May 31st - A Small Chevy HHR Maintenance Item

Yesterday was a beautiful day and great for doing very little. While sitting on the deck I remembered that for over a year I have been wanting to check the condition of the cabin filter in our Chevy HHR, which is the vehicle we tow behind Homer and my daily driver. Until a few years ago I didn't even know cars had a cabin filter. What it does is filter all the air before it is blown out through the vents. In most cars it is located behind the glove compartment. I verified online that that was the location on the HHR. I released the clips on the glove box with a screw driver so it would hang down out of the way, released the clips on the filter cover, and pulled out the filter. Easy to get to. This is what it looked like laying on the driveway when I pulled it out.

It was almost black and full of debris sucked in from the outside. The HHR is a 2009 model and I am sure this filter has never been changed. I went to O'Reilly's and purchased a new one. I couldn't believe this 10 inch x 10 inch square of paper cost $29.00. Here is a picture of the new one. Quite a difference.

The AC should blow better now and for a long time to come.