There is a water catching device that sits just above the cabin air filter underneath the windshield cowling. It prevents water from the windshield from flowing down into your cabin air intake and into the rear passenger footwell. This tends not to be an issue when the car is newer because the windshield cowl seals against the windshield preventing water from getting underneath. As that seal gets old and brittle it is no longer able to keep water away from your cabin air intake. There's a second line of defense. It is a metal lip just under the windshield that creates a narrow channel where rainwater that gets past the cowl seal should funnel to, but this area can get filled with debris on older cars or even just overflow if the rain is heavy enough. So that's where this rainwater catcher comes to the rescue. It's the third and final line of defense against water ingress through the climate control ducts. It tends to get lost by unscrupulous dealerships and independent shops during routine maintenance (like belly pans, engine cover, battery cover, and various clips that hold the cowling down).
The part number is 8D1819979
It should snap into the clips on top of your cabin air filter housing like so:
The shape mirrors the curved lower edge of the windshield so that it can collect rain water and divert it down to either side of the cabin air filter, and most importantly not into.
If you've had mysterious and sporadic water ingress that you couldn't track down (not the hood cable seal in the firewall), you might be missing this part.
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