Td5 D2 bodywork - Heater Blower Hole (2)

Have been thinking the past few days about getting some closure with the blower motor water ingress issue. It simply has gone on too long and must be resolved.

Had a good feel around under the plenum cover at the blower intake to get a 'feel' for its shape. I want to make some sort of cover that will deflect any run off water yet not restrict the airflow into the blower inlet.

I Was going to get the borroscope going to get a close view of the inlet, maybe even inside the inlet, but the rain stopped play. I kind of felt the shape that the cover will need to be with my hands. Need to visualise this and make a quick sketch and a card template for the shape. Figure to attach front end to the plenum cover and the other to the rear of the inlet, but the shape is still fluid.

Did some research on Web and grabbed the following. 

Microcat image of the plenum cover and associated parts. No3 is the foam filter, No2 is the windscreen seal. 

Front view of nearside. 

Two views of the reverse of the cover, roughly of the area above the intake. Was keen to see this surface and whether there was any ridges or molding lines that could possibly be directing the water flow into the intake. 

Two more views of the front of the cover. Judging by the open wiper mounts, I would say this cover is from a left hand drive vehicle, but either way, the plenum cover is the same. 

This ' Plenum Chamber Cover ' is still available new, but the price is in the hundreds!  It seems it is crucial to have one handy when replacing the windscreen as they can easily break or crack during removal.

Read online about someone's home made cover cure of using a cut down plastic oil tub and some gaffer tape, presumably the molded corners on the plastic tub would be of use in deflecting any water flow. ?

A new theory emerged to explain what's going on. In a downpour situation, the run off water from the screen pools in the ' trough ' of the cover, it can't drain away quick enough and runs over and into the pollen filter holes and finds it way underneath to trickle under gravity down into the blower inlet. 

I checked this out visually on Hx. Storm water could indeed back-flow through the filter 'windows ', but there is a vertical plastic lip after that and the water would have to flow vertically up the other side to get near the inlet. 

However, storm water surges kind of makes sense as it is only after strong rain that the leak appears. I also feel that the stationary lifestyle Hx enjoys also contributes. I mean, if it was driving through a downpour, the natural mobile turning motion would cause any pooled water to slosh about and drain properly via the side channels. 

Made a good attempt today to learn the geography of the inlet. Even used the Borro-scope with mixed results. It was difficult to orientate the head of the scope, but the bright Sun just made watching the laptop screen difficult. And then the battery in the laptop died! ! ! 

I tried to get the scope to go down inside the inlet. I thought I would be able to see the hamster wheel of the blower motor, but not today. I got the impression that there was some kind of closed flap in there blocking my progress. 

On a positive note, I managed to look around the back of the inlet and in general could not detect any water run stains, but I could have easily missed something. 

I ended up taking a 'rubbing' of the inlet by positioning a sheet of A4 paper over the opening and running my fingers around its perimeter and moulding the paper to shape. This was done solely by touch and the impression on the paper looks a bit like a 'vac-form' model kit. 

I now have something credible to fashion a cover for. 

..the shape of things to come.