75ZT Community

Plenums we hear so much about them and the reason why is very clear below in the photo's that follow.

And even more important going into the winter time with the Autum leaf fall etc.

Last Year a member of the club Mike came to have his handbrake mod fitted, as i always do i checked the plenum's after asking if he had checked them it turned out he had only brought the car Sunday so the car was very new to him, he had looked at the plenums from the drivers side and could see some water and he also heard the sloshing sound when driving.

The results can be seen below so come on gents lets keep on top of these plenums and do the spyhole mod,it will only take 2 minutes to check for water once applied.

Pic 1 water at least 3" deep
1

Pic 2 The water must have been deeper at some stage according the the pollen filter marks
2

Pic 3 starting to rod the plenum tube to clear the soggy leaves and dirt which as bunged up the lower tube
3

Pics 4 the water starts to flush out of the plenum this went on for at least 2 mins
4

Pic 5 Still pouring out strong
5

Pic 6 slowly stopping with the rain we have been having this so easly could have been worse ECU (Engine Control Unit) damage which would have been a crying shame as this MGZT as only 20000 mile on the clock.
6

Pic 7 All the water drained away this should not happen again as the spyhole mod was put in place and Mike shown how to rod them each week at the same time as checking his oil water etc.
7

So lets get checking the plenums right away there is no excuse not to, even more so in the winter months when its rained and then it can freeze creating a iced plug in the plenum tube then if it rains again with the iced plug in place it will soon fill up and can cause danage to the ecu.Arctic
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This is how you can check your plenums if you have never checked them before this is mainly for new members that is why i have put this thread together so it is all in one place on how to check and also add the spyhole mod & leaf stopper/collector if you so wish in my opinion worth doing.

This is the windscreen scuttle panel/outer grille which will have to be removed to start checking the plenum for water ingress below Fig1
1

First peel off the weatherstrip up to the wiper fixing point at least Fig2
2

Now you can press in the plastic spring clips to remove the grille panel Fig 3
3

This will then allow you to remove it and store it safe for the time being Fig 4
4

Next step is to remove the front screw/clip sometimes you may have to prise this up if it will not screw out.Fig 5/6
5

Now removed put this safe also
6

Next prise up and remove the rear scuttle clips hold your finger/thumb over the top because these can fly off sometimes never to be found again Fig7/8
7

8

Remove the first three of these and again put them safe for re-fitting after Fig 9/10
9

10

This will now allow you to lift the front of the scuttle and get access to the shield panel tray which needs to be removed. Fig 11
11

You can grip and remove the shield panel tray and slid it carefully out from its recess Fig 12/13
12

13

This now exposes the lower plenum and pollen filter area this is also where the ECU resides and can get damaged if water is allowed to build up because of the blocked plenum tube Fig 14
14

Here you can see how i have rodded the tube with my choice of rodding tool a plumbers spring pipe bender 10mm or 15mm also note even though i check these every week that because of the deluge of rain we have had last year and this year water is still getting to a certain height from the line seen on the pollen filter, this was empty when i took these photo's but must be filling even though clear because of the shear volume of water Fig 15
15

This shows the rodding tool i use pipe bender with a boot lace and plastic tube the reason why will be seen later in the thread. Fig 16
16

The shield panel tray can now be re-fitted back into place Fig 17/18
17

18

This photo shows the spyhole mod so the plenum can be checked and rodded in the future with out having to remove the scuttle clips and trays. Fig 19
19

Here you can see the rodding tool again in use showing why the lace and plastic tube is needed because the plenum is at least 24" deep Fig 20/21
20

21

Here you can see how the spring as come all the way through the plenum and the tube until it reaches the ground under the car Fig 22
22

Once rodded and if you have the spyhole mod in place fit a rubber 25mm bung which can be easily removed for rodding in the future Fig 23
23

Replace the front screw clip Fig 24
24

Replace the three scuttle back clips Fig 25/26
25

26

Next replace the rubber weatherstrip Fig 27
27

And last of all with the job finished refit the windscreen grille panel Fig 28/29
28

29

The plumber spring i use with lace and plastic tube attached for the extra length needed to get to the bottom of the plenum 10mm or 15mm obtained from Toolstation, Screwfix, B&Q etc Fig 30
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Spyhole Mod helping rod the plenums

Plenums we hear so much about them and the reason why is very clear below in the photo's that follow.

