Water noises in dash - 98 V70

[S Carlson]

As Bob Dylan might say, "I seen an old Volvo with dashboard a-sloshin / and it's a hard rain's a gonna fall"

I had some blocked cowl drains, which I think allowed water into the ventilation system of my wife's car. I could hear a sloshing noise when I accelerated uphill, turned corners, or hit the brakes. The passenger carpet was wet too. When I made hard left turns, the water was going into the blower, as evidenced by the unmistakable sound of a fan slinging water.

Too little too late, I cleaned the cowl drains (the outer ones that hook onto the plastic the cowl cover and the inner ones that are draining that metal tray under the cowl cover near the cabin air filter and the fusebox. As a bonus, I also pulled back the (wet) passenger carpet and some panels and ran a bicycle brake cable up and through the evaporator drain to make sure it was clear as well. The cabin air filter was damp and gross. I will order a new one.

I thought I'd fixed the problem, but today after another hard rain, there is more sloshing/trickling noises, again clearly coming from the dash (although no wet carpet). Are there some drains I'm missing? Is there more to the evap drain than the black hose in the middle? I cleared the push-thru grommet nipple to the bottom of the car as well, of course.

[scot850]

Have you checked under the windshield wiper cover and that the drains in there are all clear? I might be wrong, but I think there are 4 drains in total. The 2 at the front of the cowl with the easily blocked rubber drain hoses help on by the PITA clips, but there are 2 others if I recall, one by the fuse box and one at the other end. Hopefully someone will correct me if I am wrong.

Check that central drain for the evaporator is clean and if possible pour water through it and make sure it hits the ground.

Are you certain the doors don't have blocked drains?

Neil.

[S Carlson]

Have you checked under the windshield wiper cover and that the drains in there are all clear? I might be wrong, but I think there are 4 drains in total. The 2 at the front of the cowl with the easily blocked rubber drain hoses help on by the PITA clips, but there are 2 others if I recall, one by the fuse box and one at the other end. Hopefully someone will correct me if I am wrong.

As I said above, yes I cleared all those 4 drains. I will re-iterate think the inner ones by the fusebox and cabin air intake had been the original cause of water ingress, but they are freely draining now and not the cause of whatever retained water is making the sloshing noise inside the dash.

Check that central drain for the evaporator is clean and if possible pour water through it and make sure it hits the ground.

As I said above, I've passed a bicycle brake cable through it. It is funny, though, it appears perfectly clean and dry, like water isn't even getting there. I am not sure where I would pour water to test it. If I pour water in the cabin air intake, it will go right into the passenger footwell via the recirc flap.

Are you certain the doors don't have blocked drains?

I don't know, but I am certain that the water is in the dash, as I can hear significant side-to-side sloshing and sometimes water getting in the blower, which is not located in the doors.

[wizechatmgr]

If I remember correctly, it is possible for a small volume of water to be stuck on the "wrong side" of the evaporator coil and slosh around. If you pull the blower out, you should be able to get in there with a towel and mop it up.