Re: Rain Leak / Passenger Side
If you pour a glass of water into the cowling, it should end up on the pavement behind the passenger side wheel. If the down tube is clogged with debris, then the water wells up and drips into the air intake. Immediately behind this is the blower motor.
If you have had water leaking under the passenger dash, then likely the blower motor, cabin filter and dash padding has been soaked. Speed is of the essence since this will likely begin to corrode the motor and its connector, and mildew mold will start growing in the cloth materials.
I would recommend removing the blower, filter and under dash components. This is actually pretty easy on this car. Dry them out, clean and lubricate the blower bearings and connector. If there is any mold present, thoroughly clean or replace those items. Once there is fungus in a material, it is never the same.
If your blower motor is still good, you may get more life out of it, otherwise it will have to be replaced and its not cheap.
When I bought my car two years ago, I found that the previous owner had placed paper towels under the dash panel - of course they never told me about the leak. Of course there were the leaves because they kept it on the street. So this had been going on for some time.
After my leak, my blower was not working, and the connector was full of water. Once I cleaned it up the blower was working again. However, the blower does shows some signs of minor corrosion and may fail before it should.
Last edited by arydant; May 24, 2014 at 11:38 AM.