I was washing my car friday morning and everything was going fine. The water pressure was definitely not too high for at times I was lacking adequate pressure - not damaged from excessive water pressure. Problem was discovered when my dad and I were just checking out my car, something startled me. I was missing over half the foam behind the cowl vent (twin vents near wiper arms)on the driver's side! As a result I opened the bonnet thinking I could at least locate the mesh with help of a brigh flashlight - no luck! I have not driven the car anywhere since it was washed. From the washing bay back into my stall in the garage. So no possibility that it has been blown anywhere else within the engine bay. Which leads me to worry that the mesh is still located within the engine bay and when I do drive the car it is bound to melt on another part - not good! Has this happened to anyone else? Is there a location you would suggest looking over again? I will schedule and appointment first thing monday morning, but I still want to locate the mesh(foam) if it still exists as I will have to drive the car to graduation tommorrow along with some parties later.

I have performed a search with two results and read them both carefully. I still need help.

PLEASE HELP ME!

:???:

 

OK, this one has me vexed enough to actually go down to the garage and poke around under the hood of my MCS just to see if I could figure out where the foam could go....

CARVNIT, I think you've got to be OK. IMO, the foam really can't hit anything that could melt it. Rather, note that there's a well directly below the vent that contains the brake fluid bottle but is otherwise partitioned from the engine itself. I can't feel just what's at the bottom of the well, but my guess is that it may lead to the interior ventilation system...not the engine. Yeah, this may mean that the foam could get sucked into your HVAC system, but that would just be messy and not very dangerous.

Do get it checked out (this is the first I've heard of this), but you're probably safe to drive. Maybe try not to turn your AC or fan on high if you can help it.

 

i've seen that happen in many minis. don't worry about that, it would happen sooner or later. the missing foam probably went into the ventilation system on the interior, and it is near the micro filter for the air conditioner. i'd try to remove the rest of the foam

 

When I was at the dealer Thursday picking up my car (driver's side window motor replaced) I noticed a '03 sitting there and checked it out...

The "cowl vents" have been redesigned and there is no longer any foam in them! YAY! My foam started deteriorating after just a few months. (I am Florida with heat/rain and no garage, but come on, they didn't even survive one season!)

I asked the rep if they would replace the my FOAM vents with the new ones. He replied that he would have to check, if these new ones are REPLACING the part number of the old one, the answer is yes. Otherwise, new foam ones for us '02 owners.

My feeling is that the foam ones went bad on A LOT of cars, leading to the new design, hopefully I'll get them with my first service (1,200 miles away).

They would have done it at the same time as the wondow thingy, but I forgot to mention it until I saw the new design...
Let us know if they replace your foam ones with the no-foam ones!

 

My foam finally died after 2 1/2 years. I've heard that the dealer will replace the assemblies with the new style, but I like the appearance of the old. I snapped the vents apart & replaced the foam with some fine stainless mesh. Looks cool (to me, anyways) & was easy to do. I'd been looking for a little colour contrast on an otherwise dark car anyways.

 

This is a rather common occurance I believe. It's akin to the crankcase breather recall, where the wrong materials were used for production. The foam deteriorates after time, and the dealer should replace with the new style under warranty, until the 50K mark.

 

foam went missing as well. At the last dealer visit they replaced with the new redesigned ones.....Les :smile:

 

bodinski - that looks great!!! Perfect for electric blue!

 

any trick to popping them out? Of just carefully pry?

 

Open the bonnet & reach under the vents. You can feel the tabs that hold them in place. With your fingers, gently unhook the ones closest to you. The vents will just lift out. Then use something thin & flat to pry (again, gently) apart the two halves of the assembly.

 

Yeah, they go bad and the dealers has been replacing them with the "new style".

Earl

 

Yep. The local dealer (Rasmussen Mini) replaced mine under warranty, no questions asked. Thanks, Anne!