Hyundai Santa Fe Cabin Air Filter

Installing a cabin air filter for the Hyundai Santa Fe.

I have a Hyundai Santa Fe (2002). During the fall season, somehow dry leaves falling off the trees would find their way into the AC blower of my car. This would lead to an irritating ticking noise whenever the blower was on - which made the leaves and seeds fly around hitting around the insides of the blower. To clean it out the auto mechanic used to charge me about $45 each time.

So when the last time leaves got into the blower area, I decided to go after them myself. When I took apart the panels on the passenger side of the car, I found that there was an empty slot where all the leaves had accumulated - the slot is located between the blower motor and the A.C evaporator. After looking around on the web a little - I found that the slot had a purpose - at least in other cars that Hyundai made (like the Sonata) - it takes a cabin air filter. For some unknown reason Hyundai decided that the Santa Fe's (at least the ones sold in the U.S) don't need the cabin air filter. Luckily this is easy to fix. All you need to do is order the cabin air filter for the Sonata and it fits perfectly into the slot.

Also, Hyundai has a service bulletin that goes into just this topic of installing the cabin air filter.

• Cabin air filter application chart (This TSB specifies that the cabin filter is not factory installed but can be installed by the user they wish to).
• TSB - Santa Fe Air Filter Replacement (Shows the steps that one needs to perform to install the cabin filter)

Part information:

Cabin air filter can be installed only for Santa Fe's built 2001 or newer.

Santa Fe's 2001 to 2003: OEM part number - 97619-38100 - (1 piece particulate/paper type filter) (2003 models can be fitted with 97619-3D000)

Santa Fe's 2004 to current: OEM part number - 97619-3D000 - (Beginning on March 29, 2003, a new 2 piece cabin air filter was phased in as a running change to improve serviceability)

The typical service interval is 12,000 miles or 1 year, whichever occurs first.

A major benefit of the filter (if installed) is that it reduces the possibility that mold and mildew may accumulate on the evaporator. Particulate debris becomes trapped in the replaceable filter and is removed from the system during routine maintenance. Unwanted odors may also be remedied by replacing the air filter.

Here are the steps:

Part 97619-38100 bought from RockAuto.com. (For more info look at the end of this post of how to search for this part on RockAuto's website)

An important point to note about the above pictures is the handle that occurs in the middle and the peg that is at the bottom if the filter. The handle is the front side of the filter and the peg represents the bottom.

Tools needed:

• Philips screw-driver
• Wrench - 10mm
• flashlight- to look around the dark nooks

The panels and glove box are held in place by

• 5 philips head screws
• 2 10mm nuts

The cabin air filter slot is accessed by removing the glove box and glove box housing.

1. Removing the glove compartment box:

Open the glove compartment and remove the tape that holds the retention cord in place - found on the right side of the box. (Stick the tape some safe place as you will need it later).

From the inside of the box, thread the plastic piece through the hole. This will release the glove box from the retention cable and the box. The next image showing the peg on the right side wall of the glove box. A similar peg exists on the left side wall. By pressing the wall in wards - you will be able to swing open the glove box. (Empty your glove box before you perform this step - otherwise you will have a mess to clean up).

 

Swing open the cabin box so that it rests on the floor.

2. Removing the side panel:

Next to remove the side panel, unscrew the philips screw that is at the bottom of the panel.

After the side panel has been removed.

3. Dismantling the glove box:

Remove the 2 nuts that hold the glove box in place. After removing the nuts just pull the glove box forward and it should come loose.

4. Removing the glove compartment panel.

Remove the 4 philips screws indicated in the above image. You should be able to pull the panel forward and this will give you access to the blower and evaporator compartment which is behind this panel.

Another view of the glove compartment panel.

5. Getting access to the cabin air filter compartment.:

The cabin air filter compartment is located right behind the panel that you just took off.

To remove the door, look just under the door, there is a latch like mechanism that you need to pull down and then towards you, which will open the door.

The above mechanism shows the latch mechanism found at the bottom of the door.

Once you have opened the door, take your flash-light and look around - you just might find some treasure. If not, this might be a good chance to clean out the dust that has built up in this compartment (a vacuum or a wet tissue will do the job).

6. Installing the cabin air filter:

Once you have opened the cabin air filter door you will get access to the air filter slot.

If you have a filter already installed - remove it gently, otherwise you might spill the dust accumulated on it into the compartment and double your work.

The cabin air filter compartment is the slot in the middle.

Insert the cabin air filter and push it all the way back. (Remember to keep the peg on the air filter towards the bottom of the compartment, otherwise the door will not close properly).

