Prius Cabin Airflow Filter Direction

Check your previous cabin filter. The filter that is in your Prius should also have an arrow

ONEPLUS A5010 ?

 

From page 302 of the 2006 owner's manual, which should be the same as all Gen 2 filters:

 

He's talking about a Gen 4 - his profile is wrong (or he's got 2 PRIUS').

But the Gen 4 in Australia has it in the Owner's Manual - probably in the USA one too:

 

Some filters don't matter which way the the air flows even if they have Arrow. They are just a mesh element. It matters on higher-end filters that have the charcoal position on one side or like the newest generation of antibacterial green filters on some manufacturers

 

For GEN 4 - the Owner's Manual specifies that it go in a particular way.

 

Oops, he did say 2016. I missed that. Good catch. 2016 is almost certainly the same as the Prime and here it is in my manual.

 

The case is needed for proper airflow and should have come with the car. If it’s missing, you can buy one as a service part, 88899-47090 or 88899-0R010; see catalog Figure 87-14, Heating & Air Conditioning - Cooler Unit.

 

Assuming it's the same as 3rd gen, I believe air flow direction is downwards.

 

11 posts for a simple answer to a simple question

 

Yes, True, BUT if its OEM or good quality one. Some times i have had amazon/ebay non branded filter that clearhy havo no arrow or its on the wrong side of the charcoal. The important thing is to see as jerrymildred said is the tray arrow for airflow direction

 

Some filters will have an arrow that says "FLOW", some filters will have an arrow that says "UP".

In a Prius, that means those filters should have their arrows point opposite ways.

Unless somebody tells me Gen 4 is different, all Prii have had downward airflow through the filter.

There's no law that requires it, but it's also kind of unsurprising, since the air comes in at the cowl ahead of the windshield, and from where the heater is, that's, you know, up.

 

same with my central vac. the trouble with upward air flow is gravity

 

According to the textbook in front of me (Frank White, Fluid Mechanics 8th ed.), the effect of gravity on incompressible flow (e.g. airflow below ~Mach 0.3) can be treated as negligible. You can see a real-world example of this on just about every Shopvac ever, where the motor is mounted on top of the basin and pulls air up and out.

The two air filters in the Prius are, I suspect, positioned as they are to make dealing with debris easier (which is very much affected by gravity). In the cabin, downward airflow will collect debris on top of the filter, where it can be easily disposed of by taking the filter out since the rest of the ducting is inaccessible. In the engine intake, air is pulled up and through the filter; debris will collect at the bottom of the plastic housing which can be taken out and emptied if necessary and won't affect airflow through the filter. My guess, anyway.

 

Engine air filter flow is upward, the opposite.

 

"In the engine intake, air is pulled up and through the filter...."

 

should have read more carefully.