Passat - Change the pollen filter

If you have come across this page looking to change you pollen filter as part of a service then read on. If your trying to track down a leak into the interior your time might be better spent here at my Interior Leak page.

Tools needed

For this one you don't need any tools, this really is simple to to do.

What is a pollen filter?

A pollen filter is what screens all the air coming into the car, the air you breathe. So if its dirty and clogged up you will be breathing dirty air. The local autoparts store wanted to charge me £3 more than the VW dealer, for an inferior filter... Worth giving your VW garage a call. Cost me £8 including tax.

Step 1 - Getting at the filter - Remove engine the seal

The first thing you need to do is remove the seal that runs around the edge of the engine, you can see in the photograph below I've started to remove it at the right hand side. It just pulls off.

Step 2 - Getting at the filter - Remove battery cover

Once the seal is removed the battery cover just slides out by pulling it towards the front of the car. You should be left with something similar to the image below. At the top right is the pollen filter.

Step 3 - Remove the old filer

Easy peasy, the filter is held in with one clip

The clip just lifts off allowing you simply lift out the old filter and look at all the dirt and dust its trapped.

Step 4 - Putting in the new filter

You can see the two filters in the pic below, I'd like to take this opportunity to have a little moan. I had my 40k service done at an Arnold Clark VW garage. Most VW owners know that the 40k service is a big one. I checked the invoice which was £300+ and they had charged me for the pollen filter as part of the service but not changed it. That was 3 weeks before these picture were taken.... does that look like3 weeks of dirt.. I don't think so. I wonder what else they didn't bother doing??

Just drop the new filter in place making sure the airflow arrows are pointing down. All you need to do now is replace the battery cover and seal by reversing steps 1 and 2.

So that's it, if you use this guide or have any questions or comments please contact me and let me know.