road sand coming out of the dash air vents...

Yes and no. Don't fix it. Enjoy the silliness...

(two intake points at just above road level in the front of the nose, on either side of the radiator)

 

See the service bulletin that Rob G. shows in post #37:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/308-328/319173-how-do-i-replace-heater-filters.html

 

That's it, someone has deleted the filters or they have crumpled to dust...blow out the ducts too, from 40 years of debris.

 

I think there is something wrong with that link. A thread from 2003 Canada section is coming up for me.

 

The link seems to work OK for me -- can someone else please give it a try...

 

Works for me....but I am an oddball.

 

I had filter debris shooting out the vents in my 328. A cleaning and replacement of the filters solved the issue.

 

Nielsk

Perhaps someone has d/c'd the duct work from the heat exchangers, or perhaps what you're getting is the dead foam from the original filters?

Open hood, remove spare, remove plastic shroud. Now you can see all the ductwork. Add filters either where the factory probably put them, or where ever you find convenience. I would suggest putting them before the heat exchangers, though, to help keep them clean. For a looong drive I took, I used cheese cloth, which did a great job filtering out summer bugs and dirt but clogged up quickly. I bet using proper airfilter elements would work much better.

While you have the ductwork exposed, use your vacuum cleaner and clean out the entirety of the ducts. All the debris from the past are sitting in those hoses, and every time you activate the fan you get a blowup of dust. I found a lot of dirt in mine. I also found that the ductwork was all kinked and bent funny in front of the heat exchangers. Some patience and it worked much better after straightening and cleaning.

Jonathan
the FiatRN
Denver, CO
gt4 15302

 

You're probably eating disintegrated filter media.....it doesn't taste good A good cleaning of the heater core vanes and ducts will take care of it. I got in there during the first month or so of ownership and cleaned it all up (I had a leaking heater hose which accelerated things a bit). I cut and fitted some of those nice, thin filters from Lowe's/Home Depot which are designed to go into floor or ceiling registers.