Hey all,

I had some questions about a lower seal and cowling on the windscreen of a 2003 Discovery II(see attached picture).

Is this seal held down solely by the cowling, or should it be attached to the screen with an adhesive? The two washers that hold the wiper arm gaskets(and the cowling, to an extent) are not shown. The washers don't seem to apply enough force to the cowling to hold the seal in place, and the center bolt under the hood appears to be sufficiently torqued.

Anyone run into this before? I think the screen has been replaced, but the workshop manual and RAVE don't seem to mention this particular seal(but I may have overlooked something).

Lastly, I noticed this after washing the vehicle. Anything under that seal that would be damaged by liquid that may have passed it?

 

That seal is loose on my truck too. I pulled it out to have a look and it appears to have been attached to the plastic cowl at one time by double sided adhesive tape which has since let go. I have not come up with a way to re-attach it without pulling the cowl.

 

Interesting.

From what I can tell, the cowling comes out after the two wiper arms, nuts and washers are removed, along with the center bolt underneath the hood.

I may just pull it open on my next day off, but I just haven't had the time.

 

There are plastic clips moulded into the underside of the cowl that hold the cowl to the windshield. The clips tend to break off over time.

If the seal pulls away from the windshield on the passengerside, water has a direct path to the HVAC air intake where it will pool in the HVAC fan and eventually drip onto the floor and wiring under the fan causing the electrical headers to corrode causing all sorts of electrical issues. Don't ask me how I know.

On the driverside, I believe there is an opening too but it's closed off by a plate. If the seal on the plate has deteriorated, water can get behind the instrument cluster and drip down the firewall.

When I bought my rover a year ago, I replaced the cowl with a new one because it was pulling away from the windshield on the passenger side. I recently noticed the new one pulling away from the driver side. My windshield is cracked pretty bad so I would like to think that has something to do with it but I'm guessing it's caused by the heat from the engine/sun warping the plastic.

StreetWolf did manage to reseal it using some weight and adhesive to glue the cowl to the window. https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...g-there-48292/

 

Aww, crap.

From the other thread, I'm assuming you mean the "Center Air Intake Molding Assembly"?

Guess I'll get to ordering one of those.

 

I just got my cowl loose. It was pulling away in the center slightly as well. What I have found is that there is only the one bolt holding it firmly down which is easy to get to. There is a plastic clip on each side and one in the center. My center one is still there but clearly broke. The driver's side is cracked which tells me it has little to no holding strength. You can't see the clips until it is loose. If you use a panel popper or something like, I would try and slide it from the top of the housing down.

 

Anyone know what clip type it is? I haven't pulled it yet, but I'd like to avoid the whole experience of walking into autozone or the like with the "Got one of these?" line.

 

The clip is almost more like a lip that is built into the cowl itself. This is why they break so easy, its not truly a clip. The cowl goes over the windshield while the clip slides up under the metal lip. There is one dead center and one on the left side and right. The ones on the side are not at the very end but about a hands width in if I remember right. You could probably push them with a panel puller but I would think that a paint scraper would be even better. You want to go under the seal against the window, find it with your scraper or whatever you are using and once you have found it, push down toward the engine while pulling the bottom of the cowl with your other hand. This is after you have loosened the center bolt of the cowl that you can see prior to removal.

I couldn't find anybody who had done it either. I should have taken pictures of it.

 

Also, I don't think you can take it completely out without removing the hood unless you want to risk breaking the cowl or warping it badly. I just had to pull it up to work on the wiper motor but the end are actually under the hood hinges.

 

My cowl is completely cracked everywhere. Water gets in all over the passenger and driver side whenever it rains or I wash it. Once I replace it, I'm sure time will test its durability again...are there any aero mods that attach to the hood and lean back for sun protection or anything like that to shade the gap and cowl and maybe prevent this from just happening again and again? Also, purchasing this part is a must, but dealer or indy mech. is not, correct? In other words, it's remove hood, remove cowl, replace cowl, and re-attach hood? Thanks guys.

edit: Or is there anyone who makes this out of another material that is not so prone to warps/cracks?