Cabin Air filter stuck inside

Pretzel · Mar 16, 2013

This morning I attempted to change my cabin air filter. Took off the glovebox and took the cabin air filter cover off and with a little blind feeling around (because I can't get my fat head back underneath to see the filter opening) I managed to pull the dirty filter out. And boy was it dirty.

Again, without being able to see what I was doing, I pinched the filters top and bottom sides together so it would slide in more easily. It was nearly in and I pushed a little harder. And then the whole filter slide inside.

Well, shoot. That's not how it's supposed to be. I couldn't really see it, so I stuck my camera in there and yeah, it's not seating properly. (see attachment)

Now for the sucky part.

How do I get it out?

I can't really get my fat fingers in there well to get a good grip on it. And I can't really see what I'm doing because there is a black bar and a black plastic vent in the way. Both of which seem to be unmovable. (see attachment)

Anyone else experience this?

Petty · Mar 16, 2013

Needle nose or a hanger FTW .

Pretzel · Mar 16, 2013

Needlenose pliers didn't work, but a coat hanger is a good idea. Thanks! I'll give it a go.

N1rve · Mar 16, 2013

Mine was stuck like this too haha.

All I did was that I used a screwdriver to push it and then it rebounded back into place and I was like....

awww yeeee

Pretzel · Mar 16, 2013

So I ended up popping the cover off that vent that was in the way, and bent the other half of the plastic vent up and out of the way. (It's a soft plastic; it also seems to bend back into place easily.)

With the vent out of the way, it was far easier to get the needlenose pliers in there and pull the filter out. It's not wrecked, but boy am I having a hard time getting this filter seated again.

EDIT: It appears as if the Altima Hybrid (which is what I have) uses the Sentra filters, rather than the regular Altima filters. WTF? Unfortunately, AdvanceAutoParts database doesn't know this, so the guy at the store (unintentionally) gave me the wrong air filter.

HardServe · Aug 16, 2021

Haha ... it's 8 years later from the OP message, and I just the same stupid thing to my 2012 Murano - pushed the new filter too far in sliding it off the track and into the housing. It took about 10 minutes, but I was able to use a very long screwdriver to move the filter to the opening to grab it and pull it out. The screwdriver gouged out the pleated filter, so lucky I had another new spare. Won't be doing that mistake again - hard enough just trying to put it in.

Cabin Air filter stuck inside

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