Where in the dickens is my 2013 Ford F-150 cabin air filter located? If you have already taken apart the entire dashboard in your F-150 and you are still asking that question, you’ve come to the right place! Although… you might wish you had checked here earlier, after reading this.
What’s the best cabin air filter for a 2013 Ford F-150?
There probably isn’t a cabin air filter for your 2013 Ford F-150. That’s because a cabin air filter was actually a manufacturer’s add-on for many years of the F-150, up through its twelfth generation (2009-2014). Unless you own a 2015 or newer model year, it might not have one!
What is a Cabin Air Filter?
While the engine air filter on a vehicle cleans the air that’s being used for good old-fashioned internal combustion, the cabin air filter cleans the air that you’re breathing inside the cab of the vehicle. It’s a component that makes up part of the entire heating and AC system.
This filter picks up smog, pollen, dust, and other pollutants and traps them before your AC blows them into your face. It “cleans” the air before you breathe it inside the vehicle, so it doesn’t smell as much like whatever you just drove over on the highway or out in a cow pasture, depending on where you live.
In vehicles that do have a cabin air filter, it’s typically located somewhere behind the dash. One of the most common places for it to be located is right behind the glove box.
Why Doesn’t My F-150 Have a Cabin Air Filter?
The shortest answer is because Ford understands its buying audience. When you make the #1 selling pickup truck in America for many years in a row, you do a lot of research into who’s buying your trucks.
Ford F-150 buyers don’t tend to live in areas with extremely terrible air quality, where a cabin filter is a bigger concern. You won’t find a huge number of Ford F-150 trucks stuck in traffic on the 405 freeway in LA, compared to rural America or places where “rush hour” isn’t really a thing.
Ford started making a cabin air filter available as an add-on package on the F-150 starting in about the Tenth Generation (1997 to 2004). If your 2013 F-150 doesn’t have a cabin air filter, it means that add-on package was not purchased when the vehicle was first sold.
Should I be Worried?
A cabin air filter is not absolutely necessary for the functioning of a vehicle, otherwise all vehicles would have them. If your F-150 doesn’t have one, it won’t affect any of the day-to-day operations of your truck.
However, if anyone who will be riding in the vehicle suffers from asthma or seasonal pollen allergies, a cabin air filter can make their life easier. For 2015 and later models of the F-150, you can even find specialty aftermarket cabin air filters on Amazon that are made for people with allergies.
If you’re purchasing a used truck, try turning the heater on full blast. If the air coming out smells like an “old truck” (you’ll know it when you smell it), then that truck either has a dirty cabin air filter that’s never been changed, or it doesn’t have one at all.
