Just took the cowling off to replace.

When cleaning up under it. I noticed duct tape wrapped around what appeared to be a box.

Removed the duct tape and looked into it and can see the air cabin filter.

The duct tape was in terrible condition so I am sure moisture and other stuff was getting in there.

What is it and is there a part missing? Should I just retape, doing a much better job?

Only thing I hate about buying used.

 

looking at videos of replacing the cowling, it looks like everyone has it wide open with no tape or a door going over it.

 

Here is what I'm talking about. Previous owner covered it with duct tape. I would think without anything water would make it into the cabin thru the cabin air filter

 

I was hoping someone else would remove their cowl and have a look so that I don't have to. I can't imagine that there is no partial cover for that.

 

There is no cover. You could call it a design flaw in both the LR3 and LR4. If water gets behind the cowl it can then drips down into the opening for the HVAV air intake.

Putting tape there is low cost, not doing any harm and may prevent water getting into the inlet when replacing the cowl.

 

Very well. I suppose you need to be careful to allow air in but, also provide the protection from drips??

 

I had a discussion with my tech at the dealer about this. He said if the cowl isn’t completely against the glass, not only will water get in the box but might also fowl the dynamic suspension module. His solution: put black silicone on the seam between the cowl and the window. So I did and this time no drips from the carwash.

 

I guess this depends on where you live. “Many” put a plastic shield above the opening there to prevent rain water, car wash water, meltwater from snow and ice from going into the intake. Not only will you have a wet cabin air filter but the blower underneath will take damage eventually and there are plenty of electrical things (CJB..,,) nearby that one would also prefer to keep dry.

Also, if you live in an environment with small animals like rodents, you might want to put a metal mesh/net in front of the opening. Doing so prevents it from eating the filter which is above the cabin blower. On the UK site there are pictures where a rodent has built a nice nest there. I personally don’t like such squatters…

The silicone seal is also a very good idea.

 

You would think that with those two short useless slots, that is was originally designed to accept some kind of cover.

 

I wondered about that a long time ago but was unable to find any info… the Asia pacific market smog sensor for example only turns on recirculatiion.
Maybe such ideas never shipped. Like you can retrofit the D3/LR3 with the adaptive cruise control but it was never sold with such an option. But some very early product sheet (manual?) mentioned it in bypassing.