1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
I just dealt with this on a friend's 90 SPG. There's a rubber, approx. 1-inch diameter drain tube connected to the base of the HVAC box that exits through a hole in the wheel well. At the wheel well, the tube diameter closes down to a one-way split nipple valve; it is this constriction that causes the tube to clog with organic debris that collects via the hood vent over time.
Because the tube is very hard to re-attach to the HVAC box (impossible?? I failed to get it back on), I wouldn't pull it off for cleaning. Instead, try to go at it below via the nipple (coat hanger or something?) and, once you've got some water flowing through it, get the rest out with hot water.
If you park above conifers, you might consider covering the vent with a piece of flexible plastic magnetic sheet such as what is used for temporary signs on vehicles, or for covering forced air ducting holes. Another friend has a sheet he uses to keep a Douglas fir from clogging his car's drain.
That said, these cars also commonly leak from the rear quarter-window seals, which over time shrink and pull away from the window frames at the corners. The lower front corners, especially, can easily convey a lot of water into the cabin when it rains. So you'll want to check there, too.
Thanks to Saab, these seals are no longer available and no one sells an aftermarket seal* at this time.
You can try to completely stuff the gaps with silicone. You can also remove the seal, warm it and stretch it, but I don't know how long this lasts: it may be that the seal will slowly shrink back to its aged size. I've stretched one by heating with hot water and pulling on it but I haven't installed it so don't know if it's permanent. I've stretched another with a heat gun but it's on a car I don't often see so I don't know if it's gone back to its aged size, either.
Another option is to cut the seal at its seam and glue in a short section from a donor seal to increase the diameter.
If it were my car, I'd pull back the carpets to ensure that the floors aren't rotting as a result. I've seen a number of cars that have suffered from this due to water leaks that went undetected.
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*The original seal is not especially fancy: it's just an extruded vinyl/rubber seal like on tons of other cars. The difference, though, is in the profile: it has an extra bit of rubber that makes the cross-section of the rubber part look like a letter P. I wonder if the "leg" on the P is to keep wind noise down. I have been told that there's a similar seal for MGs (door seal??) that works but have no details.
posted by 24.17.5...
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