WHY CARE ABOUT OPENINGS IN ENGINE COMPARTMENT SIDE WALLS?

[Дмитрий1960]

There is a wall / partition between the engine compartment and each front wheel well. Each such partition of LADA 4x4 has an opening for link arms and engine compartment ventilation. It should be noticed, that the car alternator and even some of its winding can be clearly seen through the right-side opening, like on the photo/hyperlink below.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/139588...7664426925070/

One may wonder what prevents water from under the wheels from entering the engine compartment through these openings during driving on slops. Probably, a number of factors do:

1) plastic covers of wheel wells,
2) a user-friendly brain, i.e. reducing the speed on slops and/or bypassing them,
3) excessive air pressure in the engine compartment vs. that in the wheel wells.

Now, what prevents water from entering the engine compartment through those openings during a car wash? Apparently, only plastic wheel well covers do, if they are in place.

In case, for some reason, a car owner (like me) chose not to install such plastic covers, having put “liquid wheel arches” instead, he/she may wish to shut the above-mentioned openings for the car wash time, at least when his/her clothes is not an issue.
A soft plastic sheet would be useful for this purpose. To make such a sheet, one should take a paper first, attach it to the partition over the opening and cut it in the required shape using a pen and scissors. Then the thereby-made stencil should be put on to the soft plastic sheet and the latter be cut to the required shape, as shown on the photo/link below.
With this device in place, there will be no worries for the alternator during a car wash. Again, no promise about clean sleeves (and not to forget to remove the cover sheet after the car wash).


https://www.flickr.com/photos/139588...7664426925070/

Good luck to everyone.