48 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHFoam from ac vents
Leading reported evidence
Replace dash
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
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Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
I have replaced the dash on my '00 and wouldn't consider it an easy project.
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Suggestion
To deal with it you need to get to the diverter flaps inside the air distribution box, clean off the old stuff, and cover the holes with new foam or seal them with tape.
Leading evidence: 'Replace dash' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'good quality' (1 discussions; 0 report identifying it and 1 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Clean off the old stuff, and cover the holes' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that suspect a cause
1
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Suspected cause
Since the original foam has lasted 15 years in my car without any issues, it's probably a good quality.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
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Suggestion
To deal with it you need to get to the diverter flaps inside the air distribution box, clean off the old stuff, and cover the holes with new foam or seal them with tape.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
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Suggestion
FYI, you don't need to take the evaporator box out or disconnect the heater core to have access to the blend doors.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
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Suggestion
I have to re place the leaky evaporator sometime in the near future so I will preventatively replace the foam.
These are separate views of the same evidence. Frequency alone does not establish a fix, and these counts must not be added together.
Clean off the old stuff, and cover the holes
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
To deal with it you need to get to the diverter flaps inside the air distribution box, clean off the old stuff, and cover the holes with new foam or seal them with tape.
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
I have not had any issues with the heat or the ac but in the wintertime the interior of the car does tend to fog up very easily unless I�m running the ac.
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
48 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
2 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Outcome without a verified action link
Frankly, I see no difference in how the HVAC works.
Search function on this forum will reveal many threads...except for now when the search function for Rennlist seems to be on the fritz! Try Google search “site:RENNLIST.com 996 vent foam”
Yes, the foam breaks down and blows everywhere. To deal with it you need to get to the diverter flaps inside the air distribution box, clean off the old stuff, and cover the holes with new foam or seal them with tape. So there are multiple ways to deal with it, none of them fun. You can take out the dash, go in from the frunk under the battery or go behind the radio by cutting an access hole. Lots of good information on all three options if you search this forum.
Purchased mine in jun of last year. Seems like it has an endless amount of foam in the dash. Never ever stops. But this site has several DIY write ups on how to fix it. Requires dash removal.
Best access is by taking the dash out and then removing the braces in the center ans then the ducting. Labour intensive. Eventually there wont be any foam left, but you will lose heat. If you never use the heater then juat let it bleed foam until it stops. I did fix mine btw.
just in case you feel like fixing it the right way.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6bi2dlsy47...moval.pdf?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lcthesknyn...moval.pdf?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gja11v6yi6...ement.pdf?dl=0
FYI, you don't need to take the evaporator box out or disconnect the heater core to have access to the blend doors. I had good access after removal of the dash, bracing and ducting. Was able to clean out the foam and apply ducting tape to cover the holes in the blend doors.
Mine slowly comes out nowadays, after I got it, it was much more often. I just chose to leave as-is, too much hassle for little reward... except when it gets on your face...
Just dealt with this again yesterday. Turn vent on high. Take needlenose pliers and extract big pieces from behind vent louvers, then vacuum entire interior of car. Repeat process weekly for years. Done!
Yes - I had a 2000 Diesel Turbo Beetle I bought new. Foam came out for last two years. It was never garaged and before I sold it last year the heater barely blew hot air and ac barely worked. I live in humid climate and in winter the humid air would come through the flapper and the interior windows would frost on cold mornings. Not fun to have to scrape in morning to get to work! Put up with it until I retired and got a new Jeep. So far. my 04 TT has no issues.
Will the heater become less efficient when the foam is gone or will the car completely lose heat? Any effect on the A/C?
My car has been "foaming" for a couple of years now (I don't drive my 996 too often) but I didn't know the problem would eventually effect the car's heating system.
This is interesting. I have not had any issues with the heat or the ac but in the wintertime the interior of the car does tend to fog up very easily unless I�m running the ac. I�m not sure if they are related as this seems to be a common issue with these cars but it makes me wonder if I could eliminate the fogging issue by reinstalling new foam.
