leaves and gunk from fall

[powder blue baby]

hi

right in front of/under the front windscreen, where the wiper arms are attached. fall leaves and other debris accumulate there and mess up the cabin ventilation air inlets.

i spent some time with sticks trying to clean up the mess, from past year's accumulated gunk.

is the molding/screen, plastic grill thing a poor design? it didnt look that simple to remove the plastic molding, or is it actually easy ? and it sure doesnt block debris from falling in!

has anyone else experienced this, the collection of messy leaves and stuff from autumn?? any cleaning tips?

thanks
pbb

[Benderbeetle Rodrigues]

I was going to post these photos on the subject. I removed the wipers and the plastic cover after I noticed debris through the slots. I already cleaned out lots of leaves when I changed the cabin filter. It wasn't too difficult to do. Lots of black slime growing between the windshield and metal space too. I live in a very wet area and just got the car about 2 months ago but the debris probably never has been cleaned out for close to 10 years. Here's most of what I got with the vacuum cleaner. Some of it was blasted out with the air hose. I have no idea how those big pieces got in there. The car must have lived under a tree.

Here is what it looked like before I hosed it down. I used Superclean and a toilet brush to get that grime. Check out that dried mold fuzz growing on the windshield. Here's what it looked like after.

I thought I was making great progress until I Supercleaned and brushed the wheels and found this underneath the brake dust

And then I found this on a tire.

I got the tire patched at the local tire shop, and yes, the wheel is bent.
Cheers!

[powder blue baby]

thanks , that's exactly what i mean !!

how did you remove the plastic grille ? where are the bolts or clips ?

pbb
2003 2L convertible

[noR]

Remove the wipers. There's 1 nut under a cap holding each in place. It's tricky to pull them off as they have to come STRAIGHT off. There's ridgest keeping them from spinning. You might want to use a bearing puller if you have one.

After that I think there's either "NO" bolts, or maybe 2 bolts holding the black metal in place. The windehsheild wiper arms is 80% of the job. And they're right there on top for you. (remember to take a look at how they set, so you can put them back on in the same position)

[Benderbeetle Rodrigues]

The rubber weatherstripping is easy to remove. You will have to work the plastic cowl cover from the windshield trim. The trim has a groove running the length of the windshield where the cowl inserts. I had to work it off slowly since the mold fuzz kind of glued it together. If you haven't done it already, you should also clean around the cabin filter and replace it. You will find lots of leaves there too. Check out Darkstar's photos:
http://www.newbeetle.org/forums/tech...en-filter.html
Cheers.