HOW TO: Clean the snow screen (Lowfi version)

MOGolf and RichC made an excellent how to video for cleaning the snow screen. You can view it here. This HOW TO is for people who don't have the bandwidth to download the movie.

So let's get started...



1. Remove the two 10mm bolts holding the airbox down. The lower bolt will probably require an extension. Once they are free, leave them in the holes in the airbox. They won't fall out as you remove it.

2. Remove the Mass AirFlow sensor connector. Push the tab in and down, and the connector should pull off easily.

3. Remove the spring clamp and intake flex hose from the airbox. I usually put the spring clamp back onto the exit of the airbox so it doesn't crush the flex pipe.

4. Remove the 'vacuum' line connected to the airbox, just under the MAFs. This is a fresh air supply for the vacuum system. It lets things 'unsuck'

Now lift the whole airbox out. If you were changing the filter as well, you could open it by removing the two captive Phillips screws holding the lid on. But if you are only cleaning the screen, leave the box together. Some reccomend never opening the airbox except to change the filter, so that the seal does not become damaged. While you have the box out, you can look in through the hole on the bottom to get an idea of the filter's state. (But this will dump the bolts out if they are still in the holes on the airbox. Doh!)



5. Remove the 10mm nut holding the intake snorkel in place.

6. Wiggle the intake snorkel out. It may catch on the battery cable... but it should come out without too much protest.



7. Remove the 2 Phillips screws holding the snow screen to the intake snorcle. It doesn't pull straight off, rather it has a lip. If you were holding the snorcle as I am in the picture, you would slide the snowscreen assembly down to get it off.



Now clean the bugger! I use a flat screwdriver to scrape the gunk off of the screen... things tend to get deeply impacted into it.

Reverse these steps to get the car back together.

-Jason

Very nice Jason. We all appreciate well documented how to's.

Thanks for the how to. I should do this to mine. This is a small project that I can do while I'm off the next few days....inbetween the jobs that the g/f has scheduled for me. lol

Intake snorkel trap door

I have a question about this procedure. I just cleaned my snow screen and am wondering what is w/ the spring loaded trap door on the intake snorkel? Anyone?

Its in case the screen becomes so completley clogged it cannot flow air any more. The trap door then opens to suck in air.

One example would be if the screen clogged with snow. It then pulls the trap door open and sucks in snow free air from the fender well.

In case the snow screen is blocked, the air pressure will open the door so that the engine can still run.



Jason

Just did mine for the first time - COMPLETELY blocked... It must have been pulling the trap door to get air! Now it's completely clean. We'll see how it helps with the airflow...

Thanks for the great photos - you sure helped me do this service quickly and easily!

Of course I find this after I figure it out on my own...

For some reason, I had it in my head this was located under the battery box... didn't realize cleaning it would be so easy or I would have done it months (or years) ago... Now, I'll probably clean the screen at the next filter change...

Missing Snow Screen

I followed these (excellent) instructions, only to find the screen was missing from the snorkel.

Should I be concerned about this?
Should I try to fabricate something or is a part number available?

I bought the car new, so it appears that this was missed at the factory.

No snow screen on 2005 A4

I also found this weekend that my car had no snow screen. It does not look as it ever had one. In addition the alternate air spring loaded door or valve is not located in the snorkel, it is in the bottom of the air box.

JG was your alternate air door in the snorkel or in your air box?

The snow screen is not present on some cars (including mine now )

If your car doesn't have a snow screen in place, be sure to get the "a" suffix air filter from the dealership, it has a white foam layer on it, which protects the filter from snow ingestion.

-J

air filters

Yep, The air filters that I got in a 20k kit from dieselgeek had the white prefilter layer on them.

Dan

jgcassidy said:

I followed these (excellent) instructions, only to find the screen was missing from the snorkel.

Should I be concerned about this?
Should I try to fabricate something or is a part number available?

I bought the car new, so it appears that this was missed at the factory.

Click to expand...

They stopped using the snow screen beginning with the 2004 models, but some of the early 2004s have them (mine) and have the cold weather air filter.

