Pieces of foam coming out AC vent

[550Maranello]

Chaps,

A few pieces of foam came out of the center AC vents. Sometimes it is only an isolated piece.

What is happening?

Regards,

Orazio

 

[gsxr]

Hmmm. Well, there is foam on the main air flap, above the blower motor... it's possible that is the source of the foam. But it would have to be really tiny pieces, as I think it would have to go through the evaporator in order to reach the center vents. I can't think of any other source of foam between those two points.

 

[550Maranello]

Thank you, Dave.

 

[J. M. van Swaay]

There is also some foam around the edges of the ac evaporator, it is supposed to prevent air flow from leaking around the edge of the evaporator and thus not passing over the cooling fins. The only reason I know this is because I have experienced (in its full glory) the ac evaporator replacement project. Particles of his foam, if it is deteriorating, could easily be blown out of the vents.

J. M. van Swaay

 

[gerryvz]

Indeed it is the foam at the edges of the evaporator. My 560SEC had the same problem over the first few years after I got it, with the foam pieces coming out of the center vent. Basically there's nothing you can do about this. It will disintegrate over time and you will see small chunks come out, particularly when the fan is on AUTO or HI. After a few seasons my SEC didn't blow any more foam out. I didn't find any performance issues after this happened. Perhaps there is some minor air leakage but I haven't found it to be an issue in any way. The 560SEC and the E500E climate control systems are very similar in design.

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[gsxr]

Ah yes, good point - thanks for reminding me!

 

[gerryvz]

With regard to the chunks of foam coming out of the center vents when the fan is on high, you will have to remove the dashboard to replace the foam strips that are disintegrating with age. You can see the where the foam is that comes out of the center vents, and how I replaced it (got new adhesive-backed foam at Home Depot) when I did my wife's ACC vacuum pod replacement a while back, on her 1995 E320 wagon. The E320 has an identical ACC system as our E500Es.

The relevant foam-related info and photos are here.

Cheers,
Gerry