Hey guys, long story short I have water coming into my passenger foot well when I run the AC. I read Bill Curlee's leak thread all my udders are clean and clear. I pulled the drain tube off of the firewall and it had no blockage of any kind. I ran a piece of 1/16" dia wire up into the fitting on the firewall and nothing came out. So I thought maybe it's plugged farther upstream. Last night I removed the blower motor, and it had some water inside of it. But from under the dash I can't see a way to reach the back side of that drain. I put my hand up inside where the blower sits as far as I could and I couldn't feel any moisture at all. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

 

I popped the cover off that the footwell light is mounted into and the drain connection was staring me right in the face...

 

I don't think so. The rubber tube you are seeing is likely the blower motor cooling tube and has nothing to do with the HVAC drain tube, which is located in a different place in/on the housing. The HVAC drain tube is not visible from inside the car.
HTH

 

Thats what I thought at first too. That hose is for cooling the blower motor, and when I took it off water did come out but it was not the problem. From inside you can see the part of the HVAC box that goes through the firewall, I just can't get inside of it to clear it out. The only thing I can think of short of taking the whole thing apart is drilling an access hole in the HVAC box, but I don't want to do that.

 

You said you checked the udders for blockage. Does that include the udder on the right (passenger) side of the vehicle?

 

No, I didn't open the access panel in the wheel well. Does the AC drain through there as well? I live more or less in the desert and the car has been dry for over a week (I haven't even washed it). I assumed the problem is all in the AC drain leading to the firewall.

 

You may very well be right in that it may be a lack of ability for water to drain out the HVAC drain tube, but it wouldn't hurt to check the RH udder too. If I'm not mistaken, you should be able to access it by removing the battery. Question: Do you ever see water being expelled or draining onto the ground after running your AC?

FWIW, I do recall seeing a post by another member here some time back regarding some debris he found up inside his HVAC housing after removing his blower. He commented that the "debris" looked to be excess sealant or some such similar material that, presumably, was there from when the HVAC housing was assembled. I know you said you reached up inside the housing as far as you could, but I couldn't help but remember his post. It seems the debris was preventing some or all of the condensation from being able to drain out the tube by preventing the water from getting to the tube in the first place. Food for thought maybe.

BTW, the RH udder does not drain the HVAC housing. It only allows water to escape the plenum area in front of the windshield, similar to the LH udders.

 

I'll check the right hand udder tonight. I do not see any moisture on the ground after running the AC. I drove the car on tuesday, and the blower motor made bad noises when turning left. Did a search here on the forum and water seemed to be the suspect. Sure enough when I took it apart the motor had water in it.

I do recall coming across the post about the sealant during my search. If I remember correctly they were replacing the evaporator in the HVAC box, so they had the whole thing apart. I may have to take a good look at my service manuals and decide if I can do something like that.

 

If, in fact, you are not getting any water drainage during A/C operation, it may be partially due to the relatively dry climate in which you live. It's commonly known that an A/C system will accumulate more condensation on the evaporator on a humid day as opposed to a "dry" day. Having said that however, I would expect at least some condensation to occur that needs to drain away.

It would appear, at least, that you may in fact have some sort of problem internal to the HVAC housing which is preventing water from draining. FWIW, I would suggest at least trying to clear the drain tube again, but this time however you may try something longer and more flexible than a piece of wire. I have seen people using a long Ty-Wrap and insert it into the drain tube and work it well inside the housing too. Being plastic it won't damage anything and being flexible it may help reach farther inside.
HTH

BTW, maybe the long Ty-Wrap (or other device) may not be a bad idea inside the housing as well.

 

Check the right udder last night, all clear.
I read the instructions last night for removing the HVAC box, holy crap man! That project definatly needs an open garage and a large tool collection, I have neither. I think I will take you advice and swing by the hardware store. Hopefully they have those ties in long lengths. I think I remember someone on the forum said they cut barbs in the sides of the tie, so I'll try that. If that doesn't work I'll see if I can get a vaccume on it and maybe that will work.

