A Few Words on Lada 4x4 Body Ventilation and Drainage
 

MY ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE THE LADA 4X4 BODY VENT INSIDE THE REAR PILLAR
The rubber baffle in the car body air vent opening located inside the rear pillar which normally excludes external air entry into the car body, is often pushed-in by the air inflow, bringing-in raindrops and snowflakes which eventually drop onto the lower rear portion floor behind the rear wheelarch and accelerate body corrosion. Besides, if pushed-in and stuck inside the body, the vent baffle hinders normal air outflow, which also increases moisture inside the car body. It appears that such moisture can be decreased by preventing the vent baffle from pushing-in inside the car body. This can be provided by installing a narrow vertical plastic strip in the air vent opening. In other words, the existing horizontal partition in the air vent is not sufficient, the vertical one is needed as well. The cheapest means to provide this would be a bundle tie normally used for bundling electrical wires, preferably the white one, as better visible through the vent opening in the rear side panel through the open trunk door (in my photo it is black).
One end of the bundle tie (the one with the lock) should be inserted behind the roof liner. The other end should be brought behind the plastic crossbar of the vent opening and further, to the lower side of the vent opening. Should it be left there outside the body or inserted back inside it? The good question. It depends on how the lower end of the bundle tie performs. So far, I keep the lower end of my bundle tie inside and watch it from time to time, to make sure that is works as intended, keeping the rubber baffle outside the body wall at all times, but close enough to the wall. Pls see the photo below or follow the link:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1720/...21e6f924_m.jpg

MY ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE THE DRAINAGE OF CAVITY IN LADA 4X4 REAR BEHIND THE WHEELARCH
Some water is usually accumulated in the cavity behind the wheelarch, which accelerates corrosion of the body. The factory installed rubber plug is rarely opened, because the process is quite labor-consuming. It appears that such water accumulation can be prevented by inserting a thin drainage tube / hose through the plug. To do so, I made a hole in the plug, with a diameter corresponding with that of the hose. I used a transparent silicon hose with expansion at the upper end, in order to prevent the hose from falling out. I brought the other end of the hose behind the splasher, in order to hinder the reverse water penetration upward. Such drainage should only be made behind the right wheel (given that the exhaust pipe is on the left side). I fixed the hose to the towing shackle with a plastic bundle tie, in order to avert any of its movement during the car motion. Pls see the photo below or follow the link:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1673/...2d45e88c_m.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1669/...7e2c239f_m.jpg

I hope it will help.

Re: A Few Words on Lada 4x4 Body Ventilation and Drainage
 

Notice: Having inserted the hose through the hole in the plug, I put a rubber sealing gasket of the same diameter on the hose from the lower end, then pressed it to the plug underneath and locked it with a small wire bundle tie. I believe, this will provide additional vertical fixation of the hose in the plug opening and additional protection of the body cavity against water entry from underneath.

Re: A Few Words on Lada 4x4 Body Ventilation and Drainage
 

Another tip: to insert a bundle tie for the above-described purpose, one does not necessarily need to fully dismantle the side panel. If an instrument like hemostat is available, just removing three screws will do (pls see the photo below).
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1664/...61443345_m.jpg https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1472/...1199d3af_m.jpg https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1601/...166b9495_m.jpg

Re: A Few Words on Lada 4x4 Body Ventilation and Drainage
 

When visiting Lada dealership, I approach new Lada4x4s to check out the above-described rubber baffle position. During my latest visit, I found it pushed-in in all three cars being there on sale (the right-side ones, by the way, I don’t know why). Perhaps that has something to do with the pre-sale car washing process (stream direction …), but this is not a point. The manufacturer could have easily implemented my idea about using a bundle tie to fix the baffle, but we are still there. Brand new cars are sold and bought with the old defect and probably with some water (after washing) behind the rear wheel arch. Weird.