I have a tendency to buy older cars and I drive them mostly into the ground before getting a new one. I’m not a big fan of paying $20,000 for a car that devaluates $1,000 the minute you drive it off of the lot. Plus I get rather tired of haggling with new car dealers who are doing their damnedest to screw me while I’m doing my damnedest not to let them do it.
Every car has a set of grids on the hood, just below the windshield. Those are the vent inlets for most air conditioners and vents. Some have a little piece of screen under the grid to catch debris, but water drains right on through. Now, these things rot out and when they do, water starts getting into the car from behind the dash. That causes all sorts of annoyances.
On some of the older cars, especially those in the 60s and 70s, had the type of rectangular vent that was screwed in place. One removed the wiper arms, undid the screws, lifted out the grid and cleaned out the goop inside and could patch any rust holes.
The new cars have it all as one piece. It takes a repair shop to fix any rust holes that appear in there and the expense is enormous. Most shops remove the dash. I’ve an older station wagon that is in good shape, but it has begun leaking through that vent and the vent is part of the body. I will not be able to fix it by myself. I thought about cutting the vent out, fixing everything, altering the vent and replacing it but wisely decided that I’m not that good of a mechanic.
Is this another cut little tactic of Detroit to make sure that the cars don’t last too long so you have to buy a new one? I’ve driven many an older car which had had body damage easily repaired and then that damn vent goes and you have one option – seal the whole thing over with fiber glass or pay up to $1,000 to fix a small hole.
Why doesn’t the car maker apply an extra coat of paint or something? Make it out of heavy duty fiberglass instead of formed, thin steel? Best of all, start making the vents as a separate item so it can be fixed without having to pay the national debt.
This is another example of my “They haven’t built a decent car since '74”. Actually, the trend started in the mid 50’s, but IMHO '74 was when it became unbearable.
It’s done to save money. Stamped steel is one of the least expensive materials that can be used and thinner is even cheaper. Fewer parts to assemble saves line labor. Manufacturers may only save a few pennies on each unit, but spread over 100k units, it’s real money.
About the only thing you can do is try to prevent water from staying in there. The factory drain holes are too small and easily plugged. You can try to clean them out with a long, thin wire, or better yet enlarge them with a long drill bit (I’ve got a 1/4"dia, 18"long bit that works great for this). Also, try to see where the water is standing, and drill a hole through the firewall there so the water drains out into the engine compartment (careful, every wire is important).
A woman needs four animals in her life: A mink in the closet, a Jaguar in the garage, a tiger in the bedroom, and an ass to pay for it all.
—Zsa Zsa Gabor
It’s funny. We have books of laws to protect us from getting screwed by businesses, but the automobile industry seems immune to almost all. Even when they passed the Lemon Law, people had to almost threaten to dynamite dealerships to get them to take back the crappy car they bought.
Manufacturers get away with putting cars on the road with defective gas tanks, crush zones that include the drivers side, plastic engine parts that wear out real fast – while their replacements are – you guessed it – steel, and making cars where you have to lift the engine to change the spark plugs!
I drove an Isuzu P’up for some time. The standard clutch pulled the cable through the firewall! It was rewielded by my boss – who owned the truck and when I asked the Isuzu dealers about it, they casually mentioned that they had a replacement plate just for that – but in only happened in trucks that people USED A LOT! In short, the paper thin firewall flexed and was a manufacturers defect that they did not announce.
I also drove a Nissan truck for my boss, and discovered that when one hit the brakes hard, the truck had this tendency to hop. Nothing was ever mentioned about that cute little defect in all of the selling ads.
Passenger cars used to have crash bars in the doors. I recall reading about it because I thought it odd that trucks did not and trucks were more heavily used. Now, I’ve discovered that not only do cars not have crash bars in them, but much less support in the roofs.
Adrock, light up the place
And if you pull my card you pull the ace
And if you ask me turn up the bass
And if you play Defender I could be your hyperspace
I own an '89 VW Cabriolet. The vent slots are in the hood, and when you open it, you have direct access to the place where the water drains, which is plastic. Makes perfect sense to me.