--Nate

thankyou compu85 after seeing the detailed instructions w/pictures no less, i decided to put my limited abilities to the test lol. WHAT A PIECE OF CAKE!! after 7 plus years of owning my car the snow screen was pretty much plugged. my car was smoking quite a bit after i installed some .205 injector nozzles a while back.. i figured it was either over fuelled or not enough air intake. not only did i clean the screen, got rid of it all together and put cold climate air filter in. im guessing 70% less smoke and a lot smoother acceleration. could not believe the improvement.

THANK YOU

DanG144 said:

I also found this weekend that my car had no snow screen. It does not look as it ever had one. In addition the alternate air spring loaded door or valve is not located in the snorkel, it is in the bottom of the air box.

JG was your alternate air door in the snorkel or in your air box?

Click to expand...

The alternate air door was in the air box.

I tried doing this on my New Beetle this morning, but I couldn't find the bolt that holds the tube in place. Is it hiding somewhere that I just can't see?

I tried wiggling it around and pulling on it (gently, so if there was a bolt it didn't break the plastic), but to no avail.

The new beetle is different. To get at it's snow screen the fender well and driver's tire have to come off. That's as much as I know, I have never cleaned one.

-Jason

Thanks gadget guy, I'm gettin' over bein' intimidated by what at 1st glance looked like an impenetrable maze of german engineering. Couldn't be made any clearer or simpler. Wonderful !

Great pictures! But....

There´s no need to take off the flex tube, MAF connector or the vacuumline, just undo the 2 bolts that holds the airbox in place, and the nut on the tube.
Now you can lift/pull the airbox away, enough to remove the tube from it.
Saves you a couple of minutes

I just cleaned my screen (then I found this thread!) and it was completely clogged

I'm definitely not a motorhead, more like an "anti-motorhead" Tutorials like this one, however have started me down a road from which I'll never recover. Without help like this I would never have attempted even something as simple as this.

I must express thanks to everyone here who lends a helping hand to NooBs like myself Your help is extremely appreciated!!

...oh and the operation went off without a hitch LOL

Cheers!

my buddies 03 golf TDI was completely missing the snorkel itself...that can't be good......right? I mean, here in Richmond we don't hardly ever have to worry about snow.

If the snorkel is missing you get warmer air to the air filter box, maybe more induction noice too but the clatter of the engine probably drowns that noice

I just cleaned mine not 3 minutes ago. It wasn't bad at all. Not too shabby for an 8 year old car

Got my car last December, but I finally decided to check my snowscreen out... Here's what's left of it:



Don't know what happened to it, maybe it was clogged and got sucked in? Or a previous owner cut it... No screen remains were found in the airbox, my guess is that it's been like this for a while. I also noted the "foamy" pad on the trap door is half gone, leaving small openings where it had been. I don't think it matters that much, right?

At least the air filter isn't dirty, but I'll still look for a screen replacement before Winter (or a winterized air filter).

nokivasara said:

Great pictures! But....

There´s no need to take off the flex tube, MAF connector or the vacuumline, just undo the 2 bolts that holds the airbox in place, and the nut on the tube.
Now you can lift/pull the airbox away, enough to remove the tube from it.
Saves you a couple of minutes

I just cleaned my screen (then I found this thread!) and it was completely clogged

Click to expand...

i can vouch for this...i started to take everything apart, until i noticed there was enough wiggle room to get the snow screen piping out without having to take out the whole airbox.

my snow screen, too, was full completely clogged with dirt, butterfly wings, and all around crud. mine's an 03, and i don't think it's been cleaned before today. for as long as this took me, i might consider doing it annually. it's a breeze.

Great pictures! Great How To! I took it a step further and this thread reminded me to finally post the pictures and start this thread:

Pictures: snow PRE-screen keeps bugs out.

I checked mine after just a few thousand miles since last cleaning, had a butterfly, some feathers and a thin coating of dirt on it. I think I'll be cleaning mine every 1000 miles or so and see what it catches!

Will a clogged snow vent adversely affect performance?

Yes, and fuel economy. It's like having a plugged up air filter.