Well, I'm having two problems that are somewhat related.

1- I have hot air coming up through my corner vents. There was a thread on this but nobody came up with an answer as to why or how to fix it. Considering my heater doesn't work, that pretty much narrows it down to engine bay air. How do I stop this?

2- There's air coming in to my cabin from the passenger side footwell. I'm not exactly sure from where, but while driving there's occasionally air that comes in. So far the temperature of the air has corresponded to the outside temperatures. It only started after I put on the plastic tray that goes under the radiator. Once again, how do I stop this (or what's causing it)?

 

well the "cabin" is not really airtight... could be that plastic cover is forcing the air to redirect there... but mines on... and i have no problems.... possibly your vents are stuck open... i had a similar problem in my old 7... no matter what setting i changed the logicon( heater controlelr) to it came out all vents, weather or not i choose feet, middle or defrost.. check your logicon, and vent flapper motors ?

 

Airtight and air rushing in are two different things . The vents, from what I've seen, is a somewhat common problem. But random blasts of cold air from the passenger side floorboard area....?

 

have you checked the little plastic vapour barriers that are behind that kick panel?

I wouldn't think that they would be causing this problem but it seems to be one of the few possibilities...

waht about the engine harness grommet? in place?

edit: what abuot the fresh ari vents...could the ducting be leaking between where they pick up air and where they are SUPPOSED to send it?

 

All possibilities. I had no clue where/how air usually/can enter the cabin from.

Would it matter if my air system isn't working (hitting the logicon = no response). Could that have stuck a vent or something open. However, that wouldn't account for the recent gusts of air from the passenger side because that's recent and the system hasn't worked in months.

 

possibly a hole in the firewall or floor, covered up and cant see it, seen similar problems in other cars where there was a hole rusted through and would catch air going down the road, another was a grommet inthe fire wall came out, same effect....

 

I'll definately be sure to check the grommet (grommets?).

 

Mine was caused by the steering shaft grommet being totally fubar. Havent figured out how to fix this little prob yet, but I am guessing it will involve some foam..

 

So from what I'm seeing it's probably a grommet. Gotcha.

I'm guessing the radiator undercarriage thing-a-ma-bob is forcing more air into my engine bay and forcing more air by a grommet. Who knows... I'll just be sure to check all the grommets.

 

I checked my grommets and they all look good. 2 new questions.

1. Could an excessively hot engine bay cause heat to come through the fire wall, and ultimately my vents?
2. What is the hole in the engine bay in the following picture for?