Wet cabin air filter

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16FujiDisco

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So I got home and noticed some water on my floor rubber floor mats. I did go through the car wash earlier so my first thought was sunroof drains, but my carpet was not wet and the water on the mat was not very much. Digging further led me to drop the glove box where a saw wetness on the bottom of the cabin air filter box. When I opened the cover and pulled the filter out it was wet; not soaked and not fully wet, maybe 50% of the filter was actually wet and not enough to drip.

Is this from the sunroof drains or from the cowl between the windshield and hood?
 

Rene Koesler

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Have had the same problem. Replaced the cowl but a month later it leaked again. Now I run black electrical tape along the cowl/windshield interface above the air box intake (pass. side) - problem solved! replace tape about every few months or if it starts to curl. Cheap fix!
 

TXLR4

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I'd say it's one of the two. I replaced the cowl on my 2013. Seemed to work for a while, but wasn't until the sunroof drains were replaced that the issue was completely gone. Replacing the cowl is an easy DIY job. Sunroof drains were a no go for me, so opted to let the dealer handle that one.
 

16FujiDisco

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After looking at it some more I can see where the cowl is buckling up in a couple of places, so I’ve ordered a new cowl and wiper arms since the originals are pretty faded. The cowl makes sense logically since it’s right above the blower fan and cabin filter, but I can’t really put together how the sunroof drains would make it to the cabin filter area. Once I replace the cowl I’ll keep an eye out for any more water intrusion.
 

jlglr4

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When you replace the cowl, take a look to see if you can locate a structure that is supposed to deflect water away from the HVAC air intake. I remember someone posting once about a splash shield or something like that which is supposed to deflect rain that escapes through the cowl away from the HVAC intake, but it was either bent or just not quite long enough or something like that, so that it would catch the rain dripping off the leaking cowl. They fixed it by bending it or attaching something too it - can’t remember, and I’ve never looked at it myself. But the air intake seems to be right above the cabin air filter. The attached illustration sort of shows what I’m talking about.
 

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16FujiDisco

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I’ll look while I have it apart to see. It looks like #2 on the illustration is what may be the issue or there abouts.
 

16FujiDisco

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After replacing the cowl this weekend I’m confident that the issue was a result of the cowl “warping” where it meets the windshield. The water separator in the illustration is like a trough that diverts water away from the fan inlet; mine was still connected like it should, but I could see tracks in the surface dirt from where water had gotten behind/under the cowl and ran down. The fan inlet has a metal bowl shaped structure that accepts the actuator door right below/behind the water separator. the most likely scenario is water gets under the cowl and runs down or splashes off the separator into the fan inlet. My apologies for not taking any pictures, i started tinkering around and ended up replacing it without thinking about documenting.

On a side note, you can probably remove the cowl without removing the A-pillar trims; i removed the passenger side and slid the cowl under the drivers side. if you remove the a-pillar trim, treat the clips as "push-to-yield", meaning one time use; they do not hold tension the same if you try to reuse them. i ordered the ones from amazon that @BumpShot mentioned in a post about a-pillars https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YDM2JW3?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details&tag=landroverworldorg-20 and they work great. They also seem to be push-to-yield as i tried removing the trim after and it didn't hold the same as the initial install.
 

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