Pop quiz: What is a cabin air filter?
A. A filter for your Gig Harbor house?
B. A fresh, piney scent?
C. A filter for the passenger compartment of your car?
Clever you, it's C.
A cabin air filter cleans the outside air before it comes into the passenger compartment of your car. It filters out common Gig Harbor air particles like dust, pollen, spores, bacteria, pollutants, exhaust gas, odors and even sparrows.
These high tech filters can block particles larger than 3 microns. By contrast, a grain of sand is about 200 microns.
Not all Gig Harbor motorists have cabin air filters. They are fairly new on the scene. Last check, about forty percent of new vehicles sold in Gig Harbor come with cabin air filters, but the number is growing every year.
Cabin air filters make driving a lot more pleasant. Your car can be a haven during our Gig Harbor allergy season with very little dust and pollen getting into the cabin. Of course, like all filters, the cabin air filter eventually gets clogged. When this happens, your heating and air conditioning flow can become restricted. The filter can even get kind of smelly.
Check your owner's manual for replacement guidelines. If your car owner's manual doesn't mention your cabin air filter, ask your friendly and courteous tech at Mackert Automotive for a recommendation. It's usually every year or 12,000 miles / 19,000 kilometers. Change it sooner if you drive in dusty conditions around the Port Orchard area, or if you start to notice a funky smell coming from your vents.
So keep your cabin air filter clean. It may not help with your brother-in-law in the backseat, but it will make your driving experience around Gig Harbor more enjoyable.
Come by Mackert Automotive in Gig Harbor and we'll take a look at your cabin air filter for you.