Astro - over time, I as I lost more foam the cool air in ac mode and warm air from heater was mixing with outside air since the less foam didn't block the outside air. By the time I sold the VW, almost no foam was coming out (I did pick foam out and vacuum regularly). I would've done one of the fixes if I kept the car.
Mike
The doors have large round openings in them. These holes were covered in the foam to seal them. When the foam is gone there is no way to prevent the outside air from entering the cabin. So the heater is moxing with cold air from outside on cold days and the ac is working against the hot air from outside on hot days.
I went thru the Dropbox instructions to take care of this issue and honestly would be afraid to take what seems like half the car apart to fix this issue. Is this the only way to fix this ?
The only way to get good access to the blend doors, yes.
But remember, you DO NOT need to remove anything from inside the bonnet area. You ONLY need to remove the dash, bracing and ducting. Nothing else. Its not so bad.
My 20 year old 99 996 puked out the foam years ago. Shop vac, tweezers, run it on high speed fan, vac and pull. Finally stopped like about 7 years ago. Frankly, I see no difference in how the HVAC works. I get plenty of heat and plenty of cold air in the summer. I do get some "misting" on the windshield on hot humid summer days. It forms on the outside and all I do is do a quick wipe of the wipers and it's gone. Probably because very cold air is leaking through the windshield dehumidifier vent (the one across the top of the dash). In no way am I going to run the risk of pulling apart the entire dash. Old plastics will break, tons of electrical connectors and all sorts of stuff to bust. I'm telling you...no difference in my heat and cool. Blows toasty hot in the winter and nice and cool in the summer.
I've had the same experience and mine is a daily driver in MN(so both extreme cold and pretty warm sometimes), but I do have the issue of it fogging up a lot when the temps get colder(it's pretty annoying). So when the earlier post by 1961Super90 came up, it got me thinking, but I do worry about taking that much of the car apart, so I was hoping for a happy medium that could resolve the issue without the major risks.
Thanks for the info.
Glad to hear you haven't experienced any reduction in HVAC performance (with the exception of some windshield fogging). I am also going to opt out of taking apart the dash (and all of the potential problems that can go along with that) as long as there is no discernible difference in HVAC performance in my car.
I've ripped apart interiors of a few cars, and the 996 was the easiest of them all. I took the opportunity to fix some creaking noises, and I even switched out the dash for a leather one with a glove box. Was simple.
Its your car and your comfort level, but this is the only way to fix the issue. Good luck.
Have you checked your in-cabin filter?
I noticed when swapping mine to a new one that the foam seal around the edges was starting to deteriorate. Could be the source of any foam you might see coming through the AC system.
I have replaced the dash on my '00 and wouldn't consider it an easy project. It isn't engine rebuild level challenging by any means, but it also isn't oil change level easy. There are a lot of plastic parts that can break if you don't remove them correctly, especially the tabs. There are also airbags to deal with - not hard, but need to be treated with care/respect. On a 10 banana scale, I'd call this at least a 5. Easy-ish for an accomplished DIYer, but daunting if you aren't pretty handy.
Keep in mind there are at lest two other approaches that have been documented here that go at this differently: one through the frunk under the battery going in from the top, and another by going at the blend door by cutting an access hole in the ducting behind the radio. I haven't done either, but if I do, I will likely go in through the frunk.
Problem with going in through the bonnet is you have access to only one blend door. There are 2. Cutting a hole in the ducting is ok as long as you have small dexterous hands.
Like I said, do what you feel your comfortable with.
Since the original foam has lasted 15 years in my car without any issues, it's probably a good quality. I have to re place the leaky evaporator sometime in the near future so I will preventatively replace the foam. Has anyone found a good long lasting foam? I certainly don't want to do this again.
Don't bother with foam. Use the silver metallic ducting tape. Good for life. It doesn't have to be foam. You just need to block off the holes. You can see pictures in my thread here:
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...s-996-a-9.html
Start on post 128 to see what I did.
