So just near the HV cooling fan, on the rounded air duct, there's a small square filter/intake. (not the one just after the back seat intake grill). I've got a slow drip coming from above, just near it and occasionally if I check the filter is a little damp. Without getting into a discussion about where the leak is coming from...can I cover up or block off (plastic sheeting/duct tape etc...) in order to keep water out of the intake in the meantime before I fix the leak. It's really just drops, nothing significant but I don't want to take the chance that any water is going to make it's way into the fan or the battery. It's such a small intake, I can't imagine covering it up would cause problems but there's people here that know a lot more about these things than me...
Can you post a picture. I can only envision one intake and none with a filter. I can't figure where a second one would be and I've had that area apart several times. Usually, the leaks happen where it drips into the 12V battery well and that's where the cooling fan discharges. Either way, don't block any intake or discharge because of the likelihood of overheating the battery. You might be able to fab a baffle, but nothing to stop the air. Probably easier to find & fix the leak. Hope you get it sorted out.
Thanks, me too. My ultimate goal is definitely to stop the leak. It's been a real rock in my shoe for some time now and after all the battery troubles I've had, I'm being extra careful to the conditions back there.
The intake I'm talking about is exactly above the HV battery cooling fan, so it's near the 12v battery area. Water does drip down there but I've got the plug out so I don't worry about that. There's a pic attached to my reply to jerrymildred above.
i see it. can't recall anyone ever posting that pic or mentioning it. so it is pulling in air from that area?
it's before the fan, so I'm assuming it's bringing in air. But I was thinking that if I covered it to keep out any water, there's another air intake toward the beginning of the line (actually two, the mail on in the passenger cabin and the filter just after that) so it wouldn't be constricting air flow that much. I do not know, maybe not. I hope I'll fix the leak and won't have to think about it. I ordered a new trunk seal/weatherstripping today so hopefully I can get under there and look for the hairline cracks because I've put silicone on just about every other place around the trunk but I still have these two slow but persistent drips the coming off of the same exact spot on the trim on each side of the trunk.
I've put silicone on every joint and seam around the trunk, from the plastic part on each side of the trunk that's around license plate height, around all of corners welds/joints on the top, around the hydrolic lifts, the bolts on the top of the trunk and another seam or two in the rain gutter further down so I think the only place left is under the weatherstripping.
the rain gutters run down the roof sides. a common leak area is under the plastic molding. the water can then migrate to somewhere else in the car
I just discovered what you're talking about, I wasn't aware of that part. But I took off the strips, cleaned them and the fixtures underneath, took out the upper inside trim, and poured water all up and down the edge of the trunk. I spent about a half hour doing this on both sides, with my hand up inside the frame of the car feeling for drops. The only drops I got were when I poured water over that corner on the roof. Same thing on both sides. I put down some silicone caulking and re-attached the strips so in about two hours when it starts to rain we'll see if I did a good job. Thanks for pointing those out. I've seen pictures of those in other posts, but didn't really get what they were.
Ah! I forgot about that thing. Sorry for the delay. I just got back from a trip to Chicago and had no time for forum stuff. I don't know for sure, but I believe that little filtered opening is to allow some air circulation to the under-deck area while keeping the majority of the air flow passing through the battery case. Closing that off would let more heat built up in the battery's environment. Probably won't hurt if only done for a short time, but if my theory is right, it would make cooling the battery a little more difficult.
No problem. The good news is is that I don't feel the need to block it off or cover it anymore, because it would appear I fixed the leakes coming into the trunk! Turns out it was leaking in the one place I didn't put sealant last month. The top corners, under the weatherstrip over the rain guard. Caulked those up and now I have a dry trunk. So relieved I caught this. (with Bisco's help).
