter is not so easy to just look at. I think once you remove the trim piece the rest is not so hard. Another thing is you may look at a used filter and think it is fine but if you have a new one with you and can compare them side to side, you would be surprised how dirty the used one really is. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Iggy Cerami Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 I am still trying to figure how the mice got into your filter :drool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimflutes Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 Robert , They just brought the filter out to me in the waiting room , so I could not see where it is located behind the glove box , I was thinking maybe an air intake hose brings air into it . The way the filter was chewed it defiantly looked like mice. Jim Robert Iggy Cerami 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drolds1 Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 (edited) Glovebox removal and filter location. Note: the bottom illustration is step 1. Edited October 29, 2015 by drolds1 pix posted out of order by system JoeBrown 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeBrown Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 (edited) Oh well, 11 screws have to be removed. That's too many for my clumsy fingers. On my low mileage (currently 5,300 miles) MKZ I'll have them change it every even number year. Thanks for the information and pictures Artie. Edited October 29, 2015 by JoeBrown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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