As a Mazda technician, one of the biggest maintenance items I sell on a daily basis are air filters. Generally, engine air filters and cabin air filters. I’ll make another post on how to change the engine air filter because turbos and non turbos are different. Luckily, the cabin air filter for CX-5’s have remained the same so far.
What does a cabin air filter do? Well, it basically filters the air that is coming into your cabin (car). If you smoke in your car, you can dirty a cabin air filter within 5k miles. Mazda recommends changing your cabin air filter every 15k miles, but I usually just pull them out and look at them and recommend changing them if they are really dirty. Here’s an example of a dirty cabin air filter:
If you have a filter like the above picture, eventually you’ll start getting a really nasty moldy / lint smell. I know this because when I get in a vehicle and smell this distinct smell, I automatically know they have a seriously dirty cabin air filter. So, lets look at how we can replace it.
So, to change the cabin air filter, the first thing you need to do is open the glove box. Once it is open you can pinch both sides of it and it will lower even more. Now, if you have big arms and hands, you may not be able to reach inside to grab it. So, once you have opened the glove box, pinched both sides to get it lowered more, you can release the cable that kind of holds it in place from falling down. It’s located on the right side. Once you undo that cable, you can pull the glove box from where it sits. You only have to remove the glove box all the way if you cant get your hand inside to pull the cabin air filter out.
Once you have the glove box out, you’ll see the blower motor and right on top of it you’ll see where the cabin filter is slid in above it. All you have to do is hold the tab of the cabin air filter and pull it out. You can actually buy these filters pretty cheap on amazon and they are made of the same quality as the dealership. My dealership charges 39.99 each. Here are a few options on amazon:
When you slide the new cabin air filter in, make sure the middle tab is on the bottom. When you slide it in you will usually feel a click where it has set in properly. Once the new cabin air filter is in, take the glove box and align it back to where it sits on the bars. Once it is set, if you give it a shove up it will hook back on to the top, then just reset the cable on the right side and you’re good to go. If you have trouble with the glove box, readjust how the back is sitting on the bars and try again. You shouldn’t have to use force to get the glove box to close. Once it is closed just give it a quick open back up and make sure it’s good to go.
I’ve been meaning to make a video so that you all can see how easy it is to do this. I’m going to try my best to get one done this week so stay tuned. Also, if you have any questions about a Mazda vehicle, I would be more than happy to answer them. Thank you for reading and if you want contact me, just go to the contact page.