And even more important this time of year with the Autum leaf fall etc.

Last Year a member of the club Mike came to have his handbrake mod fitted, as i always do i checked the plenum's after asking if he had checked them it turned out he had only brought the car Sunday so the car was very new to him, he had looked at the plenums from the drivers side and could see some water and he also heard the sloshing sound when driving.

The results can be seen below so come on gents lets keep on top of these plenums do the spyhole mod and it only takes 2 minutes to check for water once applied.

Pic 1a water at least 3" deep
1a

Below is how to do the spyhole mod you will need a rule pencil 25mm drill bit and a 25mm rubber bung Fig 1
1

With the scuttle shield panel removed measure 97mm and 180mm from the points in the photo below Fig 2/3
2

The line is 25mm /1" from the rib on the panel
3

Here you can see my template which i use at meets so i can easly turn over a good volume of trays in a few minutes Fig 4
4

With the panel marked out and your drill ready with its 25mm bit we/you can now drill the spyhole Fig 5
5

When you drill the scuttle tray makes sure you have support under the tray at all times Fig 6
6

7

8

9

10

Once drilled trim the hole to make it neat for the rubber bung to fit nice Fig 11
11

Spyhole mod done and ready for use Fig 12/
12

This shows the plumbers spring pipe bender Fig 13/14
13

14

If you intend to use the plumbers spring look for a 10mm or 15mm a boot lace and a tube mine was from an old wendy house but any 15mm tube will do 12" to 15" long Fig 15
15

Also grind or file the end of the spring to remove the curl so it is smooth and will easly go into the tube Fig 16
16

Spring being used in situ Fig 17/18
17

18

Hope this helps the new members and remember check the plenums regular and more so if we are getting lots of rain.
Arctic

Wow, that's a very comprehensive tutorial Steve. Nicely done mate

nice work .....

Morning Steve,

Guess what I will be doing tomorrow morning, as well as checking which radiator fan is fitted to my car, following your reply to my other post.

Cheers

Mike

Making a bacon sarnie and a cup of tea then tackle the jobs always works for me

I seem to remember reading somewhere that excessive condensation on the windscreen can be caused by the plenum chamber being flooded, is this correct?

Cheers

Mike

Yes, Mike, I think so. The pollen filter is located in this area. Eventually it will get soaked and the fresh air will always be very humid.

As in fig 15 of the first lot of photo's

Checked plenums via spy hole mod and they were clear, I also rodded the drain pipe and this too was clear.

Well it is that time of year when we need to check the plenums at least once a week rain wind then sunny spells all amounts to blocked plenums due to the dust and rain mixing making sludge in the plenum chamber, so please check the weekend if you have a minute which is all it takes if you have the spyhole mod cheers Arctic.

Excellent tutorial, will be doing mine very soon, well worth the effort...

Well done my 2004 cdti today, must have been at least 2 inches of water, poured out for about 2 minutes, take heed, well worth the time to do...

Hi members.
Just to keep this topic up to date now we are moving into the autumn, leaves falling etc and the wet weather will be with us more so the checking will be even more important, keep those plenums dry folks all the best Arctic

Cannot believe it has been six years since i last updated this thread, so here goes we are in the very wet and rainy weather season, so remember check those plenums more so on a diesel or suffer possible ECU damage, which in turn will cost you, it only takes 5minutes so no excuse not to also check your battery for holding charge with the cold winter months coming.

hello artic, do you have the tread with the work you did on the rear drainage pies from the sunroof, have the seen the thread but no photos, sorry if i have missed it elsewhere

Lry24 wrote:hello artic, do you have the tread with the work you did on the rear drainage pies from the sunroof, have the seen the thread but no photos, sorry if i have missed it elsewhere

Hi Laith.
Do you have a tourer or a saloon has they are different in removing and panels.