7. That's it - you are done. Now reverse the above set of steps to put everything back together.

Remember to tighten the nuts and screws, otherwise the panels and the box might rattle when you drive.

Some things to remember:

1. I am not an auto expert - so some of the terms and steps might be wrongly described. Use common sense.

2. These steps were generated on my 2002 Santa Fe. The steps will be slightly different on other models. Also on later models - the air filter is 2 pieces and not 1 like the one used in my car. Also there might be glove box light wiring that you might have to disconnect - note the color of the wires and as to how they are connected.

3. The final word is that I am not responsible for you blindly following the steps. This is just a GUIDE.

footnote:

Purchasing the Cabin Air Filter from RockAuto.com

If you go to the RockAuto website, there is a link to search for parts. Follow the link and insert the part number and hit search. This will bring up "OEM Part # 9761938100A {one piece #9761938100}", this part works perfectly for the 2001 and 2002 Santa Fe cars and at less than $14, it is the cheapest I have found.  If you need the cabin filter for 2003 or newer, you can instead use RockAuto's catalog. (Search for your car and year and then drill down the tree via Heat & Air Conditioning -> Cabin Air Filter). The after market filters cost less than $20 and RockAuto charges approximately $6 for shipping. After my positive experience with them - I highly recommend RockAuto for your car parts.

Update: Here is a discount code for shopping at RockAuto (gives you additional 5% off - valid until Feb 18, 2008): 868821767880

More Information:

The HMA service website is an excellent site to get more information and help with this installation as well as any other issues you might have with your Hyundai cars. The site requires that you register. Its definitely worth it. Highly recommended.

Music Video - Bubble 2.0?

Here is a funny video about all the fan fare surrounding Web2.0 and whether its going to be another bubble.

Here Comes Another Bubble v1.1 - The Richter Scales

PocketFinder!

PocketFinder is a small device that uses GPS to locate itself and provide updates to the registered user of that device. The device seems to use cell phone networks to send the updates and registered users can track it online.

The obvious use of such a product is to track children and pets. From the website and product packaging - that looks like the segment the product is currently being aimed at. Obviously one could place the device in a vehicle for vehicle tracking, which would make it useful as a business application of the device.

One thing that I am not sure of is as to what the device will do indoors or in GPS shadow regions. It would be cool if it could use the cell-phone networks to get an approximate location (just like the new Google Maps Mobile does - using the strength of signals coming from the cell phone towers). That would be an extremely important feature when it comes to parents who are buying the product to track their kids.

The idea of the PocketFinder itself is not new. If you look at my previous post Open Source GPS Tracking Solution, you will see that there exists an open source project that would enable just such GPS application. PocketFinder just like the GumStix project is not a completely new idea, but both projects show one thing that is important - Marketing. Both these products have a good name, good packaging, an excellent web-site and are slowly creating brand and product awareness.

No word on when the device will be available for purchase right now. (The retail locator currently doesn't return any results). One thing I am sure about, is that they will probably have a subscription model as they will have to pay for the access to the cell phone networks for the purpose of transmitting the location data.

Going forward into the future, I do wonder how much of a demand will there be for such a product, as most cell phones will be location aware via Assisted GPS and so the concept could be implemented as a software solution. It will definitely have a market for tracking very young children, the elderly, pets as well as vehicles.

Also for future features - these devices could transmit small snippets of sound, environment readings (heat, humidity, etc) - which would be useful for vehicle or shipment tracking. It would be cool if these features could be added as add on modules to a basic device. That way depending on the application one could pick and choose the features that they need.

The PocketFinder is being developed by a company called Location Based Technologies.

A Ray Tracer in C#3.0

Here is a sample ray tracer written in about 400 lines of code using features of C#3.0. A great way to immerse into the new features of the language.

In addition the code has been used to show-case the Parallel Extensions for .NET 3.5 by Microsoft. (The converted sample and description is available at  MSDN Magazine Article: Parallel Performance: Optimize Managed Code for Multi-Core Machines)

LukeH's WebLog : A Ray Tracer in C#3.0

Open Source GPS Tracking Solution

Came across two open source projects that can provide a solution for GPS Tracking.

OpenDMTP (Device Monitoring and Tracking Protocol/Program) provides the framework that allows bi-directional data communications between servers and devices (clients) over any type of network (GPRS, Internet, etc.).

