OK, so I wish I had a picture but I will post one later when I get home from work. I was working through some restoration on my auction-save X-Type 3.0 (2003) and one thing was cleaning the scuttle (mouse nests and leaves), changing the cabin air filter, etc. Not a big deal of a job, but when I was taking the cowl off, there is that little strip of super thin flexible plastic that runs the length that snaps down inside the groove set just below the windscreen, and the far left and right sides were broken off and stayed behind in the grooves and the middle section - half tore off but stayed connected to the other half that stayed on the cowl itself.

I sort of repaired this with some CA glue and JB Weld, but one flaw I see with that repair is that it makes this thin piece quite rigid. Not a huge issue so long as I can get it snapped back into place. As I pulled the housing for the cabin air filter off and started studying it (by the way, the cabin air filter has to be the original one!!), I noticed what I'd consider to be a pretty bad design flaw unless I am missing something.

So I understand water will get into the scuttle, at least at a minimum through the wiper arm holes. no big deal. I know it is designed for that. However, I'd imagine with no sealing method at the top end of the cowl, wouldn't water filter down the glass, underneath the cowl? Now, I'd imagine perhaps this locked in piece of thin plastic would shunt that water to the sides and all is well. Great, but what about when it breaks off? Seems water would just flow right on down.

Again, this really isn't too big of an issue for most of the length as it would just fall into the scuttle and move on. However, when you look at the housing for the cabin air filter - it has a big scoop on the front of it that looks like a water collector if this thin piece is broken on that side. I feel like water would just run under the cowl and right into the waiting "bucket" that is the cabin air filter housing. This housing doesn't even have any drains on it directly and I plan on putting a few in - each side for some piece of mind.

Again, unless I am missing something, this seems like a pretty big design issue. Is it an issue that folks have? Seems this plastic piece underneath comes off all the time as I looked at some junk yard available pieces and nearly ALL of this had some or even all of this that had come off.

I plan on using some sort of sealant just in front of where this plastic piece seats under the windscreen to proactively prevent any water intrusion or moldy smells from a wet cabin air filter. Seems a really dumb place for this. Yeah it'll be a bit more of a pain to remove in the future, but feel like more of a pain to let water intrude. 3M Makes these things called Strip-Calk that is effectively like thin butyl tape that is supposed to provide protection but still be flexible and removable.

Is this a legit concern or am I overthinking it? I'll post a picture later this evening for clarity on what I am referring to.

 

Info we got at the dealer 'back-in-the-day'.

 

OK, wow, sooo. mine had this piece on it already, but it honestly was installed so poorly that I thought it was something that had fallen or accidentally got stuck on here during production or something...so I took it off! It is just basically like some butyl tape with some plastic on it. Luckily it hasn't yet gone to the dump yet so I can take it back out and retrieve it. That being said, this actually goes on the side and I can see how water could ingress this way, but still doesn't address my actual concern with the long mounting strip at the bottom of the windscreen breaking off. I tried to fix mine, as mentioned. I got it back on, no real problem, but the cowl sits nearly 3/8"-1/2" above the windshield on that side. I actually decided to just go ahead and order a new replacement while I still can. All yard/used pieces will break in this same fashion, I believe. It isn't terribly priced for what it is and, like I said, who knows how long I'll still be able to get a new one so that solidified my decision.

Here is my crude diagram on the (potential) problem/design flaw I am referring to. Hard to get a picture there with the lighting and glass, but I think you can make it out.

Red is the top and the bottom section of the filter housing, with the front (left part) scooping up just ready to collect water it would seem!). Yellow is the groove I have been referring to from which the long tab under the cowl broke of on the sides and partly in the middle. The blue arrows represent the direction water would flow and drop down. Now, if the rain was light, it may wrap around and go behind the filter housing, which would be fine. However, if it started raining harder, it absolutely would flow to the housing.



Here is a picture after the cowl was reinstalled after trying to repair it. In between the red area is where it is sticking above the windshield and I can't get it to go back down flush. This is right over where the filter is.

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...r-side-190908/


https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...r-61301/page2/

 

Good info and sort of related. Well, related to water intrusion for sure, however, I this oval area where the housing touches the body is kinda easy to deal with. I guess perhaps I am concerned that the filter would get wet, creating mold, infiltrating the cabin with smells and other nasty things. I do like the lead flashing idea though. In fact, I had to make something very similar for an 06 Dodge Durango because water was getting under the cowl and causing issues with the coils. Seems this area is a problem on many vehicles. I mean, I get it gets exposed to harsh environments, but I feel like this is why engineers exist..to fix issues like this longer term.

 

You should definitely redo that oval seal while you’re in there.
Just bought a car that I’m pretty sure was (hopefully, I just fixed) leaking there.
I think it starts with that broken lip you glued letting water past, then the foam seal deteriorates letting water in.

I thought about drilling drain holes like you mentioned but doesn’t seem to be an issue providing the seal is good?

 

Oh I did correct that, even before I realized that the slope of the windscreen would cause a waterfall flowing in! Mine was something like a gooey-er 3M stick-calk or something. Resealed with black silicone RTV (not the gasket maker). Water is a formidable foe and will, at slower rate, drip actually around the edge of the window flowing back toward the cabin and then down into the seal area.

I purchased the new cowl and will ensure the TSB "fix" gets put back and see how it goes after that. I think I will be good with that, though the cowls, new, are probably running low on stock forever and any used ones almost all have that ripped out fin since it is so thin. Hopefully, now that ai remember it, I will work to pull it of gentler next time I change my filter.

 

If the box is sealed the cowl/filter won't leak. The water drips on the plastic cowl and drains out the bottom. The water is getting in because the cowl is no longer sealing against the firewall.