Air Vent Issues

indynewfie · **Posted:** Mon Aug 08, 2005 1:36 am

Long story short. The times I've wheeld thus far it's been windows down, air system off, and lots of fun. However when the weekend is over and I turn the air back on (fan) i get alot of dirt/dust blow through the vents. Makes the whole inside of my interior gritty, enough to cover most of the front leather with a coating of fine dirt/dust.

So the question I have is A) has any one else experienced this
if yes) is there anything i can do about it. ie: where is the air "intake for the vents and could it be covered(screened)
if no) what could be the possible issues? (dirt build up underneath somewhere that's drawn into the vent intake???)

sandiegodave · **Posted:** Mon Aug 08, 2005 11:20 am

I went to Death Valley a year ago and a brown wave went over the hood of my car from a big mud puddle. Now every time I turn my AC on it smells like Death Valley dirt. I tried to hose out the vent many times but can not get rid of the smell.

dirtykj · **Posted:** Mon Aug 08, 2005 12:34 pm

I'll put in a "me too!" in here. If you knew of a way to clean the vents, let me know

I'm learning to love the smell, actually. It reminds me of the last adventure, and makes me look forward to the next.

m0th · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 12:20 am

You mean like this?

(that Sprite had an interesting texture to it by the end of the trail

)

AmericanMetal · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 1:03 am

After last winter and the amount of salt dust I've seen on the interior of my jeep can be fustrating. I thought about rigging something up myself. Such as a screen behind the outside intake vents. Though that does not solve the particulate problem. I'm actually surprised the Jeep Engineers didn't put a filtering system in there. I know alot of the newer cars today have this sort of set up. I'd be up for any ideas someone could come up with...

LoganSix · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 7:57 am

You could always turn it to Max or Inside Circulation when you wheel in the dirt.
Not sure if that will be a complete solution.

FreedomKJ · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 8:13 am

LoganSix wrote:

You could always turn it to Max or Inside Circulation when you wheel in the dirt.
Not sure if that will be a complete solution.

I just run it on recirc when I'm wheeling and it's dusty. Now that I have the A/C controls from '05 KJs I can even do it without running the A/C compressor (that'd be stupid here in Texas right now, but when it's cold outside why do I need the compressor on when I just want recirculated air?)

Guyute1210 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 12:47 pm

FreedomKJ wrote:

I just run it on recirc when I'm wheeling and it's dusty. Now that I have the A/C controls from '05 KJs I can even do it without running the A/C compressor (that'd be stupid here in Texas right now, but when it's cold outside why do I need the compressor on when I just want recirculated air?)

If it's the temperature outside is enough to fog the winows, you need to run the compressor, so it dries out the air so fog doesnt form on the windows.

KJKev · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 1:03 pm

I'm sure you've figured out by now what that black grille opening is between the hood and the windshield.
You'll need to block that off if you don't want any outside air from entering the cabin area.
KJKev

dirtykj · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 1:18 pm

KJKev wrote:

I'm sure you've figured out by now what that black grille opening is between the hood and the windshield.
You'll need to block that off if you don't want any outside air from entering the cabin area.
KJKev

Have you tried taking the black grille opening off to rinse down the inside well? It seems to be held by plastic rivets. Wonder what the NAPA part numbers for these are, in case I have to cut them to get inside.

Bonehead · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 2:55 pm

How about duct tape over the cowl inlet grill while wheeling.............I mean we know duct tape can fix anything

Guest · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 3:05 pm

It's quite simple really... cover the ext duct with Skippy peanut butter.

OKJeep · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 3:08 pm

Until the peanut butter angle was brought in, I was thinking about maybe a foam insert you could put in prior to dusty wheeling.
But I don't know how easy/hard it is to get into the inlet to do this. A good slathering of PB is probably the best and easiest solution.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 5:45 pm

I just put a filter on mine, ill do a write up later tonight.

KJKev · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 6:24 pm

dirtykj wrote:

KJKev wrote:

I'm sure you've figured out by now what that black grille opening is between the hood and the windshield.
You'll need to block that off if you don't want any outside air from entering the cabin area.
KJKev

Have you tried taking the black grille opening off to rinse down the inside well? It seems to be held by plastic rivets. Wonder what the NAPA part numbers for these are, in case I have to cut them to get inside.

If you're gonna wash that out, you'll need to remove the boxes inside the cabin too. Or else you'll have all that dirty water on the floor.

This rivets are pretty much universal. Check your local body shop and ask where they get theirs. Most dealers will carry a few of them in stock too.

Hey, trying sticking a Swiffer mop in there...lol.

KJKev

dirtykj · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 7:14 pm

KJKev wrote:

If you're gonna wash that out, you'll need to remove the boxes inside the cabin too. Or else you'll have all that dirty water on the floor.

You mean the A/C vent that goes to the back of the floor console? I have already got my floor console off (was going to drill mounting holes for the radio there) and I see where the vent goes from the rear of the floor console to the firewall area.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 10:02 pm

Ok guys, im going to do a very small write up on this b/c im very tired, ill add to it tomorrow.

The little rivets u all have been talking about are not rivets, u can reuse them, all u do is pull the center out of them and they pull right out. The center can be put back in to reuse.

Pic:

I took both the windshield wipers off, but i do not believe u would need to, i think just the center one would be ok. I took them off by backing the nut off some then putting channel locks on the nut and under the wipers, like this.

Pic:

I took the Plastic off, and unbolted the screen which is not necessary. I had some filter material laying around that i had bought at wal-mart. I cut it to fit, and just pushed the edges down around the screen. Ohh, and when u first pull the plastic off, the screen will be on ur left facing the jeep. u can see alittle bit of it in the pics.

Pics:

Im not sure how this will do. I cant tell thats it cuts down on the air flow any but i am willing to sacrifice some of that for clean air. Depending on how much outside air u use, u may need to clean it ever so often. I think ill do it everytime i clean my K&N air filter. Tell me what u all think!!!

FreedomKJ · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 11:08 pm

Looks awesome! I'm going to have to give that a shot!

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu Aug 25, 2005 11:14 pm

Just remember, i dont know how long this will last, it may just get dirty really fast, ill be sure to keep u all updated.

That thing sucks the air though. I turned it on high and put my hand over it, its crazy what it pulls.

indynewfie · **Posted:** Fri Aug 26, 2005 12:02 am

Awesome idea. Will have to give it a try.

But ... what impresses me most is the fact that for an off-roader (or on-roader for that matter) your engine bay is so friggin CLEAN!!!

Impressed. Mine has a permanent red hue from the iron dust up in Gilbert, MN

Air Vent Issues

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