How To Change The Cabin Air Filter on a PT Cruiser

Changing the cabin air filter on a PT Cruiser is quite straight forward but due to it being completely hidden from view it's one of those jobs that's easy to do, when you know how.

Skill level:

• Easy

Time required:

• Thirty minutes

Tools required:

• No. 2 Sized Philips / Crosshead Screwdriver
• Long Nose / Needle Nose Pliers
• 10mm Socket & Ratchet

Parts required:

• 05058040AA - Cabin Air Filter

First things first, make sure you have the right part. I used a Mopar filter, there are other brands available. It'll look like this (click on any image to enlarge it):

Note the "AIR FLOW" directional allow, when fitted this arrow needs to point to the inside of the car:

Start by placing your wipers in the "up" position (simply turn off the ignition to keep them there), this will allow you a bit more room to play with:

Next, remove the rubber bung on the bonnet / hood stop. This will give you another millimetre or two of clearance:

Remove the four Philips screws and their captive nuts / retainers. With the screws removed you can pull out the captives with some long nose pliers. There are two here:

And another two here:

This is what they look like when removed:

Also worth mentioning at this point, is that the holes for the captive nuts are square:

When you're putting them back in to the holes, be sure to line them up as square, otherwise you'll break off one of the legs.

Now for the tricky part, you need to remove the cowling.

Start by lifting it up at the long side nearest the engine.

You'll see that the cowling is tucked underneath the rain shield at the bottom of the windscreen. It will flex a bit and it's quite strong plastic so don't be afraid to bend it a little if you need to.

I found that the bonnet prop bar was in the way so I stood at the side of the car and held the bonnet up with my shoulder, this allowed the cowling to come out a lot easier. Don't drop the bonnet!

Once removed, the cowling looks like this:

Next, you need to remove the 2x 10mm bolts that hold the washer fluid bottle in place:

With the bolts removed, pull the washer fluid bottle back to give you just enough space to access the filter:

Depending on the year of your car, you may have a plastic grille in front of the filter, if so simply unclip it from the top. If like mine, there is no plastic grille, simply remove the filter by pulling it towards you:

If like mine, yours has never been changed since the day your car left the factory, it'll be pretty dirty and completed clogged up (again, click any photo to enlarge it):

Just think, if it wasn't for the filter, all that dirt would be inside your car!

Here's a comparison of the old and new filters side by side:

Nasty...

Your new filter will simply push in to place, don't forget to check the direction of the arrow on the top, you want it pointing towards the inside of the car.

Putting everything back together again is simply the reverse of the removal procedure above.

Make sure you tuck the cowling under the windscreen rain shield as you're fitting it back in. Again, I found it easier if I took the weight of the bonnet on my shoulder so I could fold down the bonnet prop.

Be sure to check out my other PT Cruiser How To Guides!