wow! Many thanks, Walt, for the very informative presentation on how to approach the problem of the apparent condensation leak. I will hand him the 3 page printout! Marv # 17707 marv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----- Original Message ----- From: "Walter Coe" <Whalt@xxxxxxx> To: <DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, September 13, 2002 3:14 PM Subject: Re: [DMCForum] need help > > He has a moisture leak on the carpets - both > > driver's and passenger side. > > If the car has a manual transmission, it is possible that the dampness on > the drivers side is from leaking clutch fluid. Moisture on the passenger > side can be expected due to condensate forming on the outside of the a/c > housing. > > I currently have the housing out of my dash while I replace the evaporator, > so I'm taking pictures and making notes for a technical page. If the drain > backs up far enough while the movement of the car causes water in there to > slosh, then drips can make it to the drivers side front floor. So it is > possible for a clogged drain to wet both sides of the car. > > > Where is the a/c drain plug located? > > There is no drain "plug" unfortunately. I have heard of people cutting a > hole in the a/c housing under the dash to provide access to clean out the > drain, but this seems like over-kill to me. > > To make sure that the drain line is unobstructed and working properly, you > will need to find both ends of it. This line is an otherwise straight > flexible hose with a 90 degree bend under the dash where it hooks to the > bottom of the a/c housing. This point is located on the passenger side of > the car just over the passenger side of the fiberglass underbody's center > hump. You may need to pull the carpet back to see it. It is such a tight > fit that there is no point in trying to disconnect it. That is the reason > for people cutting an access hole next to it. > > The other end of the line is easy to find provided that the factory didn't > goof. I've worked on a goofed car already. The drain line is supposed to > run along the left side of the frame and terminate at about the point where > the pair of flexible fuel lines hook to the metal lines at the frame. The > end should allow condensate to drip between the frame and the right front > wheel. You can access this point either by removing the fuel pump access > cover under the spare tire or by jacking the car up and taking the wheel > off. I prefer to attack it from the top. > > It is not uncommon for this line to terminate in the wrong place. At least > several cars were assembled such that the line instead points toward the > drivers side of the car where it is pinched between the fiberglass underbody > and the fuel tank. If this is the case, it will be a challenge to reach in > there and pull it out without having to remove the fuel tank. > > Unless you are a surgeon with probing lenses, there is no way to see if the > elbow at the housing is unclogged. Use a piece of coat hanger or similar > wire to stick through the end of the line to drag out any debris you can > with it. It helps to bend a loop in the end and make sure it doesn't poke > through the line or snag. > > You may want to try back flushing with a garden hose. But it is very easy > to flood the front floor doing this. (Ask me how I know. :-) The owner of > the car was watching under the dash while I turned the hose on. We were > expecting to see it drip from the passenger side, but instead it poured from > the drivers side. For future reference, I plan to measure how much water > the housing will hold so that we will know just how much backflushing it > would take before flooding. It is probably around a liter. > > The way the system is designed presents some interesting problems. Leaves > enter the housing via the grille below the windshield. These dump in on top > of the blower and accumulate on the input side of the evaporator. For > debris to make it to the drain, it has to filter through the evaporator. > And of course it is bad to have it continually sit in a damp heap of > compost. To make things even worse, there is a wire mesh screen on the > drain side to insure that larger particles stick in the evaporator. > > Remove the blower motor and reach your hand through the hole to dig out any > leaves you find. Be careful not to damage the blower motor resistor pack. > From the outside it appears as a group of wires terminating on the a/c > housing next to the blower. From inside, it is a bundle of delicate > air-cooled coils of resistive wire. You may prefer to remove the two screws > holding it in to get it out of the way. It unplugs from the wires, but rust > may have seized it on. If it works, there is no point in breaking it trying > to take it apart. As you reach your hand through the blower hole toward the > center of the car, you will feel the evaporator oriented at an angle. Be > careful not to bend the delicate fins. If you have never seen one, it looks > similar to a condenser coil or radiator. Scoop as much of the compost as > you can out of there using your fingers. It is not possible to reach the > drain from the blower motor hole because the evaporator totally blocks the > path. > > Let us know what you find. We are getting ready to put up a web page full > of technical procedures. You are welcome to contribute. > > Walt > > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > DMCForum-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> 4 DVDs Free +s&p Join Now http://us.click.yahoo.com/pt6YBB/NXiEAA/MVfIAA/HliolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: DMCForum-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Your use of Yahoo! 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