Problem with replacing Toyota Avensis 2001 Pollen Filter

[LezLezLez]

Hello, I have a beautiful Toyota Avensis Liftback 2001 and have tried (both me and my local Toyota Main Dealer) to replace the Pollen Filter but without success. This filter is provided in two double-filter sections - Upper and Lower. The Lower fits OK but only by itself. When the Upper is fitted first, there is insufficient room for the Lower, designed to sit under the Upper as a matched pair. The Haynes Manual #4264 page 1-14 Section 13 describes the procedure well but my Upper seems to not raise fully into its receiving slot, therefore making it impossible to slide the Lower into its space. My Upper has the central plastic section removed as indicated in Haynes and observed on the old Upper now thrown away. I will really appreciate any experience advice. I could scan and post the Haynes images but they are of poor quality. Regards, Geoff.

[untakenname]

I did the pollen filter on my parents Toyota Auris by squeezing it together to get through the gap and then folding it out, didn't read the manual on how to do it but took only a few minutes.

This howto video looks like it's same era as yours https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG3AycyfyMk

[Sir Bagalot]

Would small hands help?

My youngest always gets the job of changing pollen filters as they're a hell of a lot more flexible than me

[LezLezLez]

Hi UnTakenName, and thanks for your effort. I too had seen this YouTube video and it does seem to be the same car/heater model for which my problems exists. It is interesting that this video shows the removal of the double filter but does not show the replacement which is my problem. When I try and insert the (new) Upper Filter it will not rise high enough to allow the Lower filter to be inserted. It falls short on the low side by about 30mm. I bought an endoscope from eBay but so far cannot see what is stopping the upward movement. My guess is that the model of heater and components do not match the two plastic inserts on the Upper item, which also has the middle section not present, exactly as shown on YouTube. I might try removing the two Upper Filter topmost lugs, but I would have thought this would make the use of the filter redundant as air might just flow round the 4 filter trays. Then another approach might be to remove the complete heater unit but this would involve dismantling the fascia.
Sir Baglalot - thanks for your input. Sadly the filter cavity width is about 20mm - big enough for my endoscope, but not big enough for a child's hand! I note that my local Toyota Dealer was unable to replace the filter too - removal no problem, but replacement didn't work for them either. I was told their aged mechanics experts could not solve the problem either!
Thanks both for your inputs. Geoff/LezLezLez.