Air vent material?

Good evening all. I am experiencing pieces of what look like insulation material coming through the cabin air vents? Thought this was just some dirt at first but seems to be happening on a routine basis? My question is first what might it be the two types of material are like flakes of possibly fiber and also black small dust? secondly how do I repair it? It does seem to come out of all vents being screen, side vent and the lower foot warmer, so the location would be central system as far as I can see. Does the ducting degrade over time and need to be replaced? Thanks for your help with this one? Love the car so far but this is an annoying fault! Regards Michael..

It is most likely coming from where the pollen filter sits on the air inlet to the aircon housing. There is a black foam seal which deteriorates over time, and breaks down, resulting in bits coming through the vents.

Richard I hope it is as simple as that. Tomorrow I will start to invest, but did have visions of having to dismantle the whole system! Let you know how it goes. Am I right in thinking that the normal ducting is just plastic pipe? Regards Michael..

Yes, it is pretty much all plastic. Take the pollen filter out and take a look inside.

Richard Good evening. I did remove the air filter earlier on today but did not find anything wrong with the housing. All looked in reasonable shape so it was not coming from here? My next thought is the blower housing? Is that removable from the front as well or in car under/behind the dash? One other item I noticed near the battery on the lefthand side looking forward was two drain pugs which were filled with water? Do these have drain lines which were obviously blocked or are they just liquid collectors that fill up ? Excuse the wording as I do not know the correct names for these plugs but seem to be drains of some sort? Any ideas? regards Michael..

If you look on RennTech.org, and do a search for "foam, vents" (without the quotes) you will find loads of info. If it isn't coming from around the inlet, then it is probably the foam-covered flap which controls the air direction within the heater housing. This is a major pain to get out, as it means stripping out the whole dash to get to it. However, a chap on RennTech did a write-up of a DIY method: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php/tutorials/article/121-fixed-my-lack-of-heat-problem-here-is-the-procedure/ As for the front drains, just poke through them gently with a long screwdriver. The water should drain out the bottom of the compartment. If it is building up, it will give you all sorts of grief in the future, when it spills over into the passenger footwell.

Richard Many thanks for the information. I had a feeling about the vent debris being bad news but will look at the link you mentioned. Also the drains will be easy to clean up now I know what they are. Regards Michael.

Richard Thanks again for the link. On reading it I realized that the heating also has been very weak but was not troubled too much about it. Now I know this must be the cause! Looks like some serious work ahead! Regards Michael.