2001 996 Water on the passenger floorboard

[FloridaMark]

Dear all:

 

I have water on the passenger (right) side floor board of my 2001 996 base coupe. Here are the signs and symptoms, and hopefully relevant info: the water seems to drip from the AC vent. The car hasn't been out in the rain or through a car wash since I dried it out thoroughly. Drove it for about an hour yesterday with the AC on, and the passenger side is soaked. When parked, a healthy amount of condensate came out by the left rear wheel (that's the driver's side, opposite the side where the floorboard is wet), bit nowhere else.

 

Based on the great info on this site, I checked all four drains under the front cowl. All four were unobstructed and dry as a bone, but there a couple of small leaves in two of them so I cleaned them out. My car has the little clear window over the VIN and the slotted drain grommets, so it looks like the TSB has been applied. I also removed the cover panel on inside of the passenger side rear wheel well. I couldn't positively ID a drain. The area was relatively clean - a little dusty, but no discernible mud, etc. Also very dry. I took out both rear speakers and felt around from the inside of the car all the way down to the bottom of the wheel wells. I suppose that tip only works on the cabriolet...it was clean and dry inside both and there was no drain line .

 

I ran the car with cowl under the hood/bonnet off and the AC on. The AC lines get cold and water condenses on them (both under the bonnet and running along underneath the car on the passenger side), but it doesn't leak or drip excessively. While it was running, I looked underneath, and saw water dripping from the plastic skid panels under the center of the car up forward. It didn't do that yesterday. I can't imagine that pulling out a couple of dry leaves from the drains under the bonnet made a difference...could it have?

 

I'm pretty sure that the issue is condensation from the AC system, since it's getting wet from no other source (and it's clear water, not coolant). It would help me to know: where is AC condensation water SUPPOSED to come out under the car when everything's working properly - front, rear, both? Is there a drain hose from the AC condenser that I can access somewhere up front other than as mentioned? I apologize if this is covered clearly somewhere else. I'm just kinda flummoxed...what am I missing?

 

Thanks very much for any guidance (even a link to some obvious other posting I should have found already)!

 

 

[JFP in PA]

Your heater/ac system has a drain that is nearly in the center under the car, just about at the windshield looking at the car from the side.  This line runs to the drip pan under the heater assembly.  Because of the amount of condensate generated, mold often grows in this drain, blocking it, which leads to water on the floor inside the car.  The optimum way to clear it is with some low pressure air from below.  Be very circumspect about  pushing a probe into this line as is it very easy to rupture the hose or dislodge it, which require pulling the inside heater assembly to replace.

[FloridaMark]

3 hours ago, JFP in PA said:

Your heater/ac system has a drain that is nearly in the center under the car, just about at the windshield looking at the car from the side.  This line runs to the drip pan under the heater assembly.  Because of the amount of condensate generated, mold often grows in this drain, blocking it, which leads to water on the floor inside the car.  The optimum way to clear it is with some low pressure air from below.  Be very circumspect about  pushing a probe into this line as is it very easy to rupture the hose or dislodge it, which require pulling the inside heater assembly to replace.

 

Thanks very much, that helps. Does a lot of plastic/skid plate have to come off to get to the end of the drain, or does it exit in some kind of more or less obvious way once I get under the car? I'm not much of a mechanic and don't have access to a lift, so am trying to learn whether I can easily get at the drain with a little can of compressed air once I climb underneath, or will I likely have a bunch of removal work first.

 

Also, I've seen some references to a drain that runs into the passenger side of the car underneath the dash. Is this the same line, just the other end of it? Any value to looking there and perhaps blowing air down and out rather than up and in?

 

[JFP in PA]

28 minutes ago, FloridaMark said:

 

Thanks very much, that helps. Does a lot of plastic/skid plate have to come off to get to the end of the drain, or does it exit in some kind of more or less obvious way once I get under the car? I'm not much of a mechanic and don't have access to a lift, so am trying to learn whether I can easily get at the drain with a little can of compressed air once I climb underneath, or will I likely have a bunch of removal work first.

 

Also, I've seen some references to a drain that runs into the passenger side of the car underneath the dash. Is this the same line, just the other end of it? Any value to looking there and perhaps blowing air down and out rather than up and in?

 

 

There are two lines, hoses actually, the come out under the car near the center; one is the vent line from the battery, the other is the condensate drain line for the ac system.  Both should protrude past the underbody panels.  Blowing air into the battey does nothing positive, as it may actually dislodge the battery vent from the battery.  You need to find the lines and determine which one is for the battery and leave it alone as you only need to clear the HVAC drain.

[DBJoe996]

This diagram may help you locate the various drains