No pollen filter - can one be retrofitted?

[SteakAndAle]

Like many people, I took apart my passenger footwell and blower to discover that I don't have a pollen/cabin filter due to not having A/C fitted. Wish I'd googled first!

Probably a stupid question, but I'm wondering if a filter could still be fitted somehow. The blower was surprisingly clean given age + lack of filter, but it did have some bits of plant matter in it that had been causing a rattling noise.

I'm assuming the answer is "no" - the layout under there seems to be significantly differnt to with-filter models - but thought I'd ask anyway.

[geoff]

Unless you have a sensitive nose I'd advise leaving well alone.

Even with A/C it isn't really a necessity.

[Gryffindor]

I got interested enough to do a bit of goggling. Seems they are not strictly necessary and many different most basic car models have neither filters nor aircon. But if a car does have a filter it does need to be replaced (or cleaned and/or vacced) sometimes, because it will eventually get clogged up, restricting FRESH air intake and allowing condensation to build up - this seems to be the main cause of windscreen condensation in cars with filters. What causes it in cars without filters is anyone's guess - heavy breathing?

When to replace the filters is clearly a black art - maybe when you can't see where you're going in winter? Seems more related to mileage than age, obviously.

One curiosity - it seems cars with aircon always have filters, but not necessarily the other way round? Do aircon systems need to be protected by filters?

I'd agree with not trying to install a filter if the car isn't designed for one, trying to insert one at the right point in the airflow might cause far too much damage/compromise/headache.

But if you're not a fan of pollen etc and also never open your windows on the road for that reason, maybe (just an idea) the scuttle (or its air intakes) could be fitted with filters cut to fit?

On the other hand, this will give your blower motor more work to do and reduce its effectiveness, and it may be that basic car models without filters also have less capable fan blower motors to save a few more shekels, so doing this might not work anyway unless you can upgrade the blower too?

Maybe an initial cheapo experiment will tell you what's possible - anti pollution facemasks cut to fit the scuttle air intakes, just to test the idea before getting serious with it?

[SteakAndAle]

Fair enough; as I say it was a daft question

Reason I was thinking about it is seeing lots of posts on reddit etc. of people changing their filters for the first time in XX years and finding it thick with dust & shite - hence why I went looking for it in the first place! I assumed that it was odd not to have one fitted, but it's not as uncommon as I thought..?

[saskak]

Fair enough; as I say it was a daft question

Reason I was thinking about it is seeing lots of posts on reddit etc. of people changing their filters for the first time in XX years and finding it thick with dust & shite - hence why I went looking for it in the first place! I assumed that it was odd not to have one fitted, but it's not as uncommon as I thought..?

If you manage to find some more information on if it is possible to fit the filter, I would certainly be more than interested. Even though the filter's pores/holes will be large enough, it will still capture some of the carbon particles blown from other diesels when driving.

[Tomcat3]

The main reason filters don't get replaced is they are not covered in the service schedule in most cars and the main dealers want to charge stupid fees to change it. So the customer says no and carries on for years until replaces the car. You wouldn't believe the state of some pollen filters that came through the garage I once worked in.

[cancunia]

FWIW, I think that the AC systems have a filter to protect the heat exchanger from getting clogged, rather than to help the passengers. On both cars I've had with AC, both filters were really clogged, probably from not being changed in a long time.

[Gryffindor]

FWIW, I think that the AC systems have a filter to protect the heat exchanger from getting clogged, rather than to help the passengers. On both cars I've had with AC, both filters were really clogged, probably from not being changed in a long time.

That makes a lot of sense.