Nissan Skyline V36 Cabin Filter Change

Another car, another cabin filter. See a trend here?

This one was a bit more urgent than some of the others. When I picked this car up something happened, and the HVAC system was pumping out air that smelt like…. cat wee. Ugh.

I used a Wurth deodorizer, which helped with the smell but I figured i should replace the cabin filter and once again, I’m glad I did.

According to the sticker it hadn’t been changed in a long time. The car had about 141,000km when I purchased it, and the sticker indicated it had been changed at about 52,000km.

Step one is to remove the little panel under the glovebox. Just grab it at the front edge and pull down. It is held in by two hooks towards the front of the car, it needs to be gently pulled towards the rear of the car to release it.

Once that is off, open the glove box grab the top edge and pull up towards the roof of the car. You should feel it pop out of the clips at the bottom edge. You then need to wiggle and twist to get the side pegs out of their slots. I found it was easiest to push the LH side of the glove box towards the windscreen and then pull the RH side out towards the rear.

There is also the little retractable cord that needs to be removed. I gently wiggled and pulled and it came free.

Once that is out, I also removed the little side panel in order to see the panel clips for the next step. This just pulls off.

Ok, so now you have the covering panel. In order to remove this, there are two screws in the lower corners, and four along the top edge.

With that panel removed, you are greeted by the blower fan and filter housing.

The covering panel is right in the middle and comes free quite easily. A clip on the LH side and then the panel is moved to the left to release it from its slots.

Once removed, this is what greeted me. A black filter that was certainly not correctly fitted.

Removed, it was clear why I had bad smells and bad airflow

And compared to the new filter

This is the new filter

Slap the foam on the sides as per the instructions with the filter (they go on the two sides. The front is where “UP” is written). Gently slot it into the housing. It will go up on rails and sit at the top of the housing. It should sit flat, other than the front. The front will be lifted and supported by the front cover which has raised ridges to hold it.

Stick it all back together, which is reverse of disassembly, and away you go.

My fan now blows more air, is quieter, and best of all, actually smells fresh and clean. Mine also had the side effect of no longer having a misplaced filter blocking one of the vent flaps.