So I took my car in for some minor items while it is still under warranty (less than 200 miles to go) and was very pleased with the things the dealership DID actually do. They scraped/sanded a plastic bag off my exhaust pipe that blew under there 3 weeks ago and was still smelling like ****.

The main reason I took the car in was for the dealership to change the air filter because I had taken a look at what was involved in changing it myself and didn't want to mess with it. I made the appointment earlier in the week and they knew what car I was bringing in, yet when they called me today to tell me I could pick up my car they said they didn't have the filter in stock and had to order it, oh well, not a big deal. Then they told me that it will probably cost around $150 for them to do the job because (at least on the 2.0 SC) it takes so much work just to get to the air filter. WTF!!! I'm not mad at the dealership because it really does appear to be a pain in the ass to get to the air filter.

My question is, why the hell did GM design the engine bay in our cars so that a $10-20 air filter (not sure on the price) costs so much to change? That is one of the dumbest things I have seen on a car, besides them mounting the oil filter on the back of the engine on previous Ecotec engines.

Sorry for the rant but this just seems ridiculous. Anyone else had similar experiences or know a shortcut to changing the filter any quicker?

 

There is no real easy way to do it. There is some "how to" threads that show how to do the Airbox mod and you can follow the steps to getting the filter out. Gonna have to jack it up and take off the Driver side tire and remove the water guard or whatever its called in the wheel well.

 

Take the front drivers side wheel off and then take inner fender well plastic off and then unscrew the bottom of of the air box to get at the filter. Might take ya an hour or so, but its worth it instead of paying $150.

 

Wow, thats nuts! You need to get a CAI. When you need to look at it or remove it, you can just remove the driver's headlight and BAM, there it is!

 

ya its a pain in the ****.... do what they said though. just jack it up, take of the front wheel. then theres a bunch of push tabs that u can use a flat head for. and thers 7 screws. use a 9 or 8mm if im not mistaken. 3 on the side and then theres 4 under the car to your left (towards the front) once those are all gone just pull the inner fender piece out. and theres your air filter. its in the plastic case.

remove the bolts off of the bottom if it and then ur good. pull it off, slide on the new one and tighten. ill get some pics i think i still have the airbox somewhere.....

 

Ecotec filters were never in the back

Now the old 2.2 aka 2200 motors on the otherhand.....

I would charge a lot too since mine took me forever since the filter didn't fit!! It's the dealer man. Blame GM or suck it up and do it yourself. Much more rewarding!!

 

thats why engineers make so much and technicians make so little, for example, when replacing the starter on a 2007/2008 dodge nitro with 4.0; the engine has to be lifted 1.5 feet straight up to replace, starter costs 250, labor is 1300

 

Get this http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/COLD-...spagenameZWDVW and do it yourself.

 

because the ss/sc comes with a cold air intake from the factory.

instead of being easily accessable like most cars, in a box in the engine bay, they routed it away from all the engine heat, to the cool space in front of your wheel.

I agree its a pain in the ass there sometimes.
but its there for a very good reason.

 

well son of a bitch i sure didnt realize that!! I just had to do the wheel removal/wheel well dissassembly last weekend to clean my filter....

 

well, theres 1 more step....theres the bracket that the headlight sits on, but its only a matter of 4 more 10mm bolts and your maf + filter + horn + foglight are all at your fingertips.

 

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize there was a functional reason for it to be located there. Thought someone was trying to be a jackass or GM was just trying to help out the dealerships with some labor $$.

 

I can change my filter in 15 minutes . It's really only a pain the first time you do it . You dont have to take the wheel off (although it makes it easier) . You can get away with removing about 8 screws and 1 push pin , then pull the splash guard down and hold it there while you unscrew the airbox cover . Then just slide the filter out the bottom and reinstall.

 

Hell, even if you take the entire bumper off, it should only take you an hour.

 

for 150 you can almost have a used cai intake if not close to a new one

 

am i the only one who didnt have a problem doing my own air filter??


just undo a **** load of bolts/screws and there it is