jfintexas

....my car's performance?

Was excited to get both cabin and air filter for under $50 with Amazon Prime, but to find this was interesting. Thought for sure I asked the service facility I used recently to check this. :-/

jdog

Ewww.. Good thing that you caught it before you decided to go on a long haul!

fpena944

In a few weeks you may have had some organic vegetables sprouting out of there!

Barn996

That's a lot of debris in your airbox...did the PO ever change his air filter? Good catch on your part.

Topaz330ci

Like you mentioned, I'd question that indy especially if he said something which was false!

Simple DIY, and a much fresher situation with the new one installed.

jfintexas

Yep. A PPI AND a recent service where it was supposed to have been checked, or at least I thought so with the "we look over everything..." statement. Frightening to think what else is looming out there. I guess it's time to pull the engine and do an overhaul :-)

jfintexas

So...a question for everyone. When I was in there changing it out, I noticed a spongey, filter-like section to the bottom left of the air box. What condition should that material be in? It was moist to the touch when I pressed on it. Thanks all!

scottiemac

If the airbox looked like that I'd be interested in seeing what is stuck in your radiators! Pictures of that too please.

seanmcr6

your air filter should be dry...

yes, check your rads too!

Down South

Good catch!

I've always left this up to my guy also. Guess I should check it.

Pac996

I'm not sure what the sponge stuff is on the bottom of your air box.
Take a picture and post it so that some guys might notice you are talking about something I've never seen in my 1999 car.

Some guys don't get enough drain holes. You don;t have any problem there.
Only problem all those holes might be making road dirt flying up under the shell of the body has a prime shot at entering the bottom of your air filter.

dotframe

I have the spongy foam as well. I'm guessing it is supposed to collect water. Mine looks nasty as hell but I just left it alone since it is kinda glued in there.

jfintexas

Excellent points all. Good to hear someone else at least has the spongey stuff in their air box so I am not dealing with an anomoly. I checked the radiators and they look fine. While I was poking around by the rads, I found this miniature antenna looking thing attached to the passenger side grill. Name that Part!

wyovino

You might want to clean your MAF as well. I did the MAF and air filter at the same time and noticed an improvement in throttle response. Not sure which had the most impact.

wyovino

That's the exterior temp sensor.