I live in a big corporate apartment complex. I work on my car on the top of the parking garage, where there are bright lights and nobody parks because it is not covered.

Tonight I replaced my cabin air filter with a Fram air filter I bought on Amazon. I followed a DIY from this forum, it went smoothly, very easy. I put everything back together, feeling like a big man for avoiding the dealership. I turned on my car and blasted the air conditioning, and this whistling noise comes from my glove box.

It's not extremely loud, like somebody whistling Andy Griffith in my car. But it's more like a high pitch wheeze or whine coming from my glove box area. It only happens on the highest fan setting, or the one just below that. When I'm not blasting the a/c, there is no noise, just the noise of the air coming out of the vents.

It is very audible when it is happening, though. I've never replaced a cabin air filter. All my previous cars have been garbage.

Note: I am SURE I installed the air filter with the arrow pointed down.

My questions:

*Did I somehow **** this up?
*Is there always a whistling sound when blasting the fan and I've just never noticed it?
*Is there a break-in period or something?
*Did I buy a crappy air filter?
*Do I really need to get in there and do this again?

Frustrating. Thanks for any advice.

Later.

 

don't worry about it. Mine has been doing it for awhile. I just turn up the music so i can't hear it.

 

But it is eating at my soul

 

Mine does the same thing too. I rarely put it on the highest setting anyway.

 

Maybe everybody's does that and I just never noticed.

 

I dont have any whistling at any fan speed, however i did have it on my last filter, so imo its either that the 1)installed filter has the wrong air direction, or 2)the size of the filter is smaller than the box causing some air to pass through the open gaps causing the whistle sound or 3) puncture in the filter.

 

comments within

 

Read all the links I posted. Seems like you did not install it right and it is probably not sitting right or arrow is not facing the right direction. I did this in my driveway with no lights except a small worklight / flash light at 11:30pm and used the Fram freeshebreeze # cf10140 filter. I even used Ozium / lysol and ran the treatment through the HVAC intake and sprayed ozium on new filter and let it run through the system. No noises or fitment issues here and only positive results on overall results and cost.


https://g35driver.com/forums/5794559-post15.html

https://g35driver.com/forums/5928556-post8.html

http://www.infinitiscene.com/forum/showthread.php?t=588

 

EDIT: Conflicting info regarding whether cabin air filter should point up or down.

Infinitihelp.com says to point it UP. http://infinitihelp.com/diy/gsedan/p...eplacement.htm

The DIY says to point it DOWN. https://g35driver.com/forums/v36-diy...crofilter.html

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Wow it's like you read my mind. I did basically the exact same thing you did. I used a small led light, did it at like 11:30, and used the exact same filter you did. Assuming you have the right side up and down, does it matter how you have it rotated? Also, just to be sure, I am supposed to have that little arrow pointed DOWN, right?

 

I also did replace my own cabin filter a while ago. I got the "whistling sound" when the fan is at higher speed and the circulation is in fresh air mode. The cause? You did NOT close the container properly. The white plastic container that holds the air filter in place is a VERY TIGHT fit. When air escapes through the cover, it will make the whistling sound (note that the sound only happens when this fan is running which is on fresh air mode, so the sound must be from this container).

Solution: try to close the rectangular container that holds the filter properly, particularly on the very left side. I know it is a very tight fit since there is a metal bracket that is obstructing your view, it took me sooo many tries but you can check if any air is escaping by turning the ignition to ACC and turn up the fan in fresh air mode. Do this before you put the glove compartment box back to make sure you close it properly.

Also, don't forget to clean with a damp cloth the fan and the whole container itself before you place your new filter in. There's lots of debris in there even with the air filter in place.

Good luck.

 

The arrow is supposed be pointed up.

 

Air is flowing from top to bottom so airflow arrow should be pointed down.

 

But infinitihelp.com says to point it up. http://infinitihelp.com/diy/gsedan/p...eplacement.htm

I installed it both ways and pointed up seems to give me better air flow. Also, the fan is on the bottom. It makes sense to me that it would blow up, toward the vents, right?

It's surprisingly hard to determine air flow by holding your hand in there. I tried. It's more of a whirlwind. But it seemed to be going up.

EDIT: Also here: http://www.ehow.com/how_4910504_repl...ir-filter.html
EDIT: And here: https://g35driver.com/forums/g35-cou...ter-wrong.html

 

did you stick the foam pieces on the end of the filter? mine came with 2. i didnt do it this time around and im getting the same wheezing. if you cant figure out which way the air goes look at how the dirty filter came out. it needs to be pointing up. if it were pointing down that fan would have to be set to pull not push air, which isnt nearly as effective.

 

Thanks.

Yes. Latest update. I pointed the arrow up. It whistled for a couple minutes, but then I was on the highway and the whistling went away.

I did put the foam pieces on. I'm convinced that the arrow needs to point up. Crazy thing is that there isn't a consensus on the forum yet! Some people have it up and some people have it down. It must not make that much of a difference. However, I feel like I get more air pressure coming out since I flipped it so that the arrow is pointing up.

So, in my experience, everything is fine if you just point the air filter up and drive it fast for a little while with the fan on full blast.