PSA - Public Service Announcement: Cabin Air Filters

The following is an unpaid Public Service announcement for all responsible Tacoma Owners:

TACOMA's come with C A B I N A I R F I L T E R S !

Failure to periodically inspect, let alone replace, your cabin air filter, may impede air flow to your climate control system, it may also result in the breathing of potentially toxic, or maybe just annoying vapors.
Vapors such as:
mouse urine and/or feces,
squirrel and/or chipmunk spunk,
bird turds,
mosquito skin,
stale farts from former cab occupants,
among countless other vile vapors.



On a serious note, I just picked up a new-to-me '17 Tacoma SR. Overall, the truck is very near to showroom condition. Imagine my surprise when I opened the cabin air filter door. What I'm still finding impossible to process is why the cab didn't stink. I mean, LOOK AT IT! I wouldn't be surprised if there's the Black Plague mixed in there!

The only thing I can surmise is the former owner wasn't aware of it. That's not a shock considering the factory Owner's manual was still in the glovebox in it's original plastic shrink wrap.

Suffice it to say that there's a brandy new C.A.F in it's rightful place in my ride. Now, on to other discoveries.

Happy New Year all!

 

Amazing at what you may find in the CAF

 

Did you check the air inlet above the cabin filter for presence of mouse nest? Use a mirror and flashlight. Don't want the problem to grow to this level:

 

That's exactly what mine looked like when I got my 13, and it was 5 years then.

 

Did you check the air inlet above the cabin filter for presence of mouse nest? Use a mirror and flashlight. Don't want the problem to grow to this level:




Thinking Minnie and Minnie had relatvies in your neighborhood.
This is eerily similar to what I pulled out of mine; shredded black foam peppered with dried grass and seed.

Good call on the mirror. Where does this passage end? Presuming the engine bay?

Thanks.

 

Disclaimer: If your model is 2006 or later. Select your year to see if cabin air filters are right for you.

 

This is after I knocked the shit off of it.