Date:         Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:19:42 -0400
Reply-To:     Mike Collum <collum@VERIZON.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mike Collum <collum@VERIZON.NET>
Subject:      Re: Rain leaking in under dash: Windshield seal or heater/vent
              system?
Comments: To: Eric <ericmail@STARPOWER.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <5u1lfe$csso5a@smtp01.lnh.mail.rcn.net>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Block off (seal off) the vent intake then stand in your driveway and
wait for rain.  ;)

Mike



Eric wrote:
> Greetings sage Vanagon owners!
>
> An unusual amount of water drips on both my and the passenger's feet when driving at highway speeds in a hard rain. It appears to be dripping from the large metal tube/body cross member that directs fresh air from the heater/vent box through the doors and from behind the glove box on the passenger side. This metal tube is the first part of the air passage that eventually supplies fresh air to the upper vents in the rear compartment. However, it may also be dripping from farther above in the dash area (windshield seal?), onto this metal tube/body cross member, then onto my feet. It is hard to examine when driving at highway speeds. It doesn't appear to leak from these locations during a hard rain when the van is not moving.
>
>>From my perusal of the archives, the main culprit would be an atrophied windshield seal. I've got one of those on order. However, the burning question: Is it possible that this rainwater is entering the front air intake above the radiator, working its way through the heater/vent system, and leaking out of the pressed metal seam in the metal vent tube? In a hard rain, with air flowing through the vent/heater, rain surely enters the system. Where is it supposed to go? Is there a drain of some sort in the heater/vent box that could be clogged? I hate to pay for a windshield replacement and find out that it is not the seal.
>
> Many thanks,
> Eric
>
> 1988 Westy/1996 Subaru 2.2L
>