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-   -   DIY: City cowl panel cleaning & the subterfuge of Honda service centers (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do-yourself/197008-diy-city-cowl-panel-cleaning-subterfuge-honda-service-centers-4.html)

Water logging in cowl top area is a common issue faced by many people. This results in rusting, water/debris entry in HVAC, damage to ECU compartment & even ECU, at times.

Drainage holes are provided in cowl top, but keeping in mind the packaging constraints the hole diameter is just sufficient for water drainage. But in Indian driving conditions, pollutants, oils etc. are present and these could deposit in the holes. Insects, dry leaves etc. aggravate the deposition more leading to watter logging in crevices.

One probable solution which I had used in my Alto K10(Sold) was putting a SS mesh screen (Mosquito Net) beneath the cowl top plastic cover using cable ties. This protects dry leaves etc. from getting inside the cowl thus preventing any deposition. All the debri would remain on the top and could be cleaned using a brush without opening the cowl cover.

Apart from above, the inside area could be coated through proper paint to repell water, dust & rust formation.

Hope this might be useful.

Regards,
Sourabh

First of all many thanks BHPian varunsangal for sharing such useful information and experience.
Very good explanation about DIY job!!!
After going through this thread I decided to have a check on the condition of my car (Feb-14) as well and last Sunday it was DIY session at my parking area.

Sharing some of the pics (I know you are much familiar with them)
Key findings,
1) Yes, its very simple to carry out this job at home, all you need is just a flat headed screw driver, 14 number ring spanner and some cleaning stuff.
2) Time taken for cleaning was approximately 45 mins as you have mentioned in first post.
3) My car has not shown any sign of rusting below the leaf screen area (as of now) although it gets washed twice of week and was being exposed to bad weather condition some times.
4) I think Mumbai's humid weather playing vital role in rusting of the cars :Frustrati

Coat the entire interior of the cowl panel with a anti corrosion spray or any cheap wax that you might have. This will help against wet surface below the plastic cladding. Spray the joints of wiper motor with some WD40 or light silicone oil. :thumbs up

Reading the threads on rusting of the cowl area, I wonder why blame the Service guys? The Service guys anyways are there to only make money and don't care for your car. But it's Honda and their shameless cost-cutting techniques which create these problems in the first place.
My Brio's paint quality, film thickness and pre-paint treatments done on the BIW panels and other internal joinery& weld sections are below par to my earlier Tata Indica!

Has anyone living in Bangalore/ Pune etc. faced similar rusting issues? Or is it particularly related to areas with proximity to the sea and areas with heavy rainfall?

The sea obviously has a great role in accelerating rust formation. However, in this case dirt accumulation may have a greater role. Given the inaccessibility of the area, dirt/muck accumulates and the slightest lingering moisture would give way to rust.

Yes, taking about muck and dirt getting trapped in inaccessible rat holes and pockets, these images I have attached are of the Brio tail-lamp depression which had about and inch and a half deep layer of solidified road muck!
I had to scrape it off and use a pressure washer to remove most of it. The rear tyre splashes all that which gets accumulated on the metal stamping (rear bulkhead) behind the tail lamp in the Brio.
Honda could have easily supplied a cheap plastic or EPDM/ rubber trim to prevent this! Guys, those of you having a Brio, kindly remove the tail lamp/s once and get this checked and cleaned as this area could get rusted pretty easily!

Thanks to crankpin,I opened the brio tail lamps to find a lot of muck.
What i did is washed the area,waxed it and then to prevent this mess i took an old tube and stuck it with bond so tht i could close the gap from where all this comes in from. I used the same yellow color adhesive that the puncture guys use. I did this to prevent further muck from collecting and creating any unwanted rust etc.

Great! So it’s a genuine problem. Will that tyre tube bond hold up considering the splash of water and road debris coming up at speed?
I was thinking on similar lines but was looking for a piece of flat plastic that I Could cut and somehow fasten there

Crankpin,
I applied liberal amount of bond and post drying it seems it will suffice to stay in place. I didn't want to use fevikwik etc as that would damage the paint. In case the bond gives way il think of some other strong adhesive.

How is the tube/adhesive fix holding up? has it affected the paint etc in anyway?

I had always thought that the gaps under the taillight was to let the water flow down and out hidden from view. Putting a tubing would make water flow on the visible paint and eventually spoil it.

This might give a fair idea about removing cowl panels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_-S8GlXGUY

Am gonna try this DIY the coming weekend. In the meantime, if you try this DIY, do post detailed images/video. I am also looking forward to doing this DIY on my 2016 Honda City

What bond was used? Are you talking off fevi bond?
I have an Honda Brio too, now am concerned!

Just remove the tail lamps once in a while and clean the area behind the lamps. There are fasteners which secure the tail lamp which can be easily accessed/ removed.

Can silicon or any sealant be applied where cowl panel part and body are joined together (where black part meets silver body panel)?