Thought i'd throw this info in here too - finally got round to pulling the ECU in an attempt to clean out the HVAC intake ducting, but ran into a problem with accessing the actual mesh for put right before the recirc door and fan blower - any ideas?







And here's a borescope of the actual mesh area

 

Park in an enclosed building.
.

 

Wheyyyy.

 

And drive inside, too.

I like the backing out part of the video. Like leaving Chernobyl or something. I've never climbed in there, are those little gaps how the leaves got in?

 

Yeah, those tiny gaps are i'm sure what the designers figured leaves/tree garbage wouldn't fit through - seems they just need to be fresh and supple and they'll get squeezed through

I think i'm going to drill the side of the 'tower' to clean it out, will let me disinfect whatever bio-breakdown is happening with the vegetation in there and use a grommet to plug it back up again.

2" hole should do it.

 

What bore scope are you using? That's a clear video.

 

Yes inquiring minds want to know! I had a Milwaukee and Dewalt and both videos, at least at the handheld controller, looked so terrible that I dumped them both (I gave one away to my brother).

I looked down my cowl last year when I pulled the plastic panels and I didn't see any junk buildup whatsover that I could tell from the far end (couldn't get a clear photo); and certainly not a rat's nest of old leaves like yours:



But I don't park under trees and whatnot here in SoCal. Regardless, I really wanted to use this aftermarket air filter kit for the cowl:


But because of the design of the cowl, which collects water off the windshield and cowl vents from rain and car washes and directs them to drain outlets on either side, the above cabin air filter install will dam up the cowl tray, resulting in the paper filter getting water logged with any appreciable water buildup in the cowl tray.




That could lead to the air filter rotting and persistent mildew smells...

 

Borescope is called EndoSnake, i don't think it's particular special, but it was fairly cheap, and i'll fit in a .22 barrel


Yeah, i looked at that filter option, but it's not very good, nor convenient, especially when it needs changing once a year under normal circumstances.

I will say that you'll not likely be able to see the other end from there, @Augster and that's where the leaves will pile up, out of site, easy enough (when you don't have an ait compressor in the way) to pull the ECU to work on this.