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This is easy access remove all screws on our way, if the cover didn’t budge, there must have been a screw you missed, happened to me, then wiggle it out of the way
I did it from the back of the wheel well and it was easy access, removed all 3 rubber grommets, plenty of leaves and crap, be creative on how you get in the holes and pry the leaves out, then water from the brake fluid reservoir(obviously make sure your lid is tight), washed out more crap
All 3 rubber grommets, I did end up NOT putting back the beak. There is no sense in that design, as you would rather have the leaves and crap fall in to the wheel well than have deposits and water building up near brake pump brake fluid reservoir up high. Put the other 2 back because holes are too big you don’t want insects go in there either
Clean up all 3 holes while you are in there. I found crap in all 3. Then put your fingers in, your steel pick, your skinny suction line, whatever you find, like picking your nose, clean it up you will breath smoothly
Did this today and found a lot of debris. Also drained the side sills. Funny that it doesn’t seem that many dealers follow the maintenance schedule of “checking the firewall drains of for debris.”
I did this today as I started to see water in the passenger footwell after heavy rains the last 2 weeks .... after pulling out the rubber flange, it was like my Cayenne was puking leaves and debris - it was pretty gross, especially after I stuck my finger up there to clean it out. As my Cayenne S stays outside year round (my 911 and the wife’s Q7 get the indoor parking privileges), I ended up snipping off the lower portions of the flapper valve to let more junk flow through. Here is a pic of what I reinstalled to hopefully avoid such a nasty build up:
Unfortunately, I left this maintenance item too long and the water that came into the passenger footwell has managed to knock out my HVAC blower .... I hope it’s just a fuse, but I haven’t been able to trouble shoot that until I cleaned out all the snot in the flapper valve. Any suggestions for quick fixes on the blower...?
Last year I had removed some leaves and pine needles and the two beak-style grommets, hoping to improve drainage. This year when I checked the cowl drains, they were spotless, perfectly clear, not a single pine needle or leaf or any kind of debris at all.
Some additions to CAVU's already great directions:
For our US MY 2015 Cayenne Diesel there was a basket on the drivers side. The basket looks like a fix for the problem that people are experiencing but I found that it was still pretty clogged (4 years, 50k miles). In order to thoroughly clean the drivers side, the basket needs to be removed (see pics). Using the access port above the "beak/basket" you can push on the tabs that hold the basket in place, wiggling it past the tubes. Press on one tab at a time while gently pulling down and rotating to the second tab.
Two quick stories:
1. I was having the Cayenne serviced and overheard the SA talking to an owner on the phone who appeared to be quite distressed about the quote the dealer gave him for repair. I asked the SA what kind of car...it was a Cayenne that had the cowl drain clogged and had now leaked into the cabin. This is what led me to this thread.
2. Previously posted, I don't think it's a good idea to leave the "beak" off in all cases. We live where the wildlife is abundant; bears, skunks, foxes, mountain lions.... less glamorous are the rats and mice. We had a rat/mouse get into the cowl area of our benz and chewed through a brake line. Didn't realize I was losing brake fluid until it I got to work and the car would not let me put it in drive. The brake line under the cowl was not the same rugged material used on the rest of the car. I think these "beaks" are to prevent critters from getting into that space. If not, it is truly a horrible design as they seem to be made too clog.
Picture of beak attached to the basket. You can see the access port to the left. access port Once you have released the tabs you can wiggle the basket out of its hole Location of the tabs
06-30-2018, 11:50 AM
Access from the the back of the well
