Cowel Vent Plugged

[farmall]

I just brought home a 71 C30 flatbed and power washed it. The non AC kick panel vents are full to the vent opening with compost. I crawled under to look for a drain opening or cleanout and did not see anything. I guess I will stick the garden hose in the vent and flush. Any ideas?

[eightbanger]

Welcome!! Personaly I wouldn't want to compound an already damp or waterlogged issue with yet more water....remove the vent door, the top pivot is spring loaded, put a pair of gloves on & dig the worst out then use a vacumn cleaner to get the rest, leaf mold getting in there from the cowl is one of the biggest causes of rust damage on our trucks, if there is as much in there as you say you may already have rust issues.

[cdowns]

yep stick hand in and pull as much as you can out/somtimes a good stiff piece of wire like from coathanger helps breakup clumps to get out

also with vents wide open on the highway at a high rate of speed will get things movin too

another good thing to do is remove your heater motor and heater core and clean the 40years of crap in there too

[bcutt]

I got rid of my fresh air vents all together and eliminated the pockets in the cowl area to avoid any rust issues down the road...

[AirSpeed]

The only way you're going to be sure to get it cleaned out is with a garden hose! If it's full of compost now it's going to get just as wet every time you wash the truck or it rains. I would do as the others said, pull the vent doors and pull as much as you can out by hand, then shove a garden hose down each side and turn it on full blast, this will wash away all the crap that's going to cause rust by holding moisture against the steel. Water isn't going to make it rust all by itself, all the moisture held in there by the debris is. If you don't get it all out you will still have issues. They are designed to drain water out the bottom but can't if the area where they drain is plugged up.
After I cleared out what I could reach with my hand, a coat hanger, my shop vac and compressed air I thought it was pretty clean, before I painted my truck I washed the entire truck down to get rid of all the dust, the cowell was off at this point so I shoved the garden hose down each side as was amazed how much more stuff came out! Almost as much as I could pull out by hand! after I forced water down through the top I sprayed the hose in from inside the cab and got more crap out. You will want to make sure you pull your carpet back so any padding won't get wet and hold moisture against your floor.
I would strongly suggest you take the cowell of, it's really easy, then I would hose it out! The water will drain away once all the debris is gone. Before you put the cowell back on, I would ether buy or make a screen to mount under the cowell to keep it from happening again! Good luck.
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[farmall]

Sorry for the mispost. I got confused by the sub catagories at the top. Thought that that was all there was. Thanks for all the advise. The mess is already wet from the power washer so I will scoop what I can remove the cowl grill and flush the rest. Carpet is out and I live in the desert so it should dry quickly. Thanks again.

[mpotts64]

Had the same issue with mine. I am getting ready to replace this cab but I took a long metal sawzall blade, opened the door reached in through the door and cut the bottom out of that box, now it is wide open on the bottom so nothing sticks, you can flush it real easily with a water hose now to clean it all out, on the other cab I will do like bcutt and cut those out, weld them up solid and get rid of that mess, best of luck

[wwotr]

Originally Posted by farmall

I just brought home a 71 C30 flatbed and power washed it. The non AC kick panel vents are full to the vent opening with compost. I crawled under to look for a drain opening or cleanout and did not see anything. I guess I will stick the garden hose in the vent and flush. Any ideas?

After I cleaned mine out, I immediatly ordered a Cowl Vent Screen and had it installed. Living among the Pines back then was beautiful, but the Pine Needles were making me CRAZY!

[ETsC10]

Once you get the passages cleaned and screen the cowl, use the vents whenever you can...
best way to keep them in good condition and save your cab.
Poor-mans AC with out the fuss!!

[SEA-HAWKS]

So to be clear there is no quick and easy way to clean these vent areas. I took the vent doors off where I felt debris and grabbed what I could by hand. I also took my cowl off. From there I used a shopvac and vacuumed up what I could. I went in from the top and the bottom. I also used an air compressor and got what I determine to be the majority of it but I can still feel a little bit of debris. Does anyone have an idea on how to get the remaining debris out? Also does anyone have a picture of what the inside of this looks like? I just don't want to have my nice truck turn into another rust bucket. Thanks

[PanelDeland]

If you lay under the area looking up,you should be able to see the drain holes.Clear them out and remove the cowl.Then run water thru them until it runs clean.Screen the cowl to prevent buildup.I used a shop vac before I got everything wet.You can buy a set of cowl screens or make your own.Take it for a ride with the vents open after cleaning to air dry the inside.This isn't a hard job but it will probably take a couple of hours or more depending on how many barley pops are consumed.