Water through HVAC...

[morrisrh1]

Hi all,

Hoping there may be an easy-ish fix to this. I have an 88 Bronco II Eddie Bauer I picked up a few months ago and have been working away at while using it as a grocery-getter. The sheet metal was all redone, along with a fair number of other little projects. From the outside, it almost looks showroom-new. A number of under-the-hood and interior items are still rough

The issue - It's been a really dry year here, so I only recently had a chance to find out that when it rains, water accumulates in the passenger side cabin air vents. Then, once I drive it, the water dumps (sometimes in large amounts) on the passenger side floor pan (or on an unsuspecting passenger's feet!). Explains why the carpet had been cut out only in that spot, as it must have gotten pretty nasty.

So the question - is there an easy way to get in there and find the hole that's letting air from the hood vents into the cabin air system? I would love to not have to tear the whole dash out or to remove the whole hood/cowl assembly.

If I do need to do one of those things, which should I try first?

Any ideas? This takes me a bit beyond what the shop manual has.

Thanks,
Rob

 

[JerryC]

They are known to have the fresh air drain get plugged. I haven't had that happen but I've read about it. What I remember is that the drain is on the driver side in the fresh air box under the cowl. An endoscope might be a good tool to see if it is clogged our not.

 

[sjr53]

You need to remove the windshield wiper motor panel (under the hood) and another access panel for the 2nd wiper arm and dig out the muddy crud by hand then flush the rest out with a hose. A second type of leak can come from mud under the windshield trim than ruins the glue seal so water can leak into the cabin at the glass edge.

 

[morrisrh1]

Thanks. I will do both - I think the glass work that was done before I got it may not have been well done, as I have a slight leak through the passenger side rear window as well. So I will get some of the silicone sealant for the windshield and I'll clean out the inside of the cowl through the wiper motor access.

Much appreciated!