A clogged cabin air filter is often the cause of weak airflow and a musty A/C smell.
The climate control filter sits in the HVAC box and catches dust, leaves, and pollen before that air hits the cabin. When it loads up, the blower has to push through a dirty mat and the A/C feels like it is not blowing cold.
Where is the Cabin Air Filter on a Kia Sorento XM?
On the 2nd-gen Sorento the filter is behind the glove box, in the blower housing. No tools are needed.
Empty the glove box first so nothing dumps on the floor when it drops. Open it and you will see the lock pins, one on the left side and one on the right.
How Do You Drop the Glove Box?
There is a small plastic damper clip on the right that has to be fed through a square hole in the glove box wall. Take your time with it. That plastic breaks if you yank it.
Here is the damper after the pin has gone through the hole.
Turn each lock pin counterclockwise to pop it out. Do both sides.
Once both stoppers are out, the glove box swings down and hangs. That opens up the cabin filter door on the blower box.
How Do You Replace the Kia Sorento Cabin Air Filter?
The filter cover has latches on both sides. Press those tabs down and the cover comes free.
The cover slides straight off the housing.
With the cover off, the old filter is sitting right there.
Slide the old filter straight out. If leaves or dirt fell into the housing, vacuum that out before the new one goes in.
Slide the new filter in with the air flow arrow pointing down. That is the direction the air travels through this blower box.
Put the cover back on until the latches click. Raise the glove box, turn the lock pins back in, and feed the damper clip through the hole the same way it came out.
Kia wants this filter replaced on the maintenance schedule, and sooner if you drive dusty roads or the vents smell musty. On this Sorento the airflow came back after the swap.
Replacing the cabin air filter on a 2nd-gen Kia Sorento is a real DIY job. The fight is the glove box pins and that little damper clip, not the filter itself.
Have you changed the cabin filter on an XM Sorento, and did the glove box pins come out without a fight?