Air intake / pollen filter water leak fix

My '96 4.6 has been suffering from intermittent water leaks into the air ducts and passenger's footwell. It being a sunny day I decided to strip it all out and find the problem.

I hope the photos will help anyone else with the same problem who is contemplating a fix -

First of all I removed the windscreen side finishings by removing the screws on the A post under the rubber seal. Then I removed the finisher and clips from the bottom of the screen, wiper blades and finally the air intake cover.

I then removed the remaining plastic finisher on the n/s and then the metal panel underneath by undoing six 10mm bolts -




By removing this panel you have direct access to the pollen filter housing and can remove the filter and any residual debris -



Remove the pollen filter and this reveals eight screws.




Undo the eight screws and remove the plastic filter cradle, this allows for easy cleaning around the whole area, particularly the drain aperture which is circled in white in the image below -



After a thurough clean of the area and flushing of the drains, refir is a simple reverse of removal.

It turned out that the drain was clogged at the top and any water that ingressed into the air intake soon overflowed into the pollen filter air intake and into the car.

The next stage was to remove the perished foam from the air intake, and clip into place pre-cut sections of new foam -



All that remained was to refit and then clean out and replace blower motor, glovebox assembly and kick panel.

Total time - two hours

well done mate.nice easy job that gives a good result,hopefully.

nice one. t'was next on the to-do list so this is very helpful.

cheers!

Been there done all that and mine still bloody leak !!

I also did that, plus sealing the filter covers with silicone and it still leaked in the passenger's footwell. This summer, while replacing the foam, I sealed a rubber plug that hides the hole for the RHD windshield wiper (mine's LHD) and no water so far. Fingers crossed!

mcapinha said:

I also did that, plus sealing the filter covers with silicone and it still leaked in the passenger's footwell. This summer, while replacing the foam, I sealed a rubber plug that hides the hole for the RHD windshield wiper (mine's LHD) and no water so far. Fingers crossed!

Click to expand...

Hi, looks like i know your pseudo from another rr board i believe.
I own a LHD too but didn't see that rubber plug hiding a hole.
I've been through cleaning, replacement of pollen filter covers with brand new covers (before i tried silicone gasket...) and it still leaks on LHD side. (ie on my feet when driving)

Been out this morning, the intention being to spray around with the hose and check for any sign of leaks. I forgot to mention in the original post that when I refitted the pollen filter housing I used silicone sealant on the basis that this was an obvious leakage point.

Anyway, I ended up giving the car its quarterly wash, sprayed the hose around the screen area (and using different strengths of spray - been caught out by that one before) - no sign of any leak. Removed N/S kickpanel, checked around ducts and blower, all seems dry.

Must follow this guide when fixing wet passenger side footwell...thanks

P

thank god you faster that me

Great found the thread again.......relief all around!


P

Mine are still dry 18+ months after deciding to deflect the water away from the point of ingress in the first place with plastic shields in front of the pollen filter caps.

Parisien said:

Must follow this guide when fixing wet passenger side footwell...thanks

P

Click to expand...

Check your A/C drains while you are at it. Slide under the car, hand up either side of the bellhousing and feel for the drain tubes. Squeeze the ends and get an arm full of crap and water

Cheers......will let my mechanic get a bit dirtier yet again......


P

Thanks for this thread. Just done this job today, including plenty of silicon sealant when reassembling so I hope that's cured the leaks. We will see soon with this weather.