DIY Climate Control Troubleshooting.

[terrabytetango]

So whenever it rains AND whenever I park at my parents' place, the climate control in the Shitbox goes out for a day or two. I figured it to be water ingress from the very beginning, but since the problem goes away, I never really bothered to check. This time the problem lasted for more than two days, so I decided to dive into it. The glove box comes out, as does the metal bar on which it is mounted. The climate control module is inside a plastic case, but is not sealed *at all*. I gave the module a thorough cleaning, and then lightly covered the thing in dielectric grease before replacing it back inside the case. I couldn't be arsed to figure out where exactly the water was coming in from, as it only ever happens when the car is parked on an upward facing angle, when it's raining *hard*, so I've chalked it up to some kind of design flaw (of which the Starlet as many).

 

Edited June 25, 2017 by terrabytetango

[Rumesh88]

@terrabytetango I am not quite sure but there must be a small channel along the lower edge of the windshield to prevent water from dripping into the fresh air intake. If you remove the windshield cowl, you can check and clean the area. As a regular practice I usually remove the cowl and clean the whole channel, wiper motor, linkages etc., once in every two years. You will find lot of dust washed down and accumulated in this area.

[terrabytetango]

On 6/26/2017 at 9:36 AM, Rumesh88 said:

@terrabytetango I am not quite sure but there must be a small channel along the lower edge of the windshield to prevent water from dripping into the fresh air intake. If you remove the windshield cowl, you can check and clean the area. As a regular practice I usually remove the cowl and clean the whole channel, wiper motor, linkages etc., once in every two years. You will find lot of dust washed down and accumulated in this area.

Tried removing the cowl once to clean the leaves inside, bloody wiper arms wouldn't come off no matter how i tried and I was afraid of breaking something so I gave up. Any tips on how to get the arms off? It looks like they've bonded to the splines.

[Davy]

2 minutes ago, terrabytetango said:

Tried removing the cowl once to clean the leaves inside, bloody wiper arms wouldn't come off no matter how i tried and I was afraid of breaking something so I gave up. Any tips on how to get the arms off? It looks like they've bonded to the splines.

Spray some WD40 and leave it for a couple of hours and try. Or be REALLY careful and put a drop of brake fluid into the thread if you haven't got WD40.

When you're pulling the arm out, make sure you life the wiper off the windshield and then pull it out perpendicular to the spline. Pulling it at an angle might cause the arm to get stuck. 

[Rumesh88]

14 hours ago, terrabytetango said:

Tried removing the cowl once to clean the leaves inside, bloody wiper arms wouldn't come off no matter how i tried and I was afraid of breaking something so I gave up. Any tips on how to get the arms off? It looks like they've bonded to the splines.

You  mean you could unscrew the bolt but couldn't remove the wipers off the spline. If so as Davy said above lift the wiper completely off in perpendicular position and with a light hammer and a wooden block tap (lightly but repeatedly) from the above on the wiper arm all around the spline. Hold the wiper by the end of the arm and rock it to and fro to break off any oxide built up inside the spline. If all this fails you will have to do some improvisation on a bearing puller.

[terrabytetango]

5 hours ago, Rumesh88 said:

You  mean you could unscrew the bolt but couldn't remove the wipers off the spline. If so as Davy said above lift the wiper completely off in perpendicular position and with a light hammer and a wooden block tap (lightly but repeatedly) from the above on the wiper arm all around the spline. Hold the wiper by the end of the arm and rock it to and fro to break off any oxide built up inside the spline. If all this fails you will have to do some improvisation on a bearing puller.

Did the WD40 thing, tried wooden block and hammer as well. Didn't attempt it again. My next option is to take it to my mechanic.