Letting Dealer do Air Filter change?

[Sayjac]

I have a 7th gen Accord 3.0L and I'm confident it needs an air filter service. Problem is, over the years the intake hose between the air box and the throttle body has gotten significantly less flexible. I tried yesterday to get the AF out to at least look at it, no joy. I did work at for a while but in the end decided not happening. So, I thought maybe I'll just let dealer do it. Called two dealers today and the price was not all that crazy imo, $45-50 including the filter. One dealer said can just bring it in our "express lane", no appt needed. Have to order the filter though. My question is, does using the dealer seem like a reasonable alternative, or am I just setting myself up for more problems and disappointment? For me to even consider this should speak to how difficult it is.

 

[Strumpan_]

If they break it they have to replace it so why not let them do it. And they I hope have warranty on the work.

It works like that here anyways.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I'm not sure what the dealer "kids" can do that you cannot. If they break something they will just charge you for it, plus labor.

 

[Zee09]

Sometimes it's what you need to do.
I doubt they are going to hussle you in the express lane. Cheap enough to avoid the anxiety

 

[PF52]

If they break something they will just charge you for it, plus labor.

+2

Or, they'll make that old claim that "it was broken already when it came in".

 

[JTK]

Assuming it's cold where you're at, I'd try it again in the warmer months or after the vehicle sits overnight in a heated garage.

The situation is going to vary, but for both the 2021 GMs in my sig, I bought them used w/ ~3yrs/30K miles on them. They saw nothing but GM service every 5K miles prior to me buying them. One was missing an air cleaner box screw, the other has one hole totally stripped out. GMs use annoying wood screws so it's only a matter of time. I suppose my point it, dealer service doesn't mean problem free service.

 

[SC Maintenance]

+2

Or, they'll make that old claim that "it was broken already when it came in".

Yes, but in this case it sounds like it already is.

I don't trust the dealer to do an air filter, after they left a pleat hanging out of the box once on mine. New car. Luckily I look.

Sounds like a good job for a trustworthy indy rather than the express lane.

 

[BHopkins]

I'm with @JeffKeryk. I strongly doubt that the dealership has some special tool or technique to get the air box open. And especially the "kids" in the express lane.

For me at least, I'd rather take the risk of breaking the intake hose at home, rather than letting them break it at the dealership. If you break it at home, you are in control of ordering a replacement part where you want to, and putting a temporary "bandaid" on the hose, if you need to. If broke at the dealership, they are going to want you to leave the car while they order the part, and you are going to pay their full retail price, plus shop rate for replacement and shop supplies.

Have you tried heating up the intake hose, with a heat gun, to see if that will make it flexible enough to get to the filter? It would only be a temporary solution, but perhaps it would get you through this filter change.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Can you disassemble the top housing and remove from the air plenum? Then maybe some lube to freshen the hose?
Or maybe buy a new one before starting and beat the snot outta the old hose.

 

[Zee09]

I have the same issue with a cabin filter in a German car. It should be simple but as in most things German it is a fiasco and even Dealerships complain and use two people to do it.
It's a hit to one's ego but I don't have another hand to help. When I get time I will let them do it and the frown on their faces will be worth the cost.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I have the same issue with a cabin filter in a German car. It should be simple but as in most things German it is a fiasco and even Dealerships complain and use two people to do it.
It's a hit to one's ego but I don't have another hand to help. When I get time I will let them do it and the frown on their faces will be worth the cost.

My NIssan's are similar. Its a two piece affair - you slide the first filter in, push it over, then the second one next to it. When I let the dealership do it long ago it came out in a mangled ball and likely had never filtered anything.

 

[FowVay]

Intake boot is $20 and air filter is $12 on RockAuto. Just order the stuff and change it in your driveway. Don't try to hold the dealership responsible for damaging the intake boot on a 20 year old car. That's going a bit too far.

 

[Sayjac]

...Or, they'll make that old claim that "it was broken already when it came in".

I had already thought of that by taking pics and/or showing the intake hose it to service writer before vehicle leaves my side. The air hose while not as flexible as new, it is in an undamaged state.

Reading the comments, consensus seems like far less than confident the dealer can handle it. Why I brought question here. I have thought of heating hose to see if I could make it more flexible. The entry #9 pic above shows how it's "ideally" supposed to work but guaranteed that is of a relatively new air intake hose. It's possible the hose could be removed from the throttle body and that 'might' allow the cover to come off but was hoping to avoid that if possible. I appreciate the replies, I'm going to give it due consideration.

 

[Dave9]

I'm surprised that they only want $50 including the filter.

The potential problem is going to be if they want to do it the quickest way they think is possible, only un-doing the filter box screws, instead of also disconnecting that now-stiff snorkel from the air box, pushing it backwards "slightly" (disconnecting more from the snorkel if necessary to get enough movement, even taking the other end off the intake unless it's so brittle that this is a big risk too) while finessing the air box lid the opposite direction. If you have not tried this yourself, I would try that first - potentially takes less time than driving back and forth to the shop, anyway.

Yes, warming it up can help, even just waiting till you come back home from driving it, so the whole engine compartment is warm.

If the shop follows the normal service procedure to swap an air filter and your snorkel breaks, the bill to replace it is probably on you. If you instead see them sticking a pry bar in, take pictures!

I have wondered about lathering AT205 on old rubber intakes to soften them up over time, but figured that I'd let someone else try it first.

 

[JeffKeryk]

@Sayjac FYI some people pop the tension spring clamp back and push the hose back from the upper filter housing. Then remove the top housing completely. Of course the hose will be stuck to the housing...

Good luck and have fun with it.

 

[Sayjac]

I'm surprised that they only want $50 including the filter.....

Yeah, I was too. But both dealers quoted same ballpark. Under normal circumstances, not much to it. Obviously, this one not normal.

 

[crashz]

I've found that its easier on everything to simply disconnect the hose from the air box and TB. Unplug the MAF sensor, and anything else that connects to the tube. Take it all off, clean it all, install new air filter and re-install. Once you see the content of the bottom of the box and realize you need all of that extra room now to vacuum out the box, you'll appreciate the extra work.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I've found that its easier on everything to simply disconnect the hose from the air box and TB. Unplug the MAF sensor, and anything else that connects to the tube. Take it all off, clean it all, install new air filter and re-install. Once you see the content of the bottom of the box and realize you need all of that extra room now to vacuum out the box, you'll appreciate the extra work.

And you can clean the plenum and throttle plate. I do this every once in a while.

 

[Hall]

If they break it they have to replace it so why not let them do it.

"Have to replace" ? They might replace it as a courtesy but they are more likely to say "it broke while we were trying to replace it, the price is XX, do you want us to go ahead and repair it?". Then they'll add that you'll have a check engine light if you don't have it fixed.

Not trying to defend a shop over this, but it's very common that these crack or split, especially as they're older and you try to bend and twist them in order to remove the housing top cover. You can't really blame them either. The OP even backed off completing the job knowing this was a risk.

 

[Sayjac]

Success! I don't have a heat gun, (should get one) so I used a hairdryer to warm up the intake hose and make it more flexible. I believe it did help, but still some elbow grease and manipulation of both filter and airbox top needed. Bosch Workshop filter in there right at 7 years, ~40k mi. Since dealer did order an AF I will wait till the Honda OEM comes in and install tomorrow. To be clear wasn't looking for dealer to install a free intake hose if they damaged mine. Thought perhaps they might have a technique or two like removing the hose from the throttle body to help with install. Something I didn't want to tackle at this time not knowing if it would be helpful. Throttle body plate area looked pretty clean. Thanks to all those that contributed.