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On 25 Nov 2003 at 8:48, John Fischer wrote: > Everytime I wash my car water pours through the dash soaking everything and > causing electrical problems until it dries out. > What can be done to fix this? > > '69 square Common problem, easy fix, important to fix before your body rusts from the inside out. This comes up so often that I finally wrote it up and saved it. Clearing early (61-9) water drain hoses: Look under the dash. Below and in front of the radio you should see a plastic cover held in place by a single screw on each side. Remove these screws and the cover. Now you can see the 2 water drain hoses. These hoses drain water out of the 2 airboxes above, and lead that water to the outside. If the drainage system gets blocked, the airboxs will fill up with water until water leaks out of the air vent holes, which it can easily do even if the vents are "closed." You may want to have a bucket or pan underneath before you start, just in case there is still water up there. Pull the lower ends out of the holes they go into, then pull the upper ends off the airbox nipples. If these hoses have never been off before, they may come loose with difficulty. They were originally glued, but it is not necessary to reglue them. Clean out the hoses. Wash them clean with a garden hose. Run a wire down the hole you can see near the centerline of the car thru the louvers in front of the windshield. Make sure that there are no leaves blocking the entrance to the drain hole. You might even want to run water in those louvers while someone holds the bucket under the dash. Yes, this takes 2 people. The point is to clear out all the debris possible from the airbox. Note that you really can't see what's in there, you can only tell whether water flows freely out the drain. Keep this up until it's clear that no more debris is coming out of the airbox. Check the bottom 2 holes to make sure there is no debris caught there. Note that these 2 lower holes appear to lead to a dead end, but that the water is actually free to drain downward. The "dead end" is actually the rear wall of the gas tank. Once everything is clear, reinstall the 2 water drain hoses and the plastic cover. If you live in an area with a lot of trees and leaves, pine needles, insects, etc., you may need to repeat this every couple of years. It will save a LOT of wear and tear on your car if you do. If your drain hoses are completely missing or damaged, I have clear plastic material to make replacements from. -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org