Rodent access to plenum area identified ...

Discussion in 'Hyundai Kona Electric' started by KiwiME, May 25, 2023.

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  1. .. by an owner on Reddit who found an encampment on their 'cabin' filter.

    Since my Kona is parked outside 24/7 I thought I better check this out. The plenum area containing the wiper mechanism and HVAC air intake does show signs that Hyundai made some effort to restrict access to anything larger than a lizard but they missed a few spots.

    There is a 25mm diameter hole at each side plus an opening in the upper back corners that may as well have a "Welcome home" sign above it.

    The air intake has mounting points for a grill but that seems to have been missed as well.

    Based on and thanks to @hobbit's photos, and mentioning in his blog that it's 'easy' to take it apart I ripped into it yesterday. And it was easy, 10 minutes max but you'll need to allocate another 30 minutes to clean out all the debris and dirt. I used a hose and a flat kitchen pot scrubbing brush.

    The two 25mm holes I plugged with rubber caps, 1" would be idea, but a piece cut from foam would be adequate. For the triangular-shaped openings I cut out some polystyrene pieces and glued them in place. The plenum cover has foam pieces intended to seal this area but they are too short.

    I placed plastic mesh over the air intake, the only size I could find despite spending 2 hours rummaging around big box stores. NZ does not have the 1/4" opening galvanized mesh that @hobbit used, it's just not a thing found in residential construction here, but that size would be ideal.
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    OzKona, John Lumsden, JoeS and 3 others like this.
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  3. I'll have to revisit mine. I did pull it off at one stage but didn't notice the gaps. Might be slightly different on the 22 Kona.
    In the mean time I have it in the garage at night with the bonnet open. This seems to deter them. If I leave it overnight in the carport, with the bonnet closed, I have droppings everywhere by morning.
     
  4. I've attached a couple photos of my lazy fix.

    Kona mouse proofing material.JPG Kona mouse proofing.JPG
     
    OzKona, UnnDunn and JoeS like this.

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