Scuttle drains again!
 

I've had my suspicions for a while, but it's been dry for ages. But last night it poured down so I had a look this morning. Scuttle full of water! :mad:
Syphoned off as much as I could but now I need to get them free flowing again.

I've tried various methods in the past, mostly hot water with various detergents. But what do people recommend?

Just for the record, this time I used very hot water (near-boiling) and cheap leftover laundry powder (Aldi I think, inherited from my in-laws). After a bit of a soak it ran through on the drivers side.
I'll keep topping up to see if I can get the nearside to clear too.

The clue I got was debris (tiny seeds etc. coming out of the dashboard vents when starting the car), That shouldn't get there through the air filters so suggests overflow from elsewhere, e.g. scuttle.
No sloshing yet, so maybe it hasn't hit the aircon drains. Fingers crossed.

I am sure someone on here used drain cleaner but isnt this a bit too caustic? Even detergent is pretty stongly caustic in high concentrations.

I've only ever had this happen early on in my ownership of the car - I pressure washed the underside with a 90 degree angled attachment on my jetwash designed for the job and I've never had a repeat. It would certainly be worth a try as if you're working from up top you can clean the lines but by the time it gets to the exit end it might not be as effective?

This is what it looks like:

http://www.bonnymans.co.uk/Uploads/2...sisnozzle1.jpg

The tiny seeds have started appearing on the outside of the car and I've tracked down the source! It's a silver birch tree, the other side of the house, some distance away but South-West so in line with prevailing winds.

But how are the little devils getting into the ventilation system? All the filters and seals look fine, indeed there are none of these on the filters. :Confused:

Silver birch gets EVERYWHERE! I have one in the garden and the seeds get into the house as they are blown through the tiniest gaps ---- and they are the No1 culprit in my cars for blocking drains, scuttles and getting into the carpets. I have every confidence that evolution has equipped them for growing in car ventilation systems.

It's like painting the Forth Bridge used to be! :tuttut:
Heavy rain yesterday, lots of blossom falling off various plants/trees/creepers so as I had some nice new pollen filters to fit I checked the scuttle drains while the bonnet was open.

Fairly high but not quite overflowing, so I got my drain tube syphon out of the boot and set to.
Next, boiling water and old-school washing powder.....

Edit: Not progressing well, may need the nuclear option tomorrow - drain cleaner!

Now the weather is against me, heavy showers are topping up the scuttle faster than it's draining away. :mad:
Only trickling through; I need it to get pretty empty before adding anything "seriously active" and that seems impossible with the current weather, so I've given up and covered the windscreen and wiper area with a sheet of plastic to stop any more running in.

Which made me think - why not get a windscreen cover to keep everything out, ideally one that is easy to fix/remove. And maybe even a full car cover for longer periods of inactivity. Does anyone have any recommendations for either?

I have a big silver stretchy pull-over cover that I sometimes use (usually prior to a meet after I've spent a week cleaning and polishing the damn thing!). They're fairly quick to fit, but I wouldn't want to have to take it on and off frequently. I've considered building some sort of car port a few times, like David's.

You've got me thinking though ....

I starting thinking, I wonder if it would be possible to buy/make some sort of quick-erect cover, like some kind of car brolly that you can put up/down very quickly, perhaps even with the press of a button. Then I did some searching ...


http://www.aliexpress.com/store/prod...721696830.html

https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...423325934.html

https://www.banggood.com/Mynew-Porta...p-1111640.html

https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...38890.html?s=p

https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...35479.html?s=p

I had no idea these things existed. I need to get me one! :eek:

I've been thinking about car covers for ages, so much so that I have a number of options saved in my Amazon "Shopping List".

Just bitten the bullet and ordered both a full cover and windscreen cover.