Fixing the blocked drains - for good

[Tem]

After yet another blocked drain, I finally decided to do something about it. Note that this fix isn't for those who enjoy cleaning them every now and then.  s:D s:D  

Remove the side vent and this is what you'll see.


Pull the flap-thing off and you'll get this.


This is the part that comes off. Just pull and twist it around to remove it.


Same part from the angle you normally look at it.


Cut the grill off from the enf of the pipe to get this.


Here's what you cut off.


And finally, use a sharp knife or a file to make it smooth. You don't want anything in there, that might catch stuff flowing out and blocking it again.


Please note that you now have an open drain from the exterior into the intake. If you drive on winter, it might flow cold air into the cabin. I'm not sure, but that was the only reason I could think of for the flap in the first place. So don't throw them away, you might want to put them back for colder weather.

About the grill, well, two of them. I have no idea what's the purpose of them. To prevent snakes from crawling through the pipe into the car? There's a similar grill on the upper end of the pipe anyway, inside the car. Go figure.

[kanujunkie]

a small v cut into the flap also helps Tem, taking that star piece out doesn't cure the problem as the rubber flap seals itself to the surrounding plastic, it would seem that the gunk off trees attached itself to that particular type of rubber. Cutting the v in the bottom of the flap allows the build up of water to flow out still should it stick shut but its still doesn't affect wind noise

[Tem]

taking that star piece out doesn't cure the problem as the rubber flap seals itself to the surrounding plastic

I've had both. Sometimes the flap got stuck, sometimes the whole grill was blocked. Nothing came out even when I kept the flap open.  s:? :? s:?

[Anonymous]

The flap is there so that water can drip down instead of flow out & into your intakes.

Making a V-cut seems like a more sensible idea.

[Anonymous]

i had water in both lockers last week and with the hood down i could see that both top drain holes were blocked with leaves, long piece of wire and the hose pipe cleared them

[Tem]

The flap is there so that water can drip down instead of flow out & into your intakes.

I'm not sure how could that happen?

The intake pipe connects to the side intake vent. There's no room for anything to get in there, even if you stuck a garden hose to the upper drain and forced it to flow tons of water.

Note that I have removed the whole intake piping from the side where these pics are taken.  s;) s;)


Not that you'd ever get such a flow, when there's nothing to block it in the first place. You don't really get that much water in there when it rains. And even less so when you're actually driving.

[kanujunkie]

The flap is there so that water can drip down instead of flow out & into your intakes.

no, the flaps there to stop the outlet creating a whistling noise. Remember the water will hit the back of the plastic intake itself, it cant come out the intake. Plus, thats not an intake! but thats a whole different debate

[Anonymous]

tem, not sure if you are replying to my post, before i used wire to clear to drain hole of leaves there must have been 2-3 mm of water down the side of the hood (after one of those heavy down pours we have been having) and as much in the lockers, since i cleaned out the top drain and flushed it through no more problems, it may not be the conventional way to clear them, but it works for me!!!

[kanujunkie]

just be carefull useing wire not to pierce the thin walls of the interconnecting rubber tube  s:? :? s:?

[Tem]

tem, not sure if you are replying to my post

Not you, but Dangly, especially the part I quoted.  s8) s8)

2-3 mm of water down the side of the hood (after one of those heavy down pours we have been having) and as much in the lockers

That's the problem, I don't want to end up with water in the lockers, as I have some expensive electronics there now.  s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:

[aaronjb]

That's the problem, I don't want to end up with water in the lockers, as I have some expensive electronics there now.  s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:

Could be worse, I filled one of mine with brake fluid  s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

I'm glad the plastic part (seems to be!) water tight.. to be honest I'm too afraid to take them out and look  s;) s;)

[Anonymous]

The flap is there so that water can drip down instead of flow out & into your intakes.

no, the flaps there to stop the outlet creating a whistling noise. Remember the water will hit the back of the plastic intake itself, it cant come out the intake. Plus, thats not an intake! but thats a whole different debate

I've tried removing the flaps before and poured water down the sides with a kettle, you can hear tapping noises as the water hits the plastic intakes (or whatever they're called), and there were water dripping out.

[heathstimpson]

That's the problem, I don't want to end up with water in the lockers, as I have some expensive electronics there now.  s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:

Could be worse, I filled one of mine with brake fluid  s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

I'm glad the plastic part (seems to be!) water tight.. to be honest I'm too afraid to take them out and look  s;) s;)

How the hell did you manage that Aaron  s:?: :?: s:?:    s:? :? s:?

[aaronjb]

How the hell did you manage that Aaron  s:?: :?: s:?:    s:? :? s:?

