Interesting find dealing with frozen wiper shafts

[master cylinder]

Was at my Brothers shop today and he had a 2000 Jetta in the shop for frozen wiper shafts. He discovered that the cowl drains were plugged with leafs and debris which causes the cowl to flood and submerge the shafts. The shaft assemblies only have o-ring seals at the top of the shafts and not at the bottoms. This condition speeds up the shafts seizure (we believe). Has this ever been discussed before or found to be the case? In any event - keep those drains clear

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[jddaigle]

Thanks for the heads-up! My girlfriend thinks I'm crazy whenever she sees me picking at the leaves that wedge themselves down at the bottom of the cowl. Clogged drains lead to a multitude of problems!