How to Change the Engine Air Filter – Toyota Sienna

Your engine needs air to breathe in order to operate optimally. If your air filter is starting to get clogged, it can affect gas mileage, acceleration, as well as potentially allow sand and dust particles into the engine, increasing wear, and decreasing engine life… not good!

In this quick picture guide, we’ll go through the steps to quickly and easily change the engine filter in a Toyota Sienna.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission – at no cost to you.

How long does it take to change an Engine Air Filter?

This is a very quick maintenance item and should take less than 10 minutes.

How often should you change the Engine Air Filter in a Toyota Sienna?

The engine air filter in a Toyota Sienna should be changed every 15,000 to 30,000 miles, and every 10,000 in extreme conditions. If you live on a dirt road, this is considered extreme conditions due to all the extra sand and dust that your engine is pulling in every time you drive!

Tools and Supplies Needed:

• 10mm socket wrench
• Engine Air Filter (Use the following table to choose the correct part number)

Steps to Change the Engine Air Filter in a Toyota Sienna

The first step is to pop the hood and locate the filter housing. In this 2006 Toyota Sienna, it is just aft of the battery.

Use a 10mm socket with extension to remove the bolt from the front of the housing.

Note, it is a captured bolt, meaning that you can loosen it all the way and it will remain attached to the housing so you won’t loose it.

Loosen the 10mm bolt on the back of the housing.

Next, lift the filter housing up to expose the old engine air filter. The housing rotates on 2 plastic pivot points located along the left side of the housing. You do not need to remove the housing from those pivot points to replace the filter, but if you want to in order to get easier access, tilt and lift up on the housing to disengage the pivot hinges.

Slide out the old air filter. Now is also a good time to look into the housing and clean out or vacuum out any dirt or debris that has accumulated there.

Compare the old and new filter to verify that you have the correct sized replacement.

Slide the new filter into the housing in the same orientation as the old one. Note that often one of the corners is more pointed than the others. This can help give an index to indicate the correct orientation of the filter.

After the new filter is seated properly inside the housing, close the housing and re-tighten the 10mm bolts.

Conclusion

That’s it, it is a really easy maintenance item. I’ve included the part numbers again here for reference:

Related posts:

How to Change the Air Filter in a Corolla How to Change the Air Filter in a Honda Accord Toyota Camry – Engine Air Filter Part Number – by Year