OK..Had water in the passenger footwell. Udders all clear...took off the A/C drain tube....water came out ..puddled under car as it should..though everything fine...so left drain tube off....3 weeks later...small amount of water in passenger footwell...but water is dripping out of firewall.....so that would seem to indicate that the drain coming out of firewall is open....took off panel under glovebox and removed blower motor and squirrel cage..small amount of water but..no debris found...in box...no mice nest...no mold or slime....I'm stumped...I know the drain tube sometimes clogs...but it's not even on the car anymore...how can it leak both out the firewall like it should...and yet still get some leak under dash into footwell..Can't drive all summer without worrying that with the A/C on I'm going to drown the BCM...Need any ideas I can get....Thanks ....

 

I think I'm having the exact same problem...except I haven't gotten that far yet. Took the car on a long trip and water was spilling pretty steadily out the passenger footwell, and on turns it even made it to the drivers footwell. Was too hot not to use a/c, so i just threw a towel down there....and one of the fans was making a washing machine/gurgily noise the entire day, which can't be good. After a 3 hr drive, some of my electronics seemed a little screwy, particularly the auto door locks - they kept switching locked to unlocked on their own.

This evening I squeezed the ac drain tube and a bunch of water came out, so I know it was at least partially clogged...but how do you get the thing off? It seems impossible from the top of the engine. Do you have to get it from underneath?

I also took off the panel in the passenger footwell: the entire foam area was soaked, and I noticed that the tube going into what I guess is the blower motor is leaking somewhat, and theres an orange residue? Anyone know what this is or how to fix it?

I ran the a/c again today after the car had sat for a day and I had gotten alot of water out of the drain tube, and there isn't any fan noise anymore...but thats not to say that it isn't going to come back...and I'm not even sure whats making the sound.

 

Picture this, take a small 1 inch diameter of pipe and hold it in a horizontal plane then allow water to pass thru it and watch as it drains out the other side, some water will drip off and some will cling to the pipe and work it's way back along the length of pipe.

The rubber nipple on the end of your drain tube is supposed to stop that action so when you removed it you are now allowing some water to drain from the HVAC unit and run back inside the opening in the firewall and drain into the passenger compartment.

 

There are 5 drain tubes/udders, 1 directly from the HVAC unit in the dash drains through a tube that sticks thru the firewall and comes out right behind the passenger side cylinder head (It's very difficult to see) and you can only access it from underneath the car unless you happen to have the heads off. There is another tube thats exits right behind the PCM and TAC modules, this one is kind of long (about 12-15 inches) and the other 3 are on the drivers side and can be seen by removing the drivers side inner wheel well liner behind the front wheel.

The three on the drivers side are pretty easy and straight forward, clean all of these out and see if that helps.

 

Runamuk

Well, here's the dilemma...when the water 1st started coming into the passenger footwell...I was able to pull the drain tube off from the top of the car by getting two fingers on it and sliding it off...there was nothing in the tube!..but water then started to come out of the drain and drip onto the floor of my garage...so my thought was...if I didn't find any obstruction in the tube itself ...but the water began to drain with it off..then maybe it was better to leave it off....

Magnetic,

You are hearing water sloshing around your squirrel cage fan...it's backed up because something is clogging the ability of the water to drain out on the ground...water is also flowing through your fan motor
because there is a small rubber tube attached to your fan motor. I believe it's purpose is to carry air to your fan motor to keep it cool...but because your evaporator casing is filling with water..water is getting in that tube...the orange discoloration is either from rusting of your fan motor...some dexcool coolant..or maybe some kind of slime or mold in your evaporator housing.

 

Greeeaat.... Well, at least I feel like its manageable. Can't wait to take the blower motor out of there and dump the water ...

 

Theres a drain that I have not heard you mention that you have cleaned. Is behind the battery and can clog allowing water to pour into the HVAC external air intake opening.

Here is a picture of it pulled out of the bottom of the HVAC air plenum under the cowl:



Do not remove it. Just flush it out with a garden hose on full force.

