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On my 06 XK8 the air conditioning is superb. Probably the coldest of any car I've owned. Living in North Carolina and being July of course its hot and quite humid. I notice when I've been driving a while and the car is cooled nicely after I park there is quite a bit of condensation water dripping from under. So much that parked on a slight incline for about :15 minutes it can be seen past the back of the car.
Is this normal and if not what might it indicate?
Thanks to all.
2X
If there's no puddle and the A/C is working OK, it usually means the drain tubes are blocked or detached. When this happens, the liquid is dumped under the floor carpet instead of onto the ground beneath the car.
Both my Jags do that. It also depends on where you live and what the weather is like. In your case the birds should enjoy the bird bath when you pull away.
One thing I do wonder about is that the drippings seem to land on the exhaust pipe and I can hear them sizzle right after stopping. The drip is under the central dash area but appears to land on the the heat shielding before working its way around/over/through to get to the ground.
Is that normal or is there supposed to be plumbing to divert it to somewhere that isn't onto the exhaust?
One thing I do wonder about is that the drippings seem to land on the exhaust pipe and I can hear them sizzle right after stopping. The drip is under the central dash area but appears to land on the the heat shielding before working its way around/over/through to get to the ground.
Is that normal or is there supposed to be plumbing to divert it to somewhere that isn't onto the exhaust?
There's a Condensate Drain Tube emerges from either side of the heater matrix:
These pass through the transmission tunnel on either side of the transmission to vent the fluid to the ground.
(this diagram is from JTIS and is well into the dismantling stage but the position of the gear selector gives the relative location of the tubes)
The condensate should miss the exhaust. Worth checking the tubes aren't blocked or out of position. If blocked, it's common for the condensate to run down the inside of the transmission tunnel and soak the footwell carpets.
Revisiting this thread with some pictures, clarification
Had a bunch of water in the passenger footwell in my recently purchased car, probably at least a gallon sucked up into the foam, standing water in the footwell. Thankfully no rust or obvious mold, so this had not been happening long. Interestingly, there was little evidence of this on the surface of the carpet, just a spot that would not dry. Investigation with the seat out led to the lake.
It has taken more than a week to dry the carpet/foam following an extensive session of 'squeeze the giant yellow sponge onto paper towels' by my son and my feet. In any case, seeking the water intrusion, I sprayed everything extensively with absolutely no water intrusion. This culminated in a 15 minute period in which I dumped water from the hose at full on into the center of the plenum below the center windshield. Only the driveway was wet. Nothing leaking in the top, side drains, back top drain, or anything else.
The final idea was that it was a condensate drain leak in the HVAC. Of course, it's dry and it's fall, but no matter.
One problem I had was in figuring out where the condensate drain went. There was some advice in this thread, and in others, but it still took some time to figure out where it was. So, in the interest of helping others in a similar position
1. There was some advice in another thread that it went to a small tube immediately behind the passenger wheel well and to stick a wire up the tube to clear any blockage. However, this location does not appear to be where the condensate tube drains. I don't know where this actually goes, but a wire threaded through this tube does not end up at the condensate drain. This location is pictured below.
Not the condensate drain location behind the passenger wheel (LHD)
Not the condensate drain behind the passenger tire
2. Inside the passenger well is an apparent condensate drain tube, however. But it does not look like the drawing above (at least the implication that it is somewhere near the gear shift to the rear of the transmission well. It is actually forward of the glove box, perhaps accessible above the carpet (if it was in). Photos below. I removed the tube from the condensate pan, jammed a wire up into the pan with no drainage, then fed the wire down the tube towards the drain. It appears that this drains into the area below the plenum below the windshield. At that point, since I was pretty confident that I wouldn't be sending a pound of trash into the system or into the drain, I directed compressed air in both directions to confirm that there was no blockage.
Bottom line for me, no apparent leaks. Perhaps someone was too aggressive in the 'steam clean'?
