cabin filter beyond filthy,,, shouldn't be advice? input?

[rockwind1]

2016 trail version,,, been driving on a lot of dusty dirt roads here in the southwest,, the drought has been relentless, but i always keep my recirculation button pushed when i have the ac on,,, haven't had the heat on till like 3 days ago,, anyway,, one time,, all of a sudden about 2 weeks ago, i turned on my ac and a crap ton of dust blew out.

i just replaced the cabin air filter and wow,,, so amazingly filthy,, like a shop vac.

i do remember hitting one big pothole of poofy dust, i wonder how it got into the system though,,

anyone else have a problem with dust getting into the ductwork?

where is the intake?

i thought if i kept the recirculation button pressed,, it was dust proof,,, not so apparently but now i wonder

if all that dust came out when iturned on the ac,,, that must mean dust is all thruout the ductwork,, seems impossible to clean.

sometimes as i going along on a dirt road, at a decent speed,, 40-50mph,, i can smell a little dust smell,, and i wonder how it gets in.

 

[GripT4R]

I believe the intake is the cowl or near it. (Outside, bottom of windshield)

 

[rockwind1]

I believe the intake is the cowl or near it. (Outside, bottom of windshield)

hmm,,, i do remember one incident where i hit a hole of poofy dirt so bad that the dirt went flying onto my windshield,,i bet it went down into the intake. crap.

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

Totally normal, it's doing it's job. Recirculate or not, the air is still filtered and the air is still dirty. Cars are by no means air tight. If your engine air filter has never been changed, would be very smart to change that also.

 

[fkheath]

I had a Jeep Wrangler that let a lot of dust in (many gaps in the body). With the Jeep, you can take out the carpets and hose down the inside; but no so with the 4Runner. If you get tired of buying new filters, K&N makes washable filters for both the engine and cabin, but you still need to remember to clean them from time to time.

Recirculate mode is not 100% re circulation, for all auto makers add some outside air to keep carbon monoxide down. Need to have a positive cabin pressure for that.