Best way to clean out the windshield fresh air intake...

[Newbedonnie]

I've got one loaded up with oak leaves from the early 90's. No rust, dry and crunchy. Seems like they're ready to be sucked up...anyone know a good way to make them go away? Thanks...newbedonnie

[CALIFORNIA CALIENTE]

No easy way that I know of.I took the fenders off and the heater and fresh air vents off.Cleaned all the leafs and "STUFF" out by hand then blasted them clean with my air hose.I luckily had not rust issues in the fresh air plenum! ROY.

[Groover]

Easy way would be like Roy said, but do this first...

Convince yourself that you need to do something to your heater box (flush out the core, change the felt/gaskets, etc). That way you'd have a reason to remove the heater box. Then convince yourself you want to do something to the fenders and take them off too.

Now the cleaning is something easy to do while you have the front end apart

With the heater is out, remove the cowl duct on the passenger side and blow an air hose through the driver's side drain hole vent (good thing you took those fenders off for that other job). Most of the leaves and stuff should go over to the other side and you can reach up in there and pull it out through the heater intake hole.

Then get a shop vac and suck anything remaining up to the fresh air intake on top and use something plastic (like a plastic putty blade for wallboard) and push around through those vent slots if you need to break stuff up so it will fit through and get sucked into the vac.

Before you button it back up, make sure you check those drain holes on the ends of the cowl. Blow some air back through those or you're gonna have problems down the road.

IF you're not up for taking those fenders off today, then I wouldn't advise blowing air in, as you'll likely just push stuff into the drain holes. Use the shop vac and suck everything you can up through the fresh air vent on top.

[Newbedonnie]

Just finished up, and thanks to a friend found the absolute best way to clean out a fresh air intake.
Place said friend on one end of the intake with a "decent" leaf blower (700 com) minimum. You stand at the other end witha Shop Vac, a bent up coat hanger and the best sealed safety glasses you can purchase.
He blows,you probe and suck. Ten minutes later...everything's gone.
Repeat...opposite direction...you're gold.

[CALIFORNIA CALIENTE]

It is good to have friends that are into pain!!!! Great IDEA!!!! ROY.

[Maxine and Me]

How do you clean out the vents without disassembling everything? I don't have any reason to remove and work on the fenders and the heater on My 1964 Comet right now, but I just figured out how to activate the fresh air vent, and now I've got the remains of a rat's nest blowing out of the driver-side vent. What looks like the old upholstery insulation has been blowing out of the darn thing for weeks now, and now I can't seem to fully close the vent. Feels like a spring is pushing it back open, but I wonder if it's actually all that stuffing packed inside. Nothing except air is blowing out the passenger-side vent. I'll be driving with my family from Tulsa to Santa Monica and back down Route 66 in 10 days, and I don't want to have to vacuum this out at every stop. Got any tips or tricks for getting all that crud out of my ventilation system without taking everything apart? Any help is appreciated.

[SASSY]

How bout removing the drivers vent, about 2-3 bolts, place a shop vav up there and use a coat hanger in through the grill to disturb the refuse toward the vent opening.
If I remember right there is a 1 inch high lip around the vent opening so you might also need to reach up and grab some stuff too.
Once there is a bunch a junk in there it can a challenge to remove without pulling the fenders.
It may be faster to rnr the fenders,,,,
Fred

[Groover]

It's cool to see this thread come back so many years later and featuring Roy at one point.

How about rigging up a shop vac on top of the intake vents (cut up one of those thick contractor garbage bags and make a boot to tape down all around the vent with the shop vac at the end so you get a reasonable seal). Then like others have said use a leaf blower (on low) and blow up through the vents inside the car (easy enough on the driver's side but the heater core on the passenger side will keep you from getting as much force).

Really at some point you're gonna want to do this right because stuff is likely blocking the weep holes under the fender, but you're headed to Cali where there is no rain.

I agree with Sassy also on taking off the DS vent, but as I recall those three bolts are sandwiched between two pieces of metal and in my case they spun freely. So it was not easy to get the nut off the end because the bolt kept spinning. I finally had to use one hand to wedge a screwdriver up there and put enough pressure on to sandwich the bolt head so it stopped spinning. Then I was able to get the nut off. I don't recall for certain, but I don't think I enjoyed the process. So if you're in a hurry, maybe just the vacuum and blower approach in some combination.

[comethead]

If it were me I’d pull the heater box and driver vent and start vacuuming and blowing out with an air hose.

A dried up rats nest is not anything you want to be breathing for hundreds of miles.

Joe

[Maxine and Me]

Finally got that rat's nest out of the vent today! Leaf-blower and shop vac didn't work, so I unbolted the plastic cover on the vent itself and pulled that garbage out. The mass of old interior stuffing was the size of a softball, and that was the part that hadn't already blown out of the vent! Cleaned up the plastic cover, bolted it back on, good as new!

[Groover]

Finally got that rat's nest out of the vent today! Leaf-blower and shop vac didn't work, so I unbolted the plastic cover on the vent itself and pulled that garbage out. The mass of old interior stuffing was the size of a softball, and that was the part that hadn't already blown out of the vent! Cleaned up the plastic cover, bolted it back on, good as new!

good deal. Comet on.