Easy - I left a bottle of brake fluid in there..  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[Tem]

The flap is there so that water can drip down instead of flow out & into your intakes.

no, the flaps there to stop the outlet creating a whistling noise. Remember the water will hit the back of the plastic intake itself, it cant come out the intake. Plus, thats not an intake! but thats a whole different debate

I've tried removing the flaps before and poured water down the sides with a kettle, you can hear tapping noises as the water hits the plastic intakes (or whatever they're called), and there were water dripping out.

Yes, the waterfall may touch something.

You may even get a drop or two in the side intake piping, the junction isn't waterproof. But none of it will make it into the engine. The side intake piping doesn't go into the engine, just into the engine bay. You can clearly see it behind the engine bay fuse box.

And you'll get more water in the side vents when you drive in the rain anyway.  s;) s;)

[Thudd]

How the hell did you manage that Aaron  s:?: :?: s:?:    s:? :? s:?

Easy - I left a bottle of brake fluid in there..  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

I had a bottle of washer fluid (the big ones) fly from drivers cupboard to passenger cupboard and burst all over my Roadster Passport. Service history is now a blue block of papier mache.

[Johnkst]

First of all, a big "Thanks" to the OP for the useful guide...

I have just carried out this 'procedure' on my '2' as I was fed up with repeatedly having to unblock my drains only for them to block up again all too quickly.

I took a few photos while I was doing the job and intend to post them here as further help to anyone considering carrying out this operation. I hope 'tem' doesn't mind...!

I should point out however (as others have done before) that there is a certain risk in this procedure. The side vents (and their attaching clips) were designed NOT to come off! Forcing them off in this way is a risky business. You can damage your side vents and you can stress the paintwork on them too if, like me you have the post-FL car!

The reason for this can be see in this photo of the inside of the side vent:

As you can see, the clips are designed to slide into (and out of) place. They don't even all run in the same direction, so there is no way that I can think of to slide the whole piece out. When you force the clips out, they bend the plastic that holds them in place until they can 'pop out' instead of sliding out. The plastic is reasonably soft and in my case withstood the bending, but it COULD also break. So be warned!

Once you have removed the side vents, the view is pretty much as 'tem' describes it (above). You remove the plastic end pieces pretty much the same way you would remove an old-style UK 'bayonet' light bulb ie. you 'push and twist'...

Interestingly, it would appear that Toyota have actually given this issue a bit of thought in the post-FL model as they have added both a sort of v-cut at the bottom of the end piece and a 'channel' in the inside of the rubber flap as you can see below. They have, however, kept the two(!) moulded three-legged pieces of plastic, which only serve in my opinion to hold back any larger pieces of detritus in the drain, causing it to block in the first place and making it more difficult to 'flush out'!

(Ignore the rubber band for the moment, I'll come back to it later...)

After cutting out the moulded plastic 'tripods' as described above and cleaning out all of the gunge (try to get the inside of the rubber flaps as clean as possible!), the drain pipe and the end piece should look like this


You can now put everything back together again!

When I put the end piece back onto the drain pipe, it felt a little loose to me. As I don't like to leave anything that might rattle or even fall off later, I harvested a couple of 'driveway rubber bands' and double-wrapped them round the top end of the drain pipe. These provided just enough resistance to ensure that the end pieces sat securely on the drain pipes again when I 'pushed and twisted' them back on.

Finally, slide the white clips back into the slots on the inside of the side vents and replace the side vents by popping the clips back into the holes in the body. Any clips you have lost or broken can be bought at Mr. T (about £1.20 a pop!) or you can probably find something very close on eBay for about £3.00 for 10!

Having removed these plastic 'tripods' from the drains, I hope that, in future, these plugs of gunge will no longer be able to build up inside the drains and that, if they do, a good flushing from above will be sufficient to shift any blockage. I certainly do NOT want to take these side vents off again!

[StuC]

Is there anyway of getting to the area at the back of the vent without removing the vent itself? I have not opened mine up yet!!

As you state Johnkst the retaining clips and features are opposed to each other. I believe the clips are designed to be squeezed from the back in order to remove them, retaining them inside the slots on the vent moulding. That or they are expendable and should be replaced after removing the vent panel.

[Stephster]

You need to come to a meet Stu, I was inside making tea/coffee, when I came outside the side vents were already off and toplesscouple and normanh with his trusty tool were cleaning them for me  s:D s:D .

[StuC]

You need to come to a meet Stu, I was inside making tea/coffee, when I came outside the side vents were already off and toplesscouple and normanh with his trusty tool were cleaning them for me  s:D s:D .

lol. That is some kind of service!!
Name is already down.    s8) s8)

[nathanMR2]

You need to come to a meet Stu, I was inside making tea/coffee, when I came outside the side vents were already off and toplesscouple and normanh with his trusty tool were cleaning them for me  s:D s:D .

*Cough*

[Stephster]

YOU were UNDER the car at the time, fighting with that darned O2 sensor !  s:D s:D