I think the evaporator has packed it in!!

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 27 Jul 2008, 09:46

holler1, yes- please find those photos and post them. They would be most helpful. It would be a great place to look for the dye if you put it in your A/C system too...to see if it is leaking from the evaporator. So far, I have not found a good way to see the dye if the evap. is truly leaking.
Regards,
MIJ

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 27 Jul 2008, 11:59

Holler1 is spot on.

Remove the lower dash panel and pull back the carpet around the console. Remove the stiffener behind the carpet and then look for a rubber tube that goes to a nipple on the floorboard. It is centered just below the heater core.

Remove the tube from the nipple and clean it out with a piece of wire or, my favorite, weed eater string. Don't get anywhere near the evaporator with drain cleaner.

Be prepared to quickly plug the hose back onto the nipple as you will have a fair amount of water coming out of the tube once you clear the clog.

...Lee

Post by **tailor** » 27 Jul 2008, 16:16

After putzing around for about 1 1/2 hours looking for the elusive drain under the car I tried to blow the debris out of the evaporator with a compressor, got a little water and a fair amount of tree detritus.This pic shows the little bits that kept being blown about by the compressed air.

: Drain 1.jpg (38.82 KiB) Viewed 4956 times

Then somewhat frustrated with the lack of progress I came to check the site and found two posts about the inside drain. Thanks to Ozark and Holler1

Well, in two shakes of a lambs tail I got another 750 ml of water out and this creature!

: Drain 2.jpg (29.86 KiB) Viewed 4956 times

I gave a small burst of compressed air into the drain(the bottom opening) and into the pipe(top opening), just to check it was free.

: Drain 3.jpg (41.72 KiB) Viewed 4956 times

Here is where the pipe is located,

: Drain 4.jpg (37.75 KiB) Viewed 4956 times

: Drain 5.jpg (30.25 KiB) Viewed 4956 times

I had a plastic bottle handy, a stopper would have been useful as well, as
I did spill a little.

Once again thank you MIJ, Chuckcintron, Ozark and Holler1,vegasjetskier and of course JRL for your input.
Blows nice and cold and no water swish but getting the 511 error code, will have to do the damper adjustment procedure:

(511 Damper motor limit position self-adjustment not carried out )

Post by **vegasjetskier** » 27 Jul 2008, 16:39

Is that a mouse or a cockroach? It looks like it has a Cheerio hat.

Post by **tailor** » 27 Jul 2008, 17:33

Just hair and tree stuff. No hat either!!!

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 27 Jul 2008, 18:49

Now to prevent this from happening again, if your car doesn't have a cabin filter under the windshield cowl, it's time to get the bracket for it and the filter. www.fcpgroton.com sells both.

Btw, I'm so impressed with this (pictures and all) that I'm pinning this in the repair database.

Thanks for your contribution, tailor!

MIJ

Post by **tailor** » 27 Jul 2008, 21:17

I had a cabin air filter, but the A/c was not working for about 1 1/2 years and this problem came up in the last couple of weeks.
I will keep you all posted as to how it works out over the next couple of days.
Tailor

Post by **holler1** » 27 Jul 2008, 21:35

I apologize for taking so long to get photos up. It took me a while to find them and it looks like the problem was solved. Here is one photo from my car-Hose was black not white.
.

Post by **findude** » 12 Dec 2008, 13:40

I'm thinking I have the evaporator problem. The photo shows where water is dripping on the left side of the right (passenger) foot well; it's also dripping on the right side.

: IMG_2391s.jpg (52.92 KiB) Viewed 3623 times

The AC works fine. But the defroster is working hard and not making much of a difference. We're carrying a "manual defroster" which is basically a kitchen dish towel for when it fails totally. Typically, the defroster will kick in and clear the bottom portion or most of the windshield, then it will actually make the problem worse. We turn the AC on when running the defroster.

Can someone confirm that this is the problem I have? I've read CLC's excellent PDF on replacing the evaporator, but I think I'll try the carpet and hose before I go down that route.

Thanks.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 12 Dec 2008, 13:59

I'm betting on your heater core being bad. It can be replaced without removing the entire dash. There are several writeups either here or Bay 13 that goes through the procedure to change it.

...Lee