BowTied Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Changed the oil, put the winter tires on and serviced the front calipers on the pathfinder. While doing this I noticed the pocket at the rear of the fender/cowl area on both sides were full of leaves. I often vacuum these out but it parks under a tree and this area gets a lot of crap. Upon vacuuming it out I noticed it was full of mud! Here is what I did to deal with that. This is not rocket science of course but I thought this might help someone who hasn't done it before. A length of stiff coat hanger or similar long flat blade screw driver trouble light* shop vac with crevice tool Garden hose/nozzle * Please play safe and use a battery powered light or flashlight or at the very least if you must you a 120V trouble light keep it in a GFIC outlet/keep the cord out of the water. After getting all the leaves out I found the crevice tool was too big to fit all the way down into the fender pocket area. (My tool was too big ) This is where there screw driver came into to dig the crud up and flick it toward the shop vac. After that was done I used the garden hose with the nozzle set to "jet" to flush it out. The water wasn't draining very well so I got the coat hanger in there. Note the scratches. I flushed it again. Better but still slow. So I got underneath to find the root of the problem. The red arrow is toward the front of the truck for reference. The issue at hand is the blue arrow. That plastic thingy I think acts like a shield/drain gutter allowing water from the cowl to drain out of the fender bottom and avoid road crap from getting in there. This is where the leaves and mud hang out and muck things up. Coat hanger this area and should get the rest of the crap out. Reflush from above. When I started I could fill and flood the pocket easily. With the clean out done the pocket drains fast enough I cannot fill it at all. That's how you know yer done. If you can see a water level or that the pocket is filling you are not done. I then sprayed the pocket with some fluid film until I can properly undercoat. Hope that this helps someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devonianwalk Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Great idea. I'm almost too afraid to check how bad mine looks after all of the muddin' I did earlier this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Rim Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Great write up. The areas mentioned have been problematic for rust on both my 97 and 01 R50's. Proper maintenance earlier on would have prevented the rust issues I now have to correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Don't forget to change the cabin air filter! Chances are if your cowl is full of leaves then that filter is a brick too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 Thanks for the compliments guys. Despite having an LE, no cabin filter in my rig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 (edited) As far as I know they should all (all R50's) have them behind the glove box. Check again! If not, you can always install one and Nissan even tells you how. Edited December 13, 2011 by Tungsten Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Follow these instructions to add the cabin air filter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Just don't knife the evaporator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01silvapathy Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Haha, thats no longer there on my truck lmao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 I did check when I had to replace the climate control module - the plastic perforations in the HVAC plenum are there, never been removed. What is thought to be standard equipment may vary by country? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 I really suggest installing a filter there if you don't have one. The WD21s don't even have that luxury and that filter would have saved me from having to replace the evaporator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 Have not heard of that being an issue. How would the filter help protect the evap? I'm not keen on getting one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 he thinks pine needles penetrated the evaporator and let all the freon out. makes no sense to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 (edited) Have not heard of that being an issue. How would the filter help protect the evap? I'm not keen on getting one. The filter stops garbage from traveling through the evaporator core. That's why they are placed BEFORE the evaporator core and on some cars before the blower motor. Something fell in there and punctured a hole in it. My A/C was leaking from the evaporator for that reason. Edited December 14, 2011 by Tungsten Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 actually the filter is more for air quality and less dust inside the car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Yes but its secondary function is to stop junk from traveling through the core. Look at all the R50's that have the filters. Their cores are super clean! This is why I wish the WD21s had one too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 Huh. I thought the air filter was down stream of the fan and the evap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 (edited) No, it is before the evaporator core. Here is where it goes: Do you see it now? Edited December 14, 2011 by Tungsten Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 Nope I'm backward on that. I guess I always figured it was just for dust etc. However, the cowl screens shouldn't allow anything big to get in there anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Those filters are not very expensive. Just do it the right way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 LOL I posted not seeing your response. Ya, as I said I know where the filter goes, just never thought about the air flow direction. I wouldn't rely on the filter to protect my evap, but i guess every little bit helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 You posted again while I was typing, you are fast!! Still, NOT getting a filter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 (edited) LOL I posted not seeing your response. Ya, as I said I know where the filter goes, just never thought about the air flow direction. I wouldn't rely on the filter to protect my evap, but i guess every little bit helps. The filters are actually pretty tough. It's completely up to you but it's worth installing one in my opinion. Edited December 14, 2011 by Tungsten Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 Meh, lasted this long without it and lots of guys have lots more miles than I have with out issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 That really depends on where you live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now