Today, I cleaned out a rather large quantity of debris from under the bonnet near the brake fluid reservoir of my '03 3.0L S-Type. I began to think that perhaps I'd stumbled upon a critter nest. So I donned some gloves, continued to dig deeper and sure enough, I found (drum roll please) ... a dead rat! Or is this a baby squirrel? IDK


I'm no rodent expert, but I do know he did a pretty fine job of chewing the hell out of some of the rubber stuff deep in that right rear corner of the engine compartment.

Anyone have any idea what that vertical tubular rubber thing (with all the teeth marks) is or what it does? I couldn't get a good look at it.

 

Is this it?

 

I don't think it is. The pieces in your pic appear to be the rubber windshield molding extenders (BLUE ARROW) that terminate near the wipers on top of the plastic engine cowl.

The rubber piece in my pic is below the metal frame that forms the right rear of the engine compartment (RED ARROW), above which that plastic cowl sits. The damaged piece is buried back behind the brake and power steering gizmos and nearly rests on the firewall. It looks like it might be a kind of drain or vent. I ran some water on the windshield but the results were inconclusive.

Maybe someone else has some idea of what the damaged rubber thing is/does?

Thanks for helping out, Norri. Appreciate it very much.
Steve

 

Looks like its a seal of some sort that runs along the seam under the cowl, probably to prevent water or washer fluid from entering the engine bay.

 

Could be the drain tube from the windscreen wiper mechanism that terminates in the inner wing?

 

I'm thinking the same thing. Looks like I'm gonna have to remove the wiper arms and plastic cowl to get in there and have a better look.

Are there any maintenance tasks I should do while I've got the cowl off? I'm guessing cabin filter and IMT o-rings at the very least.

Thanks Carfix and QuartzSTypeR!
Steve

 

That looks likely

As for the rodent, my guess is some sort of pack rat

 

You could be right on both counts. Thanks Richard.
Steve

 

Definitely change your IMT O-rings. Still a very inexpensive dealer part and once you change them you won't have to worry about them again....

You may be able to get away with using your shopvac to clean your existing cabin air filter - that's what I've done on a couple of occasions. But given your car's age, you may want to go ahead and pop a new filter in there....

 

At least it had a luxurious home

 

Ha ha. We have high class pack rats in this neck of the woods.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I've got the o-rings already - under $10 for the pair. I think I'll go ahead and replace that cabin filter with new as well. Again, thanks.