How to Remove and Replace Drivers Seat Filter on 2009-2015 7thgen Nissan Maxima

Community Member Credit: vr4z06gt

DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible if you screw this up. It really really really hard to do, but it’s your own fault if you do. This is just for reference.

I decided to change the filter in the driver’s seat this weekend. It is recommended in the owner’s manual that it be replaced every 15K and at the price the dealer wanted, more on that in a minute, it seems absurd.

My local dealer quoted me 2 hours of labor based upon the instructions from the factory. At $100/hr this becomes a $300 repair job. Following this guide: $25ish or possibly free and less than 30 seconds of time.

Here is a diagram of the bottom of the seat:

The area where the filter is located is item 4. It is the round hole, this is the entrance to the blower motor and where the filter goes (red circle).

This job is actually very very simple, if it takes longer than 30 seconds you are doing something wrong.

1. Raise the back of the driver’s seat as high as possible
2. Insert hand under the seat on the left of the seat if you are facing forward. About 3 inches in you will feel a fuzzy disk. Spin that counter-clockwise (your hand is upside down) and remove.
3. Replace filter.
4. You’re done.

AFTER I went through the effort of disassembling the seat back and looking around I realized how easy this job is.

So the next thing I noticed. This is just a synthetic fiber mesh. There is no paper involved. So I just washed mine with dawn and let it air dry for a few minutes. This cleaned it 90% of the way, it was pretty gross to start with. Here is the after, sorry no before pics:

Front (fuzzy side):

Back (Rigid side):

When inserting make sure that you put the rigid side up. The fuzzy side should be facing the floor of the car.

Now the next thing I got to thinking, the price. The Nissan dealer quoted $96.XX+tax and no one seems to have heard of them or for that matter have them in stock. After seeing the part if I had paid their price I would have been EXTREMELY pissed. I found a local Infiniti dealer who had one in stock for the same price but there is a much better solution.

My dad’s 2011 F-250 King Ranch has air-conditioned seats on both sides. He has yet to replace the filter but he knows it can be done in less than a minute. So we took his filter out, and sure enough, IT IS EXACTLY THE SAME! My guess is there is a patent on this and every manufacturer leases that patent, which could explain why there are no aftermarket parts available from any of the local parts stores or even rock auto. But the local ford dealer only wants $42 for them…still, there is a better deal to be had. There is an online Parts Guy Ed who has them for $22.21 + S/H depending on the situation. There might be other places that have them for less, if you find them post them for others.

The bottom line is, don’t pay the inflated Nissan prices. It is exactly the same part, I know this is hard to believe but it is true. I put my dad’s part into my driver’s seat blower motor, and mine into his and there were no fitment issues whatsoever.