Re: Leafs stuck in a/c compressor due to cover missing under hood - ideas?
Originally Posted by
nickwe21
Hello forum!
I have recently found something that bothers me quite a bit about my car. My a/c on and off has made this rumbling noise and so I took it apart and pulled out the fan from under the passenger side glove box compartment. So far so good, changed the filter while in there and the sound was due to a million leafs lodged in the fan and also the filter.
After further examination I noticed that under the hood, on the passenger side, the little rubber cover is missing allowing leafs to clog the drain but most importantly, that's how they get into the cabin.
On the driver side, there were some leafs in there too, but not nearly as many as that cover is keeping them out. I don't know how to explain what that cover looks like so I will just post a couple of pictures.
I assume it would make sense to take off the whole piece, surrounding the windshield wiper arms in order to clean under there. If you have instructions for that I'd be happy, but I'm sure I can find them through the search function.
So my most important question is, what to do about that missing cover? I know even though I cleaned everything up and the a/c fan runs as smooth as ever, I will have the same problem again as leafs will flow down that area under the hood again and reach the cabin through there.
I'm grateful for any ideas!
Thanks a bunch as always. The forum has been awesome and you guys usually come up with great solutions so I figured I'd ask.
Please see pictures below!
Nick
First that is not the AC compressor, it is just the air circulation fan. The AC compressor is on the DS front and operated by the serpentine belt that drives the other accessories, water pump, alternator etc.
There should be a seal there like on the DS, even with the seal small leaves and debris get in there and block the drain and some of them get through the cabin air intake just above the drain, a design weakness. Every so often these leaves should be removed, carefully done they can be removed through the seal fingers, if not done the drain gets blocked and water gets into the cabin air intake, soaks the floor and ruins the fan unit. When you have removed the debris run some wire or water from a hose through the drain holes, there are four if I recall correctly, one at each end and two in the centre. I accessed the WW fluid reservoir behind the PS fender and cleaned the leaves that had gone down the drain, there was quite a lot of it and it would only collect water and rust in time.
The following PDF shows what it looks like under the plastic cowl, this PDF shows how to add the missing isolator grommet but shows the general area,
To remove the cowl you have to remove the windshield wipers first and remove the screws holding the cowl in place, You then disconnect the windshield wiper fluid tubes and the heater wires for the WW fluid heaters. I think some of this may not be required and you can fold the cowl forward, but it is easier to get it out of the way.
CLICK for PDF
Last edited by onehundred80; May 6, 2017 at 10:14 AM.