Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches Eastern Canada Cabin Air Filter / MTX Cocktail

My heater is suffering from restricted airflow, and I'm assuming the cabin air filter that has never been changed is the culprit. I went to Ford and they sell a replacement filter for $35!! PARTS SOURCE has 2 they can order, one from FRAM and another one from someone else, both sell for $19.99.

I was wondering if anyone has changed this filter themselves before, and if so, what product did they use, how well did it fit/work, and how long did the whole process take if you followed the instructions in the FAQ.

Thanks.

MTX Cocktail:
I just picked up a bottle of FM today, still have to get some Synthetic ATF. Going to go with the Mobil 1, I think.

I was wondering: On the FAQ trans. change method, it is stated that on the last bottle, "have the fill plug handy since it will come back out the fill hole rather quickly once full."

Can you overfill / underfill the transmission? What happens if I get too much in? Too little in? Can I damage the tranny if too much fluid is in there?

And once again, for those of you who did this at home, how long did the whole process take? Any difficulties?

Thanks.

when it starts comin out it's full

Like he say's when it starts comming out your fill hole it's full and this is desirerable. You can underfill, and this condition is not preferable and is impossible if you let the fluid come out the fill hole. It's quite an easy process with little to no room for error. Yes you can dammage the trany over time if you add too much fluid. Much like an engine the trany has seals and gaskets and when they are under excessive stress such as high fluid volume they could become weak and possibly leak.
I just had my fluid changed a couple of days ago with Mobil 1 ATF with the Ford friction modifier. The difference is amazing. I've never felt a smoother trany.

Just fill it on level ground. Just lay down in front of the front drivers side wheel and you can get to the fill hole. It is facing forward and requires an allen key (7 8 or 9, can't remember which. I used a little squeeze bottle to fill mine.

air filter, bought fram, it looks like an airfilter (panel car engine filter) with smaller mesh. original is different so it doesn't fit that well. The instructions are in the owner's manual, but instead of the clips on the wiper, like the instructions say there is, mine was on a taper, and i had to use a small gear puller on it to get it off. Not too hard to do, but you need Torx wrenches, maybe a gear puller, and have to remove about 10 screws. harder than engine air filter, but not very hard.

Hi I was going through my manual when I came across this filter. I decided to check it and glad I did it was filthy. I was lucky as the dealer replaced it free as I had just bought the car a few days before. To take it apart is not too bad , a few screws you have to remove by the wipers and that whole panel will come off exposing your filter. It took about 1/2 an hour but I was going slow and being careful not to break or lose any parts. Lucky for me the dealer installed it for me and replaced all the hardware. Good luck


QUOTE]Originally posted by Mongoose:
My heater is suffering from restricted airflow, and I'm assuming the cabin air filter that has never been changed is the culprit. I went to Ford and they sell a replacement filter for $35!! PARTS SOURCE has 2 they can order, one from FRAM and another one from someone else, both sell for $19.99.

I was wondering if anyone has changed this filter themselves before, and if so, what product did they use, how well did it fit/work, and how long did the whole process take if you followed the instructions in the FAQ.

Thanks.[/QUOTE]

I replaced the cabin air filter recently and used the Fram from Parts Source. Real easy. You do not need to remove the wiper arm. Just follow the instructions on contour.org by Ray McNairy.

// Chris Root
// '99 SVT

Thanks for the advice.

I changed the tranny fluid and the cabin air filter. Wow! Huge difference. The filter was completely black, I may as well have had a piece of wood in there. I'm getting at least 75% more air flow now. I can feel my hair blow, when I have it on defrost. It must have still have been the original filter from 100,000 km ago. Very easy to do. 5 min, job.
Of course I also spent 45 minutes looking for the tranny fill plug in the wrong spot. (Took airbox out too, which was useless.) After finding the right hole, that was relatively easy too. Though a little messy.