This confirmed what I had been suspecting for awhile now. My Crossie was not at all well maintained by previous owners.

I ordered up a collection of repair and maintenance parts last week from FCP Euro based on what I was seeing in the forums here.

Went to replace the cabin air filter today and when I popped off the slider cover a small tree worth of leaves fell out onto the floor. So much debris was wedged in the plenum the filter took some effort to pull out. That's when I checked the codes on the filter...sure enough...it was factory OEM from 2003. Ewww!!!

I then focused on the task of clearing the debris. Used a zip-it drain clearing tool to dislodge the material then a set of Shop-Vac attachments for clearing dryer vents pulled it all out.

Popped in a new Mann filter and was done.

Surprisingly, the air flow didn't exhibit any issues before all this.

 

Must have smelled like a walk in the woods on a breezy day before you changed the filter.

 

Recently changed mine out too and learned that use/mileage rather than time is the factor in the need to change. My 08 with very low mileage, first filter change, filter looked as good as the one I replaced it with!

 

For sure less use will keep it clearer longer. All except the foam seal around the outside. Those will decay over time regardless of usage. You can see that happening in the photo. My car though is a 2004 with 84,000 miles. The filter should have been changed several times.

 

If you had THAT much debris, might be a good idea to remove the wiper cowl cover and clean out under there.

 

DITTO, check the intake side for sure (inside windshield cowl under the wiper arm areas)! Most cars can take quite a lot of abuse, all cars can run much better (and so much cheaper) if a simple schedule of checks and preventative actions are done. The Crossfire is one special car that runs and lasts a lot longer if little things are addressed long before they become very expensive.

 

Thanks for the wiper grill advice. I had already removed that a few weeks after I bought it to remove some paper I saw in there. I didn't see any clogs at that time, but I really wasn't looking too hard down the plenum either.

I'm certain I got it all with the Shop-Vac dryer vent attachment, I ran it all the way to the top, then for good measure when that was done reversed it and blew it out as well.

 

All well and good, but there are 3 drains under the cowl cover that you cannot access from inside the car. These get stopped up and cause a water buildup which can then drain through the fan intake into the fan, then into the amplifier and TCM located under the passenger floorboard.

 

Thanks, I'll have a closer look.

 

I changed mine today and was grossed out. I expected something to crawl out, but the crickets were long, long dead.

 

I just replaced my 07s at 35000 miles. Only two little leafs in there - almost no dust or pollen, either.

 

Changed mine maybe a month back or so. Last time I did this maintenance was back in 2011. Back in 2011, the cabin filter was considerably dirty and I had lots of debris in the fan housing. Most likely was the 1st time this service had been done. I thought this time the cabin filter would be somewhat "cleaner" as I keep the car covered when it's not being used. But the cabin filter was somewhat dirty again. Just goes to show how much particulate matter would come into the cabin via the air ducting w/o a filter.

I also clean out the 2 drain cavities on the extreme outside of both sides of the cowling. I bought a set of mini-attachments for my shop vac and one attachment allows me to suck out most contamination that collects in these cavities w/o removing the cowling. Been doing this maintenance periodically since I had the infamous "water in the passenger footwell" issue a few years back when debris blocked the crossover flapper between the HVAC duct inlet cavity and the water drain cavity. It's fall season again and I make a special effort to keep the cowling well protected by keeping the car covered.

 

Decided to change out all filters shortly after buying he car. Discovered a dead mouse when I removed the cabin filter. NOW I know why the previous owner had a jar of air freshener sitting behind the seats!



Poor little critter. All it was looking for was a place to call home.

 

The fact that you don't have chewed wiring is something to be thankful for.

 

For sure! Had a squirrel camped out somewhere in my Trans Am engine compartment back in the mid 70's. Started her up.... Outcome was NOT a pretty sight!

 

Ha, ha, ha!

 

GROSS!

.