The tube is long and a pain to get routed correctly once you remove it:





There are also three drains on the oter side that MUST be cleaned frequently:





BC

 

Thanks Bill, I had seen that on your post for LEAKS, but wasn't aware it tied into the A/C problems. You mention not removing it, but running the garden hose through it. Do you mean: Disconnect it from the firewall, but don't pull it free? Also, can the drivers side udders be accessed w/out removing the front wheel?

Thanks again...I can't tell you how much money I've saved over the years learning how to fix small Vette problems by using the forum & doing it myself!

 

You mean clean them like this:



If I can get my fat arms in there,,,you can. The udders just pop out and pop back in.

Just pop the passengers drain loose, insert a garden hose nozzel in the drain hose and blast it out! Then pop the drain hose back in.

BC

 

Thanks for your input Bill...I've checked all four udders...the three on the drivers side...and the long one on the passenger side...they were all clear...I'm kind of at a loss here....Having removed the A/C drain tube, which was not clogged...yet then having the water drain out the drain ..I thought the best idea was to leave it off...but since I then got a little water back in the footwell with it off...maybe it's better to put it back on...like was suggested..I did cut the bottom off where it was tapered. I don't know...someone suggested I may have some slime mold in the evaporator casing...I have no idea how to get that out...I'm about ready to give up and sell the car!

 

I have no idea how to get that out...I'm about ready to give up and sell the car![/QUOTE]

Oh no your not! Theres fixes for everything! I had leaks galore in my 98 and 02 and fixed them. Sometimes the place where you think is leaking really isn't. Try this:

Remove the carpet and Jute underlayment from the passengers foot well. You can reinstall the seat if you need to but, I normally leave mine out to provide extra room to diagnose the leaks. Put the carpet in an area where it is warm and dry so that it dries completely, I used a carpet cleaner and cleaned my carpet before i dried it.

Once the carpet is out, run the AC, wash the car and carefully inspect for water intrusion. Mark the areas and take a digital Pic and post so I can see where the water comes in.

There is a possibility that the HVAC drain is clogged from the inside. To fix that issue, remove the HVAC Fan and reach into the cavity and remove any gook thats inside around the drain. I shoved a hooked wire into the drain and pulled out some stuff, You can try that. Make sure that you have the FAN on high so that the pressure will help you extract any trash/plug fron the drain. You can feel air escaping out of the drain hole.

 

You guys are the best

I found one of those udders inside the fender, haven't had time to post a pic to ask what it was.

Guess Ill be cleaning them all and putting it back now that I know where it goes. Thanks

 

Bill - thanks again. I have some time tomorrow to work on these things, I'll let you know how it turns out!

 

I had this problem too. I removed the fan motor and with a mirror, could see the evaporator inside the housing. There was nothing there but water laying inside and something that looked like a small leaf. It wasn't a leaf of course, but appeared to be something that had sloughed off the evaporator. Since the drain is on the other side (firewall side) of the evaporator, I had no way of viewing what might be blocking the rubber A/C drain hose that comes out of the firewall. I taped a piece of rubber hose to my wet vac that looked like it would fit inside of the end of the A/C drain hose...aprox 1" in diameter. (I had been able to remove the hose and cut off the end of it...wasn't easy). When I had this drain hose hooked to the wet vac and reinstalled in the firewall, I turned on the vacuum. It felt like there was all kinds of crap going thru the hose, and although I couldn't see it, I know there was stuff in there. I have had no problems since I did this over a year ago. Be patient and take your time. It isn't an easy task and being in a hurry is a recipe for frustration. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks Didntsettle,

That's exactly what I'll try...I dropped the blower motor and squirrel cage and couldn't see or feel anything inside the box...except one small curled up leaf...which fell out when I dropped the blower motor..I'll connect a wet vac to the drain tube and crank the vac on and see if I get anything..You are right...this is frustrating....especially when you think of all the major problems you could have and yet you can't really drive with your A/C on if you are dripping water on your BCM.

 

Mine started puking water in a driving, humid rainstorm and we were 6 hours from home. I HAD to run the defroster just to be able to see out the windshield. I had my wife drive while I was soaking up water with a towel trying to keep the BCM from getting wet. It was a nightmare. Good luck!