Pine needles in the cowl drains!

[whitesleeves66]

I haven't driven my car in a while, and unfortunately I parked it under a tree with needles. I took it to a mechanic just to get some other things checked and he mentioned that the cowl drains, where the water from the windshield drains down near the wheel wells, is all blocked by pine needles. He said to get them removed by the shop it would cost nearly $200!!! It seems like that's something I could do myself. He suggested tking off the fenders, but how do I do that and what do I do from there?

 

[Muckman]

You can do it yourself by removing the cowl. Just remove the wipers by poping off the covers to get to the nut. Then pop off the 6 covers on the cowl to get to the screws. Remove the cowl and you will be able to vacuum out the debris.