Here's a reminder for those who might not know to clean out the plenum chamber. Most of you probably know this already.
I pulled my battery today for maintenance (2001.5, about 3 1/2 years old. The electrolyte level was pretty low, filled it with distilled water. Cleaned the contact points with steel wool. What a bi@%$ it was to get the battery out and back in again.
Saw the two drain holes underneath the battery, these drain water out of the plenum. These could easily become clogged with leaves, so not a bad idea to pull the battery and check every year or so.
The drainage route on the passenger side is pretty clear, it runs from the right side of the chamber down into the drainage hole. There's not much obstructing the view here so you can clean any leaves out easily.
The drivers side is pretty hard to see. It looks like water flows from the outside in down under the ECM compartment. Its a tight space and hard to tell if its clear. I found a pile of sand suggesting that water isnt really draining freely in this area.
I used a shop vac to vacuum everything I could out of there.
Here's the sweet part: I reversed the hose on the shop vac so it was blowing, and blew out the chamber. A whole bunch of crap came out that I couldnt see.
If you keep this area free of obstructing leaves, etc, you might avoid the dreaded flooded passenger compartment, flooded ECM, expensive repairs, etc.
Also dont forget to milk the drains in the doors.
Also follow bentley's recommendation and use a speedometer cable to clean out the rain gutters in the sunroof, from the holes in the sunroof. Gonna buy a cable on monday and do this part.
I pulled my battery today for maintenance (2001.5, about 3 1/2 years old. The electrolyte level was pretty low, filled it with distilled water. Cleaned the contact points with steel wool. What a bi@%$ it was to get the battery out and back in again.
Saw the two drain holes underneath the battery, these drain water out of the plenum. These could easily become clogged with leaves, so not a bad idea to pull the battery and check every year or so.
The drainage route on the passenger side is pretty clear, it runs from the right side of the chamber down into the drainage hole. There's not much obstructing the view here so you can clean any leaves out easily.
The drivers side is pretty hard to see. It looks like water flows from the outside in down under the ECM compartment. Its a tight space and hard to tell if its clear. I found a pile of sand suggesting that water isnt really draining freely in this area.
I used a shop vac to vacuum everything I could out of there.
Here's the sweet part: I reversed the hose on the shop vac so it was blowing, and blew out the chamber. A whole bunch of crap came out that I couldnt see.
If you keep this area free of obstructing leaves, etc, you might avoid the dreaded flooded passenger compartment, flooded ECM, expensive repairs, etc.
Also dont forget to milk the drains in the doors.
Also follow bentley's recommendation and use a speedometer cable to clean out the rain gutters in the sunroof, from the holes in the sunroof. Gonna buy a cable on monday and do this part.
