3D Printable 'Rain Guard' - Keep the water out of your spark plug wells

[ctechbob]

Does it work? - Hell if I know, it should. --EDIT-- Actually, it appears to work pretty well after testing.

Material to use - TPU or Nylon - Those two materials should have the best heat resistance to deal with engine bay heat. PLA will turn into a soggy taco in short order.

Will I make one for you? - Ehh, I dunno. They take about 7 hours for me to print and they don't turn out 100% great in my opinion, I'm undecided at this point.

If you start making and selling these, I want a couple %. Just kidding.

I decided the other night that there should be a little more elegant way for us to protect our spark plug wells from water, so I drew this thing up. You'll need to use longer panel clips, or just use bolts and some washers to secure it to the cowling.

Mine is white because that's the only TPU I had at this moment. If it works, I'm printing one in black. You can make yours pink, purple, or sparkly mauve if you want.

Included in the zip is the .stl file and the original file from Designspark if you happen to use that CAD program. I haven't quite made the jump to Fusion yet.

I printed without support and you likely can too if you take it slow. Mine still don't turn out perfect, but it is good enough.

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[RedDakooter05]

If i still had my ranger I'd print this asap. But I don't. Good work otherwise... I'm still learning cad soft myself.

 

[RangerBill]

Does your tray seal the center seam of the cowl? That is where the water leaks down the seam onto the engine. On my truck, I sealed that seam with black RTV sealant. I never had water leak onto the engine, but I did that as a preventative measure.

 

[ctechbob]

Doesn't really seal anything, just works as a rail to shift the water from the center of the engine off to the sides.

 

[RangerBill]

Doesn't really seal anything, just works as a rail to shift the water from the center of the engine off to the sides.

I forgot to mention that the water leaks out of that center seam of the cowl and runs down the hole that the black pushpin is inserted in and then onto the engine. I was careful to seal that pushpin along with the cowl center seam.

 

[ctechbob]

I forgot to mention that the water leaks out of that center seam of the cowl and runs down the hole that the black pushpin is inserted in and then onto the engine. I was careful to seal that pushpin along with the cowl center seam.

It should catch it then since it runs well under the holes the pushpins are in.

 

[Grumpaw]

Good idea, but, if you follow my thought.....the channel needs to be under the lip, not in front of it.
If you could devise a way to "reverse" the positioning of the channel so channel or a revision, sits "under" the lip instead of in front...it would catch water from the split in cowl, and divert it.
Would also make the part wider to fit between the "protrusions" on the cowl lip.
Make it black.....
I'll be first in line for one.....

 

[ctechbob]

Good idea, but, if you follow my thought.....the channel needs to be under the lip, not in front of it.
If you could devise a way to "reverse" the positioning of the channel so channel or a revision, sits "under" the lip instead of in front...it would catch water from the split in cowl, and divert it.
Would also make the part wider to fit between the "protrusions" on the cowl lip.
Make it black.....
I'll be first in line for one.....

Something you can't see.

It does extend back under that lip. You can't see it in the pictures because I ran out of white and had to swap to black for that part of the print.

You can't put the piece between the plastic and the metal, then the water wouldn't make it up over the lip. It has to sit below everything for the water to flow down on to it.

I actually might kill the bevels off the ends and extend it back a little further. Waiting on a new roll of black TPU to show up, so I'll do it then.

 

[RangerBill]

Something you can't see.

It does extend back under that lip. You can't see it in the pictures because I ran out of white and had to swap to black for that part of the print.

You can't put the piece between the plastic and the metal, then the water wouldn't make it up over the lip. It has to sit below everything for the water to flow down on to it.

I actually might kill the bevels off the ends and extend it back a little further. Waiting on a new roll of black TPU to show up, so I'll do it then.

You may need to apply sealant to the pushpin and hole to seal it.

 

[WheelMon]

Would like to purchase one please!

 

[Josh Stretch]

I'd buy one!

 

[ctechbob]

Well, it didn't rain hard enough today, so I drug out the hose.

The video speaks for itself.

I've since made a few modifications to the piece, added 5mm per side to extend it out a little bit, did away with the beveled edges on the mounting flange, and added some radiuses in a few places. The video is of the original piece.

 

[Grumpaw]

YIKES !!! Tells me I am going to extend my foam split tube cover to cover the entire flange joint from one side to the other !!!

 

[ctechbob]

YIKES !!! Tells me I am going to extend my foam split tube cover to cover the entire flange joint from one side to the other !!!

Yep.

I don't much care for it dripping on that coil connector either, so I'm changing it up so it doesn't hit that as much.

As well as chopping some material out of it.

 

[ctechbob]

Ok, here's another file, this one should put the drips off of the coil connector, also, use less filament and look a little more finished in places.

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