26-09-2015, 11:53 AM
So, today I finally got round to changing the pollen filter - only had it 4 months lol... Was putting off after seeing how much of a pain it appeared to be with removing the glovebox, cooling duct, GEM etc on the Ford forums and youtube... Our resident Ford tech advised me it wasn't as difficult as they were making out but I was still sceptical lol. 
Anyway, it turns out it is a complete arse to change... Didn't have to remove the glovebox or glovebox cooling duct fortunately, just dropped down the GEM (fuseboard), removed it's bracket and managed to access the pollen filter cover like that, but getting into the right position wasn't easy lol.
Old one was rank tbh, looks like it hadn't been changed for a while, was thick with dirt and also 'soggy' rather than stiff like the new one. Guess that explains the AC smell that wasn't cured by an AC bomb, though odd that it didn't smell with heat or normal air, just AC.
Also hardwired the dashcam in - again much more easily than the guides on FOC, they do like to things difficult over there! Only removed one panel to hide all the wiring, and used a piggyback fuse to make it switched live (lighter sockets are permanent powered). Seems to be working correctly... Did have a weird problem when I loosened an earth bolt and set the immobiliser off... But tightening it and sticking the key switched it off, no idea why that happened tbf lol, some odd security feature maybe.
Anyway, it turns out it is a complete arse to change... Didn't have to remove the glovebox or glovebox cooling duct fortunately, just dropped down the GEM (fuseboard), removed it's bracket and managed to access the pollen filter cover like that, but getting into the right position wasn't easy lol.
Old one was rank tbh, looks like it hadn't been changed for a while, was thick with dirt and also 'soggy' rather than stiff like the new one. Guess that explains the AC smell that wasn't cured by an AC bomb, though odd that it didn't smell with heat or normal air, just AC.
Also hardwired the dashcam in - again much more easily than the guides on FOC, they do like to things difficult over there!
Only removed one panel to hide all the wiring, and used a piggyback fuse to make it switched live (lighter sockets are permanent powered). Seems to be working correctly... Did have a weird problem when I loosened an earth bolt and set the immobiliser off... But tightening it and sticking the key switched it off, no idea why that happened tbf lol, some odd security feature maybe.