YUP...It's a PITA! 
HELP plastic cowl
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 42
Likes: 0
HELP plastic cowl
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just bought my 1st 01 coupe and i noticed on the passenger side right were the wiper blade sits on that little peice on the cowl,the cowl is raised up a little off the windsheild where the plastic meets the sheild not perfectly flat against the windsheild should this be a concern with water getting behind there when it rains ????hope not !!!!!!
just bought my 1st 01 coupe and i noticed on the passenger side right were the wiper blade sits on that little peice on the cowl,the cowl is raised up a little off the windsheild where the plastic meets the sheild not perfectly flat against the windsheild should this be a concern with water getting behind there when it rains ????hope not !!!!!!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,938
Likes: 65
From: Rochester Hills MI
shouldnt be a concern, but it sounds like your cowl has suffered a bit of UV damage. i would suggest replacing it with a new one. it really makes the car look newer when replacing that old oxidized peice with a deep shiny black new one. keep up with the armor all and it wont happen again.
Instructor
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 117
Likes: 2
From: Providence RI
It's not too hard. There is about 5 or 6 plastic rivets that have to come out. Then the wiper caps needs to be removed and I sprayed some rust penetrate on the nuts to loosen some rust and they came off rather easy. The wiper arms stuck a little, I sprayed a little more penetrate and let it soak into the pivots, then I screwed the nut over the first few threads and placed a small block of wood on the nut and tapped it with a hammer. This broke free the arm from the pivot. After that, the cowl slides downward and then up and over the wiper pivots. When I reassembled I put some anti seize on the wiper pivots and threads, put the arms back on, tightened the nuts and coated the top of the nuts in anti-seize also.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 19,398
Likes: 1,139
From: Dyer, IN
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just bought my 1st 01 coupe and i noticed on the passenger side right were the wiper blade sits on that little peice on the cowl,the cowl is raised up a little off the windsheild where the plastic meets the sheild not perfectly flat against the windsheild should this be a concern with water getting behind there when it rains ????hope not !!!!!!
just bought my 1st 01 coupe and i noticed on the passenger side right were the wiper blade sits on that little peice on the cowl,the cowl is raised up a little off the windsheild where the plastic meets the sheild not perfectly flat against the windsheild should this be a concern with water getting behind there when it rains ????hope not !!!!!!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,012
Likes: 15
From: Jensen Beach FL
I've had mine off quite a few times for various reasons. There are 5 tabs that slip under catches to hold the cowl down. If the previous person that removed it was not careful he could have broken one or two of the tabs. You could try and take it off and see if it is just not on properly or if the cowl is old replace it. As mentioned above soak the wiper nuts with blaster to remove the nuts then soak it again after you remove the nuts to make the arm easier to remove. I just pulled and wiggled and they popped off. I don't think having it raised up like it is a problem though.
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Sounds like the tabs are not under the windshield. You might be able to loosen the cowl by removing all of the little plastic fasteners and adjust it (pop it back in) without removing the wipers.
