I recently sprang $$$ for the official USB factory Service Manual. From navigating, reading and re-reading the USB I understand it to say that you should disconnect (and isolate) the vehicle battery negative cable before changing the cabin air filter (to avoid unwanted deployment of air bags). If you disconnect the battery per service manual instructions, to reach the battery you must first position the passenger seat to the farthest upward/forward positions; if you do that, the lower seat cushion will not then allow downward rotation of the glove box bin sufficient to release it from the dash. (You are directed to remove said bin, etc. before removing the old cabin air filter.) Of course, If the battery is disconnected, you cannot move the passenger seat down/back enough to lower and remove the glove box bin!

So, if I have read this correctly, the battery is located behind the front passenger seat (beneath the floor I presume)? And the cabin air filter is located behind the glove box?

I guess I don't understand how removing the cabin air filter could set off the passenger airbag unless there is a sensor positioned such that it could be hit while removing/inserting the air filter.

 

So, if I have read this correctly, the battery is located behind the front passenger seat (beneath the floor I presume)? And the cabin air filter is located behind the glove box?

I guess I don't understand how removing the cabin air filter could set off the passenger airbag unless there is a sensor positioned such that it could be hit while removing/inserting the air filter.

Yes, battery is below front passenger seat, under floor. Cabin air filter is forward from glove box.

Yes, it is very common for the Service Manual to advise/warn about disconnecting vehicle battery (to avoid unwanted air bag deployment) before performing service/repair. Many of the electrical/electronic devices share circuitry, and as I understand it, differentiate functions via signal frequency---some sent and received by wire and some wirelessly; thus, something that might generate an unwanted signal to which the air bags respond is to be avoided. But like you I question how changing the cabin air filter could generate such a signal. The only thing I am thinking of as a possible cause in this case would be static spark(s) generated by rubbing certain materials together in the course of such servicing(?).

 

I think the disconnect battery cable is just standard boiler plate text before almost every procedure. However, if they really expect you to disconnect the battery, I suspect they think you’d use a jumper box to temporarily power the seat to move it back (like would be done on a vehicle with a dead battery to move the seat to access and replace the battery).

 

Agree. It seems like an abundance of caution from Legal probably requires them to print that warning in the header for liability concerns. An airbag can go off like a shotgun and hurt you.
It is a generic warning. Most batteries are located under the hood. There are other ways to disable the airbags than pulling a battery cable.
It is interesting that the battery disconnect is mentioned in the Service manual procedure, but not in the Owners manual procedure.
I won't tell you NOT to disconnect power to the ORC or ABM first.

 

Agree. It seems like an abundance of caution from Legal probably requires them to print that warning in the header for liability concerns. An airbag can go off like a shotgun and hurt you.
It is a generic warning. Most batteries are located under the hood. There are other ways to disable the airbags than pulling a battery cable.
It is interesting that the battery disconnect is mentioned in the Service manual procedure, but not in the Owners manual procedure.
I won't tell you NOT to disconnect power to the ORC or ABM first.

Thanks, IC! Lots for me to unpack here. Forgive my ignorance, but what are ORC and ABM?

I haven't found any other official documentation on how to disable the airbags; one side note is that they are said by the Manual to have a capacitor that once disconnected takes. what, maybe a minute to discharge before you proceed with possible airbag-triggering actions.

Fascinating to me that apparently the print form Owner's Manual, the online Owner's Manual (like the excerpt I think you included with your post), and the USB Service Manual all differ somewhat from one another when addressing the same basic service! (Not to mention the possible differences that could exist with the more-likely-updated SUBSCRIPTION online version of the Service Manual,) I forgot to check the online Owner's Manual; it appears to be more extensive than the print one! One thing about the online version of changing the cabin filter is the failure to direct one to remove the TRAY above the glove box compartment, apparently the failure to remove the tray first results in some abrasion to the old filter as you remove it, causing some dirt, etc. to fall into the dashboard-resident filter housing and some abrasion to the new filter as you install it.

What I'm thinking in conclusion is to:
1) Remove glove box and tray and filter cover
2) Remove old filter
3) Move passenger seat forward and upward
4) Disconnect and isolate negative battery cable and wait for capacitor to discharge
5) Vacuum out filter housing
6) Install new filter and cover
7) Re-connect negative battery cable
8) Move passenger seat downward and backward
9) Replace glove box and tray
10) Pray that there aren't too many lost "memory" functions that need to be re-set/re-learned.

I'd chance keeping the battery connected during the whole service procedure if I didn't vacuum out the filter housing.
Do these steps make sense?

valiant67, thanks, but I've heard of using a "memory-saver battery" when disconnecting a vehicle battery, but I seem to remember the Service Manual warning against these or other such jumper box devices due to possible damage to sensitive vehicle electronics.

 

ORC= Occupant Restraint Controller.
ABM= AirBag Module.

As far as losing memories & settings with a battery disconnect, you may need to reset your clock unless you have NAV (then the GPS will update the time). You may have to reset the Equalizer/Tone controls. The stations presets will stay.
The Express front windows may have to relearn full up and full down positions.

