How do you change the air filter on your 2001 Chrysler Sebring 2.7L?

Answer 1

The Chrysler guys didn't think much of changing air filters on this model apparently - it can be difficult. The good news is that the filter isn't prone to plugging and even does an increasingly good job of filtering as it gathers dust particulates and bugs - up to a point. The owners manual only says to "replace the air filter at the intervals shown....." not much help. I have done it once, and then only because of the task of getting TO the filter; it wasn't dirty at all. Here goes: first, look for the 2 vacuum hoses connected to the top of the neck of the air cleaner inlet flexible tube via a common one piece rubber connection fitting; you can pull on the rubber fitting which will remove the hoses together that are connected to the rubber fitting - remove this connection. Then on the other end of this flex intake tubing, find and loosen the hose clamp bolt - a screwdriver or a 10mm socket wrench will work well; you're going to remove the flex tube at that point (where it connects to the fuel injection venturi) which will be much easier when you re-install a new filter element. Also, be careful and pull the sensor out of the top of the back of that inlet tube, near the hose clamp that you just loosened. I prefer if you could leave the wires connected to it, but just know that on the other side of that sensor, inside the air tube, is a sensitive electronic "sniffer" that needs to be positioned correctly to work right. Notice on the base of that sensor are two arrows that MUST align so that sensor is correctly positioned in the inlet tube to work right. Those little arrows will be towards you so you can see them. Then on the right side of the air cleaner housing is a 5/16" nut with an attached washer, remove this nut and place aside. Notice the nice rubber isolation mount beneath this nut/washer - don't remove it. Next, on the left side of the air cleaner housing is a bracket hooked onto a slot on the housing; this bracket holds 2 electrical harnesses - simply get underneath this bracket with your hand and lift straight up and it will "unhook" from that slot in the housing - lay it aside or just let it hang loose - this will free the housing to be moved / removed later. Now, the housing is 'free' to be moved, but the intake flex tube is still connected at the rear of the housing and at the hose clamp end on the venturi. Carefully twist and pull the nice soft rubber connection at that venturi and remove it from the venturi mouth. If you have left the sensor "sniffer" in the rubber tube, be extra careful of it at this point. It will need to be removed now, if you haven't already, and lay it behind the venturi carefully. At this point, you can wriggle the intake tube/filter housing assembly from the engine as one large piece and easily remove the filter and clean the housing. To do this, look at approximately the 9:00 o'clock and 3:00 o'clock positions of the intake flex tube where it enters the air cleaner housing and locate the 2 tabs that stick out about an inch. These 2 tabs need to be squeezed towards the center while at the same time pulling outwards (towards the rear of the engine) on the flex tube. This action should loosen / remove the tube from the housing. It will probably have the air fliter element "stuck" onto it which is good. Twist the filter element loose from that flex tube nose and clean out the housing. I like to vacuum the element clean and reuse it unless it is damaged at all. I'm cheap - should just use a new element after all this work I suppose, but $15 is $15! Oh, check the little sponge "gasket" seal where the inlet flex tube inserts into the air cleaner housing. It needs to be intack and complete. IF some of it is missing, you're going to need to get a new sponge seal otherwise dirt will enter unfiltered in to the engine intake!!! Bad!!! Now reverse the process to reassemble - I like to use a little solution like Armor-all wipes or equivalent on the surfaces where the element and inlet flex tube nose come in contact. It will facilitate re-assembly. As you slip on a new element, push it all the way "home" until it bottoms on the base of the inlet flex tube assembly. Then reinsert the element/flex tube assembly back into the housing until those 2 large tabs snap into the housing. You may notice a couple of alignment arrows on the front side of the inlet tube and housing - just make sure they are aligned with each other. Now place the assembly back into position at the venturi end carefully slipping that nice soft rubber fitting over the egg-shaped venturi. Locate the 2 large positioning pins on the right side of where the housing sits. You will need to "feel" those two pins into their rubber pads on the bottom of the housing while at the same time pushing the front end of the housing back down over the stud on the right side of the housing. Put that 5/16" nut back where it goes and snug it down. Tighten the hose clamp bolt using the 10mm wrench or a screwdriver. Re-insert the sensor "sniffer" into the hole it came out of on top of the flexible inlet tube - aligning its arrows properly - important! Don't forget to reconnect those 2 vacuum hoses to the top side of the inlet tube. Now go get the beverage of your choice as you will have earned it by now! I did it in 5 minutes, start to finish and I'm an ameteur at this stuff.