Sunroof drains if you have sunroof.
Well after days and days of rain we finaly got some dry sunny weather today 5/7/12 so i set about with vigour tackling the leak on my sunroof drainage tubes which if left unchecked will sooner or later leave you with water in your footwells front and rear, because i got caught out with all this rain and did not check mine in time i have ended up with a sodden carpet which i now have to remove to dry out i am hoping this post will save some of you that trouble and you can catch it before its to late, those of you whom have not got a leak yet do this fix asap so you will not have to go to all the trouble of taking your seats and console out along with radio and A/C controls etc.
Below is the short version presuming you have not yet got any leak or its not to bad and you dont have to remove all of the above mentioned.
First you will need to remove the glove box this is held in by seven torx screws four along the top of the box and three hidden under the felt cover in the glove box one each end and one centre, Fig 1-4

Peel felt back to expose the three torx screws one in the centre also.
1

Remove these first all three.
2

Now remove the four top ones as here below.
3

Once removed the glove box will slide forward easy.
4

Slide the Glove box forward careful because of the box light which needs to be unpluged Fig 5-7
5

The light showing its plug.
6

Unplug the wiring to the light as here
7

You can now remove the glove box and put it in a safe place this will now expose the fuse box and all the wiring etc behind the box. Fig 8
8

Above and to the left you will see the sunroof drainage tube this is just pushed in by about 15mm then it hits a stop in the outlet rubber tube (Ducks Bill) going through to the wheel arch poor idea and not a tight fit, some sort of PTF tape was used to try and hold it Fig 9
9

To make more room and easier access to this tube unbolt the fuse box 10mm socket and set it to one side out of the way as here below Fig 10-12
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11

Rest the fuse holder on the glove box opening.
12

Now you can get a better look at the sunroof tube and the silly tape Rover used Fig 13-14
13

14
Here i have removed the tube to show the rubber tube outlet to the inner wheel arch through the bulk head note that dirty water and it smells. Fig 15-16
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16

Quick view of how thick the foam on the back of the carpet is in this area and its soaking wet. Fig 17
17

Here is a close up of the dirty muck cloging the outlet tube this needs to be cleaned out before the fix Fig 18
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here i am rodding the outlet tube with a 10mm pipe spring any larger and you risk pushing the tube through the bulk head and we dont want this Fig 19-20
19

The pipe spring can be passed through the front of the glove box compartment as here and lines up nicely with the outlet tube.
20

Right i had two idear's for the fix one to use a clear tube to extend the exsiting sunroof black tubing as here below, i have brought the tubing to the opening of the glove box to make it easy for you to see how the clear tubing would fit inside the black tubing Fig 21
21

This idea looked ok but gave me a little worry as the exsiting sunroof tube was on the outside of the clear tube even though a every tight fit it can still give rise to some leakage in my opinion, i may be wrong but was not going to take tha chance as water will always find the easy way out so i went to next idea which involves the hose connectors as here below in Fig 22
This time the sunroof tube is inside the hose connector and is also a very neat and tight fit pushed into the connector by 50mm making it a secure fitting which cannot slip out or be forced out by water back flowing.
22

I can now offer this up to the outlet rubber tube which is pushed inside and again a tight fit i needed to smear it with vaseline to push fit the ridged pipe which is 30mm long you can hear the slight pop when pushed fully home to the lip inside the outlet tube Fig 23
23

A close up of the secure fitting which in my opinion will stop and solve the leaks from now on and as the black sunroof tube is pushed inside the hose connector by 50mm the connector with its ridged fitting is pushed into the outlet tube by 30mm over all length is an 80mm not the 15mm push in Rover left with some sort of silly PTF tape to hold it in Fig 24
/25
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25

The hose connector bought from Halfords Fig 26 Size needed is 5/8 =16mm
26

As stated at the start this is the quick way if you do not have a bad leak already or not one at all if your carpets are soaking wet like mine its seats out, console out, carpet out and dried clear all water in the floor area of the car make sure all wiring is ok and dry then you have to refit it all so try not to get caught out as i did i will start a new post following how i take the seats out etc cheers Arctic.

Ducks bill in the wheel arch
https://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=118622&page=15

Scuttle sealing clips
https://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=1055103&postcount=61

Don't forget in the weather we are having now torrential rains the plenums will need checking regular, or pay the price.