I lay newspaper on the passenger floor before pulling the tray. You can never tell what will fall out of the filter when you pull it out.

As for a temporary power-down, I was looking at the battery cable connection at its first stop from the battery at the PDC (Power Distribution Center). Access may be easier here that the battery post under the seat. These wires are 12v (+) , don't allow them to ground out on any surrounding metal .

 

Who approves these designs? Absolutely nuts.

Are they really sitting there telling engineers to design cars to be expensive and frustrating to work on?

 

At the risk of being banned by the site police, I'll just ask the follow-up question, "What external factors push the engineers to design cars to be so complex and expensive?"

 

Thanks Again, IC, for your extra-effort help on this! I'm going to stick with my "10-Step" plan, though, because I suspect that the IBS might trigger something if I don't disconnect it and the negative cable at the battery as the "battery-disconnect" procedure. It looks to me like one of the IBS wires also connects to the Positive battery terminal, so I'm concerned that a different disconnect point/procedure could cause problems.

It's not like I expect to be changing the cabin filter that often. I've driven few miles per year since I bought the rig (less than 10k total so far), and I've checked the motor air filter twice---and it's far from dirty/occluded---so I figure it's similar with the cabin filter; no untoward smells coming out of the HVAC vents, either. Bottom line: I should be changing cabin filter so seldom that my "10 steps" including under-floor battery disconnect should be tolerable.

 

The biggest offender in dirty CAFs is parking around trees. I've also had cars from out West that had a layer of orange dust 'everywhere'.

Automakers have trying to take the battery out of the engine compartment to get it out of the heat. You will still have jumper cable attachments under the hood.
LX puts them in the trunk. JA/JR/JX/LH puts them behind the front bumper. Sprinter is under the seat.
Batteries are heavy. The lower it is, the lower the center-of-gravity.

 

The biggest offender in dirty CAFs is parking around trees. I've also had cars from out West that had a layer of orange dust 'everywhere'.

Automakers have trying to take the battery out of the engine compartment to get it out of the heat. You will still have jumper cable attachments under the hood.
LX puts them in the trunk. JA/JR/JX/LH puts them behind the front bumper. Sprinter is under the seat.
Batteries are heavy. The lower it is, the lower the center-of-gravity.

Moving them away from the engine is one thing but making them difficult to access is not a well thought through solution.

I don't see why Leo Fenders design beliefs can't be translated to cars. "A quality instrument can be easily repaired."

My favourite cars so far have been the ones that have been cheap and easy to fix. A well designed car, can be easily repaired (or serviced).



Or could it possibly be that withholding procedure information, and making repair work tedious happens to be sickeningly profitable? No way, it's to protect the batteries that hardly last 3 years even when they're away from all that heat. 🤣

 

Let's not pretend that they are - because they're not. That's not how engineers operate. We are mandated to do cost reductions continually, but they don't involve making things less rugged or harder to service. No one has, or is allowed time, to reduce quality and test to see if it met a reduced life goal. Doesn't happen. I speak from over 40 years in engineering at large international companies.

 

I get told to do things that I believe are terrible too. Doesn't mean it isn't happening.

You'd probably be shocked and disgusted at how poorly built some heavy equipment is. I didn't choose to do it, the engineers didn't choose it. Someone who has nothing but profits in mind did.

 

Something else to consider when it comes to cleaning the cabin filter.

If you open the hood and look on the passenger side of the Jeep, right in front of the cowl, with the recirculation blend door open, you can see the top of the Cabin Filter. Vacuum it out from here before removing the filter for replacement. Any rubbish that falls past the Cabin Filter is going to fall into the HVAC fan, and you won’t be able to vacuum it out of there anyways, from inside of the vehicle.

I have changed the Cabin Filter on many occasions on many Chrysler vehicles. I have never disconnected the battery to do it, and have never set off an airbag in the process.

 

Something else to consider when it comes to cleaning the cabin filter.

If you open the hood and look on the passenger side of the Jeep, right in front of the cowl, with the recirculation blend door open, you can see the top of the Cabin Filter. Vacuum it out from here before removing the filter for replacement. Any rubbish that falls past the Cabin Filter is going to fall into the HVAC fan, and you won’t be able to vacuum it out of there anyways, from inside of the vehicle.

To reference the area that I am referring to when checking the cabin filter from the engine compartment.

 

Keep the cowl screen clear. A common cause of under-dash water leaks and HVAC odors are from blocked drains and decomposing leaf debris.
I lay down newspaper or a floormat under the CAF when I pull it out. You can never be sure what is sitting on top of it. Sometimes they are spotless, sometimes they are loaded.

Maybe the battery disconnect is an over-abundance of caution, maybe not. The Stellantis legal dept has thought it necessary to include the warning. All auto manufacturers include this Airbag warning.

Some automakers state: 'See your dealer' when it comes to CAF service. Any DIY services not done by an authorized dealer is out of the manufacturers control.

In this highly litigieous society we live in, you can't be too careful or assume that people have common-sense or are mechanically-inclined. People get hurt, sometimes badly through no fault of their own. We want to avoid that.
Working on our pride & joy should be a fun and fulfilling experience.
Let's be careful out there.