Bottom line for others, here's where to look for the drain tube. No need remove the transmission, as was suggested in one thread. Probably can be done with the carpet in. Removing the glove box is not particularly helpful, because you'd need to also remove passenger vent too, but removing the seat was essential for me.
Condensate drain location, passenger footwell compartment carpet removed. Speculation: one may be able to access this without removing the carpet.
I’m also putting some cheap capacitive moisture sensors in the passenger well with leads into the glovebox to assess this over the next 6-9 months. These are
..... 1. There was some advice in another thread that it went to a small tube immediately behind the passenger wheel well and to stick a wire up the tube to clear any blockage. However, this location does not appear to be where the condensate tube drains. I don't know where this actually goes, but a wire threaded through this tube does not end up at the condensate drain. ....
The drain tube behind the RH Wheelarch Liner is the overflow from the Atmospheric Recovery Bottle. Nothing to do with the AC drain.
Had a bunch of water in the passenger footwell in my recently purchased car
The standard problem area is the drains in the bottom of the 2 big "bins" where the brake booster and the ECU live can clog. First, there can be debris going in there and blocking the drain, leading to water rising and finding its way in the cabin under heavy rain. Second, there is a drain tube in that area, too. It has a small rubber hook on the top edge. I believe it pipes the water draining off the cowl (these 2 lower points near the fenders). The arrangement is a bit more subtle than it seems at first, but these are the areas to look into. Folks use a stiff wire (coat hanger) to reach and free the bottom drains. The top tube needs to be looked at and figured out separately.
The other area is the rubber seal coming down the a-pillar. There is a subtle channel in there that helps keep the water away. Check the area closer to the mirror to see if anything seems odd. Compare both sides.
Other idea is something to do with the doors. The trim at the bottom of the glass is not designed to keep the water out, I believe, so some water gets into the "wet side" of the door structure. It needs to drain of course, so you might want to check if there are clogged drains.
The standard problem area is the drains in the bottom of the 2 big "bins" where the brake booster and the ECU live can clog. First, there can be debris going in there and blocking the drain, leading to water rising and finding its way in the cabin under heavy rain. Second, there is a drain tube in that area, too. It has a small rubber hook on the top edge. I believe it pipes the water draining off the cowl (these 2 lower points near the fenders). The arrangement is a bit more subtle than it seems at first, but these are the areas to look into. Folks use a stiff wire (coat hanger) to reach and free the bottom drains. The top tube needs to be looked at and figured out separately.
The other area is the rubber seal coming down the a-pillar. There is a subtle channel in there that helps keep the water away. Check the area closer to the mirror to see if anything seems odd. Compare both sides.
Other idea is something to do with the doors. The trim at the bottom of the glass is not designed to keep the water out, I believe, so some water gets into the "wet side" of the door structure. It needs to drain of course, so you might want to check if there are clogged drains.
Just my thoughts. Best of luck, keep us posted.
Great summary. It's nice to have all of this in one thread. The TSB is helpful (501-53), but it took me a while to gather 'accumulated wisdom' from various threads, and some of it was not correct.
Mostly unspoken, but, for this car, I checked both side drain tubes on the cowl/plenum by dumping water from the hose directly in them for an extended period. No evidence of water anywhere but on the ground, No water in either the 'brake booster box" or the "ECM/TCM box". In another car, there was evidence the water level was high in the ECM/TCM box at some point since the box fan connector looked like it had been sitting in water. The water path there dumps directly down into the passenger footwell if the box is compromised in some entertaining way. Also, dumped water for an even more extended period into the central cowl/plenum drain since that was the bettor's choice around here of where the water was coming from. Again, water tight. The A pillar was water tight from all angles I can spray it, and there is no evidence of seal compromise in the neighborhood of the mirror.
The only place I saw minor water intrusion was when I accidentally sprayed water up directly under the roof into the roof/window junction. As I have seen before, however, this happens with all of mine (strong spray of water into the junction pushes the seal away and allows some drips into the car). Thankfully, this is an unlikely scenario in any sub-hurricane level of wind/rain.
07-31-2012, 08:03 PM
A/C Condensation