You may be right about the humidity thing. This happened as I was coming home from a trip to the central valley here in CA. When I got home the carpet was wet, but that is a regular trip for me and this has never happened before. Anyway, thanks for your help LoneStar, I'll let you know how it goes.

PS you avatar is creepy as hell, Obama scares me even more now.

 

Yup, you're right. HVAC assembly removal is a major labor intensive undertaking. Not for the faint of heart. I only wish GM had designed the "floor" of the HVAC housing with a more angled depression or maybe a "trough" to help direct water, in a more positive manner, towards the drain tube.

As I suggested above, I think it may be worthwhile to try checking/cleaning/clearing inside the housing after blower removal too. Who knows? You may even have some algae build-up that has accumulated to, or is attaching itself to some dust/debris, etc and creating a drainage problem. Your idea of a vacuum sounds good too. Maybe try vacuuming from the drain tube side as well as inside the housing along with a shot of spray Lysol to kill any algae/bacteria, etc.

Another thing that some people have tried too is switching to the "heater" position, setting the temp. to "high" and turning the blower to "high" as they approach their destination. Drying out any moisture is the idea. It's a nuisance to have to remember to do it but might help in the interim while you search for the bigger problem.

Let us know what you find. You seem determined to find the problem and I, for one, can't blame you; this is the kind of thing that drives me nuts too. If you do, you can share it with the rest of us here and hopefully help out someone else.

Re avatar: Often much mischief lurks behind the facade of a "friendly" face and smooth talk.

 

Well I put it back up on the ramps tonight and pulled the drain tube again. This time I took a 12" tie and cut barbs into the end and stuck it as far in as I could reach. When I pulled it out I felt a snag and then I got a face full of water . The only down side is after I put the tube back on I noticed the end of the tie had broken off up in the HVAC box. Tomorrow I'll reinstall the blower and run the AC to see if it still drains ok. I hope the end of that tie won't cause me any problems.

 

Yikes! Sorry to hear about the impromptu shower. That must have been a heck of a "yank" to make that nylon break. Depending on how much of the Ty-Wrap broke off inside, it may not be a future problem. You might get lucky with some vacuuming from the blower-hole side and get it. You might try taping up a small (5/16" or 3/8" ID?) section of rubber hose to the end of your vacuum hose so you can get inside deeper.

At least it sounds like you may have done some good in clearing the drain tube area. Did you see any signs of what the blockage may have been? Any signs of algae, dirt, etc? I'm still inclined to think it may be helpful to spray the inside of the housing for several seconds with Lysol. If nothing else if may retard bacteria/algae growth. As I'm sure you know, the inside of these housings are basically a petri dish for anything and everything to grow in there.

HTH

 

Well I went out this afternoon to install the AC blower, and I found the end of the tie wrap on the ground. I guess I broke it after pulling it out, maybe I jammed it into my ramp or something. Anyway, after putting it all back together I went for a 20 minute drive with the AC blasting, and when I stopped at home I could hear the water dripping and sizzling on the exhaust. I never did find what the blockage was. It may have just been some dirt. I shot some Lysol in there like you suggested, figured it couldn't hurt. If I have any more problems in the future I will try the vacuum, but for now it looks ok. Thanks again for the help LoneStar, I appreciate it.

 

Coolness! Bad pun intended.

 

does anyone have pics of all this?

 

[QUOTE=basa;1569043518]does anyone have pics of all this?[/QUOTE
A photo of the drain tube would be great! I've never noticed any condensate draining from my car (if any, very little) But I've never found any moisture in the passenger floorboard computer either. I always chalked it up to very low humidity, but I'd like to check the drain for obstructions to be on the safe side.

 

found a thread with pics.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...ak-checks.html

 

I see a hint about Heater Box Removal instructions. Anyone got a pointer to them?

thanks!

Rick