Where OpenDMTP provides the framework for communication between a server and a client device, the project OpenGTS (GPS Tracking Solution) provides the server side web-platform that can be used to display the information obtained via OpenDMTP (The device (client) uses OpenDMTP to send messages to the website implemented with OpenGTS - which then could display the information on any web-based mapping solution).

 

One of the features claimed by the authors of OpenDMTP is that it has been built to keep the amount of network traffic used low. This is extremely important when it comes to communicating over GPRS (cell phone) networks - where bandwidth is expensive and charged by the kiloByte.

OpenDMTP has reference implementations in both C and Java. (The C implementation runs on LINUX and can be run via CygWin in Windows).

OpenGTS has been implemented using Java and uses MySQL as the database. A demo project can be seen at http://track.opengts.org/track/Track (click on Demo to see it in action)

 

Source code: OpenDMTP and OpenGTS

Article on getting OpenDMTP running on a laptop: http://www.opendmtp.org/article/webserv/

GumStix: the littlest computer

If you haven't heard of GumStix before, these guys make very small computers - literally the  size of gum sticks. The company used to mainly manufacture boards that ran the Linux operating system. From the talk given at the university of Washington, it looks like they have started looking at embedded Windows, which is what got me interested in them.

The computers that these guys make are highly configurable and they have embraced open source and the developer community to a high degree. So you can get pretty much any information you want from their website (http://gumstix.com/index.html)  as well as their wikis (http://docwiki.gumstix.org)

 

Because the computers are configurable and expandable - you can add on WiFi boards, blue tooth adapters and even a different OS (like WinCE). The following lecture was given by the companies marketing VP Don Anderson. He talks about the WindowsCE that is available for GumStix via the community WE-Dig (Windows Embedded Developers' Interest Group http://www.we-dig.org/ )

http://content.digitalwell.washington.edu/msr/external_release_talks_12_05_2005/14736/lecture.htm

 

Another interesting thing about the lecture is the way in which the video and the slides are synchronized together. Makes it so much easier to follow along with the talk.

Möbius transformations revealed

An interesting way to look at Mobius transformations.....

Möbius transformations revealed

The site has a hi-res quick time version of the video.

Getting rid of the "Internet Explorer provided by...." in the title bar

When I got my new Vista laptop the first thing I did was to get rid of all the crapware that was installed on it. Having done that successfully I had to live with an annoying Internet Explorer title "Internet explorer provided by Dell".

Here is an easy way of removing that message.

Go to Start -> Run and paste the following text and hit enter. Restart IE and it should be gone.

"rundll32 iedkcs32.dll,Clear"

The above command clears out all the rebranding that might have been applied to your internet explorer.

(Another way to do the same thing is to edit the registy directly, though I like the above method better as it probably removes all other branding information that might be stored for IE - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Window Title)

WIFI Antenna Hack!

 Viddler.com - WIFI Antenna Hack!

Here is an interesting video that shows you how to quickly hack your WiFi antenna so as to make it into one of those expensive WiFi extender antenna that BestBuy sells for 20 bucks or more.

Installing a networked printer in Windows Vista

I recently purchased a laptop which came with Windows Vista Home Premium. The server in my home is a Windows XP machine running a Epson Stylus CX4800 printer (which is connected to the server via a USB cable). There are two other XP machines that connect to that machine and installing the printer on those machines involved just browsing the network neighborhood, drilling down to the server and dragging the printer on to those machines.

Unfortunately, installing the printer onto my new Vista machine wasn't as straight forward.

Keep in mind that what I had to do was for an Epson Stylus CX4800 machine, but the solution should work on any network where you are able to browse to server that hosts the printer and you are able to see the printer in the network.

Here are the steps.

1. I installed the printer locally.
   a. Go to Control Panel -> Printers
   b. Right click and choose "Run as Administrator->Add a Printer"
   
   c. Choose "Add a local printer"
   
   d. Choose "Create a new port" and set the type of port as "Local Port"
   
   e. When you hit next, you will see the Port Name dialog.
   f. Enter the name as \\ServerName\PrinterName\. In my case the name was like \\myServer\EpsonSty.
   
2. Next you will have to select the printer driver
   
   
3. Now make sure that the new network port you specified is being used:
   Right click on the printer and choose properties
   
   
   Make sure the network port is the one that is selected (notice that it is a Local Port, but points at a network printer)
4. Once that was done, I was able print a test page and voila - it worked!
   Open up the properties for the printer and choose "Print Test Page"
   

I am not sure why installing the printer in the traditional manner does not work and after almost a day of trying various steps - I stumbled upon some tips that pointed me in this direction and it works great. So I am not complaining no more.