K&N Cabin Air Filter Install and Review

KNCABIN_4260

photography by: the author

Replacing an Often Overlooked Maintenance Item with the Help of K&N Filters

With so much focus on the drivetrain, suspension, brakes and the rolling stock, many of us tend to completely overlook the cabin filter. Changing the cabin air filter is not something that has really ever occurred to most of us, including your author. Before I bought my Tahoe, I had owned a few SUVs and trucks before, but never for long enough to even worry about the cabin air filter. Iā€™m a bit of a habitual car buyer and seller when it comes to daily drivers. Iā€™ve owned my Formula for 12 years, but that doesnā€™t even have a cabin air filter. So when I was asked if I wanted to change the one in the TahoeĀ with a K&N reusable filter, my reaction was, ā€˜does it even have a cabin air filter?’ As it turns out, it did, so I was all for it.

The K&N reusable cabin air filter offers all of the standard cabin air filter characteristics, like controlling odor, clearing the incoming air into the cabin, capturing mold, pollen, etc. Itā€™s also designed for reuse, and the design is a lot more ā€˜high-techā€™ than their paper filter counterparts.Ā I recognized the design right away when I opened the box to check it out. It looks exactly like the reusable air filters I’ve used from K&NĀ in both of my vehicles in the past, so I was happy about the familiar design.

KNCABIN_4258

For my 2001 Tahoe 5.3L, there are two cabin air filters to change, theyā€™re basically stacked. Iā€™m not exactly sure why there isnā€™t just one big air filter, but this is the design GM went with, so who am I to argue? To get to the air filters, itā€™s really simple.

 

KNCABIN_4265

The first step is taking the under dash panel off. Apparently at some point, someone put a different size bolt in one of the holes on mine, I guess itā€™s been off before for some reason. That reason was clearly not to change the cabin air filter, youā€™ll see why I say that in a minute.

 

KNCABIN_4264

For mine, I ended up using a 7mm socket for the original bolts, and 6mm to remove the underdash.

 

KNCABIN_4272

The 7mm socket will also need to be used for removing the bracket that holds the filters into place, so go ahead and remove that too.

 

KNCABIN_4274

After taking off the bracket,Ā remove the first filter, then the second one hiding up top.

 

KNCABIN_3822

Some pretty nastyĀ stuff was engulfed in our Tahoe’s filter, elements that arenā€™t even indigenous to my neck of the woods. In other words, tā€™s probably never been changed.

 

KNCABIN_4277

Once we got over the initial shocks of the junk that fell out with the filters, I vacuumed up the mess, and installedĀ Ā the new K&N filters in place,, put the bracket back on, and bolted the kick panelĀ back in.Ā In total, it took aboutĀ fiveĀ minutes to change it out.

Right afterwards, I had to run an errandĀ and immediately noticed the difference in the air conditioner temperature. I resideĀ in Atlanta, and weā€™ve been in the high-90s for a while now — so Iā€™ve hadĀ the A/C fan setting on “5” since April. After I changed the cabin air filter to the K&N unit, the air was ice cold, and eventually I had to turn it off to thaw out for a few minutes.99-6000

After driving around for a few days with the new filters installed, Iā€™ve noticed my allergies (which are habitually horrible) have gotten a ton better ā€” thatā€™s one thing I did not expect. Apparently breathing in all that junk from the old filter wasnā€™t great for my respiratory system. Who knew?

That being said, in about 12,000 miles, or 12-months, Iā€™m going to have to clean these with a special cabin air filter kit. I assumed it would be the same as the oiling kit for the intake air filters, but thatā€™s not the case, these arenā€™t oiled. The cleaner kit (PN 99-600) consists of a cleaner and a refresher spray, seems pretty easy!

All-in-all, Iā€™d say the K&N cabin filterĀ is totally worth the investment. The removal and installation were something anyone can do, and you should be changing your cabin air filter during regular intervals, anyway. My A/C is now ice cold, and the air quality is clearly so much better now. I would definitely recommend the K&N reusable cabin air filters to anyone with a cabin air filter equipped vehicle!

Source :

Share this post