Cowl drain - water bath
 

I've had problems on both of my A8s with the classic cowl drains getting blocked with leaf debris. Due to the design of the car and the location of the air blower motor, the drain hole gets blocked and fills the area with water. This can be seen with the aid of a torch if you look downwards to the right of the blower motor. Photo attached showing my syphoning procedure with a length of soft plastic hose/tubing using gravity to decant the surplus water.

I've replaced the blower motor 2-3 years ago so I know what's involved in removing/replacing it but the motor sits in its own little plastic cubbyhole so that would have to be removed as well. Far too much hassle in my view so I invested in an endoscope camera that attaches via USB/OTG to your phone or tablet. The camera was inserted where the plastic tubing was located in my first photo. There are a couple of short videos attached, showing the swimming pool of water in the first clip where you can just about make out where the hole is on the left-hand side. The second video shows me using the camera to poke around a bit to clear the debris and then flushing some water to clear it. I hope this proves useful to others to visualise exactly where this hole/drain is.

Brilliant idea! +++ Any particular model you recommend?

There seem to be loads online with a variety of connections including WiFi options, ideally I'd like the flexibility of laptop or iPhone (not Android) but they're probably not compatible.

I have used one of the Aldi special buys in the past and it seems adequate for the purpose!

I purchased something called 'PiAEK Endoscope Inspection HD Camera 3 in 1 Endoscope Android USB/Micro USB/Type-C 2.0 Megapixels Waterproof Camera Semi-rigid Cable Borescope' for about 20 quid from that well-known rainforest company. The smart phone/tablet app suggested by the manufacturer was completely useless and didn't work at all, which was surprising as [1] they made the camera and [2] they'd gone to the trouble of displaying a QR code on the instructions/marketing blurb.

In the end, I downloaded some generic endoscope app which works fine (apart from a somewhat clunky interface with dodgy spelling). I'll be honest here and say it's probably one of my best purchases. Before I even got to work on the A8, I was sticking the endoscope down plug holes and inside the waste pipes on the washing machine at home.

Whilst the majority of the length of the supplied camera cable is fairly rigid, I added some strength to it by supporting it/taping it to some stiff metal wire so that I could direct the angle of attack. The first 20 cm or so is normal softer USB cable so care needs to be taken in supporting the USB/OTG adapter where it fits in to your phone or tablet. Despite the camera being about 7mm, it has an LED ring of 6 separate lights which is controllable via a potentiometer alongside a push button, which I assume is for taking pictures. I obviously didn't read the instructions 'cos I'm a bloke.

I just ordered an eBay one, there are loads very similar from different suppliers.
I chose the 1 metre hard cable WIFI version, £13 from this UK source: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HD-Waterp...K/163906648653
The semi-rigid cable should be ideal for poking into the scuttle. +++

Mine certainly exhibited a level of stiffness but required extra reinforcement with some malleable metal wire, something similar to the stuff they use for chain-link fencing. Without that extra assistance, I just couldn't manage to manoeuvre the camera into the required position.

These endoscopes are brilliant little pieces of equipment. I bought one several years ago, and have used it for several spying episodes. From finding a dropped washer in a Shogun engine cylinder, broken bits of a chain tensioner in a BMW engine, checking a chimney lining for cracks and feeding electric cable under a floor from one side of the room to the other, to name a few. The one I bought has a USB connection, with the lead being about 3-4 metres long, with a control to vary the intensity of the light at the end.

BTW Watch the first video with the volume up full? The background noise sounds like water, and about 14 seconds into it, it sounds like the start of the Jaws theme.

Mine arrived today, seems to work OK though the screen aspect ratio doesn't match an iPhone properly.
Comes with various attachments including a 90-degree mirror.

And the downloaded program doesn't work on Windows 10 until you set it all the way back to XP-SP3 compatibility mode - no mention of that in the instructions. (Something to install on my VCDS laptop)

Oo er missus! :ROFL:

Don't. I was being really good