Problem: When it rains, a small amount of water drips on my left ankle. I can feel wetness on the back of the underdash driver-side tray.
Solution: If you look up under the dash on the driver side, you will see something like this:
The red arrow points to an opening (the dark crescent) that leads to the cowl area that is under the hood, extending back toward the windshield, where the wiper motors and climate system blower reside. I don't know what purpose this hole could serve other than to let water into the passenger compartment when it rains. Perhaps it was plugged at one time, but the plug is long gone. It needs to be plugged from the outside to prevent water from getting trapped in the space above the metal plate shown above.
So, open the hood. Looking at the cowl area, notice the thin plastic cover. It is held in place by the rubber welt/seal at the front of the cowl area and slips into a few tabs at the rear.
Remove the welt and carefully lift the cover off the front lip. The easiest way to remove this cover is to pull it forward a bit to ease it out of the tabs at the rear, and then lift the rear and slide it up out the rear on top of the cowl.. This cover is quite thin, so be careful. Sliding it out toward the rear is easier than trying to remove it toward the front, maneuvering around the hoses and wire bundles. Go over to the driver side and remove the bolt that holds down the Intense Windshield Cleaner solution bottle (red cap). Of course, DON'T DROP THE BOLT, which I promptly did, never to be seen again. My magnetic probe was useless. Eh, its a 10MM chromate bolt and washer. Anyway, here is the bottle pulled out of the way.
Notice the dark square-ish area, marked by the red arrow at the back of the cowl. That is where the hole was, which I have patched. I didn't have a hole plug that would fit, so I used aluminum foil tape to cover the opening. This is real durable, sticky stuff. You can get it lots of places, including JC Whitney. I suppose duct tape might do, but it tends to come loose after a while. Duct tape is VERY useful, but not for sealing ducts or other things. It may take a little dexterity and small hands to get into the area far enough to put the tape on the hole. That done, replace everything. DON'T DROP THE BOLT that holds the washer bottle. Take extra care with the plastic galley cover, as it is thin and brittle, but with a little maneuvering, you'll get it back in place.
Viola! Dry left foot!
Tip created 10/29/00 WD Ball