Leaves in mah Grille!

[Cyker]

So I was going over the car making sure it was ready for the return to work, checking fluid levels, tyre pressures (Rear right was a bit low, gonna have to keep an eye on that one!) etc., and noticed there were a smegload of leaves wedged in the gap under the radiator!

After some judicious use of the hoover crevice attachment and a barbecue fork I managed to drag all the little buggers (And some big buggers!) out.

I was wondering what you lot do? Do you clean them out? Ignore them? Cover the grille? Flamethrower?

I made an adhoc mesh grille for my Mk2 because the lower rad was so prone to stone chip damage (Which I suspect was also the cause of one of the the AC gas leaks), and I'm wondering if I should do something similar for this; Main problem is the lower grille seems to be part of the front bumper and not removable like the Mk2's, which will make it a lot harder to mount it securely

[anchorman]

Pick it up by its back wheels and shake mine 😉.  It gets pressure washed weekly, often twice this time of year so I don’t think I suffer but I’ll double check tomorrow.  

[SinglePointSafety]

Yeah, our 'main car' (VW iD3) has this same 'design feature' which traps an entire forest of leaves at the bottom of the rad. Fortunately they're easy to remove, will look out for similar occurrence on our YC, so interested to see what's the best strategy for leaf removal (guess if you leave them, you'll get nice leaf compost eventually....)

[PCM]

14 hours ago, Cyker said:

 

I was wondering what you lot do? Do you clean them out? Ignore them? Cover the grille? Flamethrower?

 

I clean them out by whatever means... a long stick, my fingers etc...

[Guest]

Strange, I've never ever experienced the phenomenon of forestation with any car owned?

[forkingabout]

This would be my solution, blow them away 🤣

[Eddie G]

3 minutes ago, forkingabout said:

This would be my solution, blow them away 🤣

You may have found the only good reason to have a leaf blower 😂

[Cyker]

42 minutes ago, newagetraveller said:

Strange, I've never ever experienced the phenomenon of forestation with any car owned?

Count your blessings! In autumn we normally get massive drifts of leaves here, and this is a city - God knows what it's like for people that have to drive through an actual forest in autumn!!

Normally my car just gets covered in them, but they were particularly fiddly to dig out from the grille in the Mk4 because of the gap under the radiator they all got wedged in to.

Spring is almost as bad - One of our neighbours has a blossom tree, and while the blossoms are beautiful they are razor thin and stick like  to the car if you don't brush them off before it rains!

 

[Yugguy1970]

Aye, the damn things get everywhere down the hole where the wiper pole is, a right pain

[Bernard Foy]

12 hours ago, anchorman said:

Pick it up by its back wheels and shake mine 😉.  It gets pressure washed weekly, often twice this time of year so I don’t think I suffer but I’ll double check tomorrow.  

Maybe a change of username to SUPERMAN😂🤣

[Bper]

You could always try compressed air, or a leaf blower, long paintbrush etc . It all depends on how much room there is. 

[MikeSh]

4 hours ago, SinglePointSafety said:

interested to see what's the best strategy for leaf removal

Emergency stop?

If seriously blocked then ram the car in front a couple of times.

[MikeSh]

4 hours ago, newagetraveller said:

Strange, I've never ever experienced the phenomenon of forestation with any car owned?

I had a car with radar for collision avoidance and adaptive cruise which was behind a flat area in the lower 'bumper'. While driving one wet autumn day I got a failure message for it.

Pulled into a lay-by and found there was a single, soggy leaf stuck right in the middle of the radar area. Brushed it off and normal service was resumed.

I don't think I ever drove it in snow or the like, so I wonder if that would have broken it too, or was it to do with the leaf in particular.

[TonyHSD]

Remember the Auris forum when one guy had a collision with pigeon and the poor thing was hanging out of the grill 🐥😢 much worse than leafs 😂 

Jet wash cleans them nicely and it’s beneficial for the radiators to free them from salt and grit that’s typical for the season 👍

[bathtub tom]

I once followed a lorry for miles that was carrying straw bales. It was raining. Bits of straw were coming off like snow and there wasn't enough room to overtake. When we eventually got to our destination - a farm, the owners thought our car looked hilarious.

I wished I'd washed it there and then, straw emits a starch that sticks like glue. Took ages to get it off!

[Pumatron]

Buy a Nissan Leaf?🤔