Why Your Vehicle’s Cowl is Responsible for Your Soaked Floor Mats

Are you dealing with wet floor mats in your vehicle? Learn what a cowl is today and how keeping your cowl clear will keep your floor mats dry!

Transcript

All too often, customers come in with the floor mats wet. It may seem like black magic, as they didn’t leave the windows down in the rain.

If you’re guessing if anything spilled on your mats, well, you’d be wrong.

Can’t figure it out? Neither could our customers seem to figure it out, why their mats are wet.

Hi, I’m Nancy at Kneble’s Auto Service Center.

Now the first thing I asked my customer is, “Is your cowl clogged?” I usually get the response, “What’s a cowl, and where is it on my car?”

That’s the response my son gave when we were talking about cowls at the dinner table.

I know what you’re thinking, riveting dinner conversation.

Well, we cover all topics, as I like to educate my kids.

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The cowl is that awkward space between the hood and the windshield that you never knew how to name.

Well, there it is, it’s the cowl. Now you may be familiar with having a protective cover with slots in it. Well, it houses the wiper arm linkage.

It also allows fresh air to enter through the vents into the cabin of the vehicle.

There were two drains from the cowl exiting from behind the front wheels.

Rainwater or melting snow would drain through these channels unless they’re clogged. Hence, the water could end up on your floor mats and not exiting from behind the front wheels, as in most cars, where it should.

Over time, debris, leaves and pine needles, they can collect and get stuck in this cowl. So it’s important to make sure you clean this area.

It may be as simple as grabbing those leaves and debris by hand and clearing the area.

If that doesn’t get everything, try a leaf blower or air compressor, if it’s available.

Determine if you were successful in cleaning the cowl. You can run a water hose over the cowl and see if the water drains properly.

If you are struggling to find out why your vehicle floors are wet, come see us here at 5473 Somers Point Road in Mays Landing for your next car care need.

Be aware also, the sunroofs that you have, also have drains, usually on the four corners of the roof, so if you’re getting rained on inside your vehicle, check your drains.

One time we had to remove an entire hood liner of a vehicle to fix the drain for the customer, because it was severely clogged.

Thank you for watching. And remember, feel free to contact us at (609) 625-3286. And watch our videos every Wednesday at 12:30.

See you here.