Foam shooting out of AC vents - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

stateofidleness · 07-10-2010, 03:22 PM

occasionally at startup, when the AC kicks in real hard, it'll blow that foamy stuff out of the AC vents. I can visually see some of it "clogged" in the end of the vents. I "clean" it out occasionally, but I'm wondering if this is an indicator of something failing, perfectly normal, something that can be fixed, etc.

Anyone else experience this?

note: my AC works perfectly fine, just annoying little foam pieces fly out on me

extanker · 07-10-2010, 03:43 PM

you can check your cabin filter and area for rotting seal material. some times they use pieces of foam to seal plastic duct joints. unless you really lose a lot of volume of air dont worry about it

stateofidleness · 07-10-2010, 03:47 PM

dumb question, i know where the air filter is, but where's the cabin filter?

kabel · 07-10-2010, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stateofidleness

Anyone else experience this?

Oh yes. It is "normal" in that this happens over time. And just when you think no more foam could possibly still be in there, more blows out. I think there was an old thread here somewhere about cleaning/replacing the source of the foam...

Topless · 07-10-2010, 08:25 PM

Sounds like your HVAC mix flaps are coming apart and the foam is coming out. Here is a DIY fix: http://www.carboncow.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=96

I have not done this repair but it looks pretty simple and inexpensive. Just time and a little duct tape.

stateofidleness · 07-10-2010, 08:29 PM

aww geesh are you serious?...

porsche never ceases to amaze me... let's see.. i have tape on my plastic rear window, and now im gonna need tape on an AC diverter... for what they charge for their stuff, you'd think they'd get this small stuff correct the first time.

Mauiboxster · 07-10-2010, 11:34 PM

That will be a job for the next owner of this car.

I have the same issue. my peices dont actually fly out they just get stuck behind the vents. Pain in the butt to get them out.

Topless · 07-11-2010, 10:57 AM

It seems that this problem is more common with cars in warm, moist areas: Texas, Florida, Louisiana etc. I don't think Germany gets warm and moist very often.

If you live in Texas and want your A/C to be all that it can be, the DIY repair should make a big difference.

shacky · 05-09-2015, 01:36 AM

I have this problem. Car was Texas car.

Link no longer active. Anyone have active link to this fix or better fix?

Jamesp · 05-09-2015, 05:25 AM

Member Meir Schwartz did an excellent write up on replacing the foam. Replacing the foam looks about as easy as replacing the piston rings.

shacky · 05-09-2015, 10:12 AM

Holy crap Batman. No way do I have patience to do that! I think I'll suffer with the foam shooting out.

leftfield6 · 05-09-2015, 02:24 PM

The link referenced above has disappeared from it's original website, and is only online in PDF format here:

Link

Basically it involves doing some surgery to the heater box under the front bonnet. No need to pull the dash etc. At first what is being proposed here may seem too good to be true. let me assure you, it works. After about 3 hours of following the instructions, I now have all the heat I could possibly want, and I've stopped the foam blowing out.

When you read the instructions, at one point the instructions mention using electrical tape to cover the door with, it will make sense when you read the process. I have an improvement to offer. I used a silicone adhesive to glue a plastic cap on the hole you have to create to do the surgery. Worked great, and I think will hold up to the heat better.

i did this months ago, and it has worked perfectly since then. Still get a random piece of foam blowing out, but most of it came out in the first week after the repair.

Brockmeister · 05-31-2015, 03:02 PM

I'm glad there's a write up for this. I 'm finally ready to fix this puppy!

gtoger · 06-01-2015, 01:11 PM

OOOH! My Texas car shoots copious amounts of nasty stuff formerly identified as foam. I am most interested in this fix, and will see if I can tackle it!

steved0x · 06-03-2015, 04:32 AM

My car is shooting foam, but the AC still works good and so does the heat. Although being in FL I rarely turn it on. For a long time it was nothing, and then lots of foam (which I picked out from behind the vents) and now it is back to nothing. I guess when the foam ages out it does it all at once.

I have the repair steps, but until things stop working I probably won't do anything as it is working good enough for me right now.

Steve