Leaking from dash. HELP

[87WhiteStang1]

Yesterday i was driving and noticed a puddle on the passenger side floor. It looks like its coming from the heater core. right where the drain goes throught the firewall. its like its draining into the car instead of on the other side of the firewall. Its not coolant its just cold water. I thought it was from the AC but it was doing it even with the AC off, with the car running. Any advice would be great. THANKS

 

[danond]

Drain pipe is plugged for the condenser. Its leaking when it feels like it, water is probably sitting in there all the time.

Check the drain hose. Fish a wire up into it from the outside.

--
Dan in ND

 

[87WhiteStang1]

Hopefully that is all it is. how would it get clogged?

 

[wmburns]

One possibility comes to mind. Dirt dobbers.

Another possibility is wreck. Often during a wreck, the firewall will crease and often break the AC drain. I once went to a salvage yard and noticed the same crease on 3 out of 4 Mustangs.

Yet another possibility is slime/mold. In the words of Houston's own Marvin Zindler, "Slime in the ice machine!".

 

[87WhiteStang1]

I stuck a fishtape up the drain hole and it went about 2 inches and just stopped. didnt seem to be any grime in there or anything. i've used the AC before and never had t his problem. It was still leaking like 30 minutes after i turned the AC off.

 

[wmburns]

Try blowing low pressure compressed air. Or try using a large pipe cleaner.

Yet another method is to use a wet/dry vacuum cleaner to suck it clean.

Did water come out?

Another possibility is the leak is actually from the cowl. There's an inverted cover over the passenger air intake under the cowl. Sometimes the body sealer will shrink and this allows rain water to come into the passenger compartment.

 

[87WhiteStang1]

It was really only leaing when the car was running. thats what i dont understand.

 

[wmburns]

SO....maybe your AC is running and you don't know it. OBTW, the AC does run on defrost.

Look at the AC compressor while the motor is running. If the AC clutch is engaged, the center part of the clutch will be spinning.

 

[BULLITT5228]

Should go further than 2 in. Sounds like your drain is clogged to me.

 

[87WhiteStang1]

I didnt really have the greatest angle to feed it up in there but it went about 2 in maybe 3 and just stopped like it hit a wall. it sounded like it was hitting plastic. If i have time i will mess with it tom. and see what else i can find out. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Lugnuts]

It must be clogged or the drain pan damaged. It is cold water so I would rule out the cowl leak. I have not had this happen but you could try the old drain fix for a clogged house condensate line - hook a shop vac to it as best you can and see if it can pull air and/or the debris that is clogging it. Hope this helps.

 

[87WhiteStang1]

got a chance with it today and i ruled out rain water from cowl because it was sunny all day. It seems like it only does it when the a/c is on and then for a while after i turn the a/c off. I also tried blowing air in the drain and had no luck. The shop vac is a good idea, but even if it was clogged would it reall leak from right at that bottom corner there. It seems like there would have to be a crack for it to leak from there. ALL SUGGESTIONS WELCOME. Thanks.

 

[Lugnuts]

I would try the shop vac first. If you blow air up in there then you may dislodge the junk clogging it but you will leave it up in there to do it again. Think of the heater core box as a tray - it is not completely water tight - you will know this if your heater core goes bad. This tray has a drain for condensate in humid environments to pipe away the condensate - you probably hear it sometimes dripping on your exhaust. If you fill the tray, it will spill over the first spot it finds. Could be a crack or a joint in the box - that is why I suggest thinking of it as a tray. If it is just cold water then you just have a clogged tube or a cracked box in a low spot. The condensate will take the path of least resistance.

 

[87WhiteStang1]

Okay i will try to somehow get a shop vac on it and see what i can get with that. Also. it seems like the water is coming from the very bottom corner of the pan. If i put silicone all around it to seal it would that be a sufficient fix. If it is clogged and i do that, whats the worst that could happen? I don't want it to back up somewhere and damage something. Thanks for the help.

 

[Noobz347]

Drain pipe is plugged for the condenser. Its leaking when it feels like it, water is probably sitting in there all the time.

Check the drain hose. Fish a wire up into it from the outside.

--
Dan in ND

^^this^^


If you were only able to feed it two inches then either you're not fishing the correct tube or you have a very bad angle on it or the item you're using to fish with is not flexible enough to make the turn into the condenser housing.

 

[Lugnuts]

Don't get carried away with a poker - you jab the core in there and you will be leaking more than condensate.

 

[87WhiteStang1]

I will try to suck it but if its just leaking because its cracked would it be safe to silicone it and see what happens? thanks