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A/C Evaporator Water Leaking Into Cab

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Old 08-26-2008, 02:43 PM
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A/C Evaporator Water Leaking Into Cab

My 2000 just started leaking water into the cab on the passenger side. It is A/C condesate. The Pee Hole is open and the Rear Cab brake light is good.

The water appears when the A/C is in use. Looks like its running down behind the side cover forward of the door and setting in the rug at the metal trim strip where the floor turns up. It will then spread to the rest of the flat rug under the passengers feet. I can get about a pint of water off the rug using a shammie after driving a couple hours.

I know what the fix is, pull the dash and the evap, just wondering who else may have had this and want did you find. Crack in the evap housing? or something else?

Thanks

Dave
Old 08-26-2008, 03:07 PM
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Easy fix. Get a 1/2" id hose about two feet long. Lay under the truck on the passenger side and find the little plastic drain tube. Push the hose onto the knubby end of the drain and zip tie it to the frame. Problem is now fixed. Did the same to mine, other than I had so much water I had to remove the carpet for it to dry out fully.
Old 08-26-2008, 07:47 PM
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I will try your solution. So, I assume you think there is mold growing under the evaporator blocking the drain hole allowing the condesate to rise in the chamber and leak?

If I find this opens the drain, I may try to shot a little Bleach into the hole. Won't get to this until the weekend. Will let you know.

Anyone else delt with this in the past?

Thanks

Dave
Old 08-26-2008, 08:18 PM
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Rather than useing bleach, try brake clean, its easy to spray and it kills mold and most other things.
Old 08-27-2008, 06:56 AM
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The hose stops the water coming out of the pan from curling back and past the seal on to the floor. Do not use bleach, as said brake cleaner or coil cleaner you can get at any Home Depot or the like. It is coil cleaner used to clean heater and AC coils with and is built to remove dust buildup and mold. Spray it on the coil and let it sit for a few minutes then turn air on. The condensate will rinse it off as the unit runs.
Old 08-27-2008, 07:18 AM
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You can remove the blower fan and access on side of the evap coils. It's probably NOT stopped up. The rubber seal dries up then allws water to weep into the cab as it follows the edges of the drip tube. You'll find the drip tube to be very short. Also you normally don't notice the issue untill there has been alot of water collected in the floor pan. It will never dy out. The carpet and pad will hold the water forever and begin to stink. You really need to take the carpet and pad out and let it lay over some saw horses for a couple of days in the sun. You need to remove the seats to do this. This includes the back seat if you have one.

After removing my seats and carpet, I shop vaced over a gallon up out of the fllor pan and the carpet and padding draind a good sized trail of water for several hours. You can put the seats back without carpet and pads and drive it for a few days. Won't hurt anything.
Old 08-27-2008, 12:52 PM
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I went to AutoZone and got a small hose with a 90* bend and then siliconed it over the pee hole and it works perfect.
Old 08-27-2008, 11:32 PM
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To remove the moisture in the carpet you can put a portable dehumidifier in the cab and let it run overnight. It will dry it out without removing carpet.
Old 08-28-2008, 12:14 PM
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Thanks to all for your replies.

Will post the result.

Dave
Old 08-28-2008, 01:12 PM
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Originally Posted by D2 Cat
To remove the moisture in the carpet you can put a portable dehumidifier in the cab and let it run overnight. It will dry it out without removing carpet.
Great idea!!!
Old 09-01-2008, 09:17 PM
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Finally was able to find a dry spot to install the hose after 24" of rain last week.

The pee hole on my truck is .440" The half inch hose mentioned above would not go in the hole. That was plastic tubing. Went back to the store found some .375 OD plastic hard tubing. Built the tubing up with electrical tape to the size needed. Inserted the hard plastic 3/8" tubing into the 1/2" OD plastic tubing for length and tie wraped it to the frame. Won't known for sure until
tomorrow if what I got works. It was passing water at idle in the drive way.
Pulled the rug up and dried out as much as the insulation as possible with a shamme.

I think it may be possible to find the hard plastic tubing close to .500" OD and make it fit the pee hole. Could not find any today. Going to look for it tomorrow.

Thanks all who replied.

Will repost if the 1/2" OD hard tubing works if I can find it.

Dave
Old 09-02-2008, 06:01 AM
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If you place the end of the hose on a flat spot, then pound it with a hammer about 20 times, it will warm up then end enough to make it go over it. When it cools, it will shrink back a little and form an eternal grip.

Works on just about any tight fitting hose as long as you don't beat it to a pulp.
Old 09-02-2008, 08:15 AM
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Originally Posted by charliez
If you place the end of the hose on a flat spot, then pound it with a hammer about 20 times, it will warm up then end enough to make it go over it. When it cools, it will shrink back a little and form an eternal grip.

Works on just about any tight fitting hose as long as you don't beat it to a pulp.
I will find the correct size hard tube for the hole and change out whats currently in there.

Dave
Old 09-03-2008, 11:46 AM
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If you can attach the hose over the outside of the nipple, it would be better as anything put inside creates a dam (lip) that the water has to get over.
Old 09-03-2008, 02:44 PM
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Today I noticed my entire passenger floorboard is soaked today. I pulled the carpet and can see a stream of water coming down the front of the passenger floor pan from behind a 2 inch round piece of plastic that is part of the HVAC box. Can an AC leak come in there? The AC has been on on my trips around work today. Its also raining like there's some sort of hurricane outside! But I haven't heard of outside water leaks from the front like that.

Can someone explain more about what all can be removed under the dash to look for AC condensation leaks. Someone mentioned the fan blower, are there any more panels that can be removed? Thanks.


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