Water leak--ventilation assistance needed

[Cattler]

When I replaced my windshield I thought my water leakage problems might be over, but they're not. I did manage to find the source of the leak, but uncovered another "excellent" PO repair. I have water leaking from the bottom of the fresh air inlet box into my passenger's side footwell. I need help figuring out where to route the drain hose. I'd really appreciate a picture of the right placement / routing.

The PO cut the water drain hose (911.571.224.00) just short enough to make it through the interior panel above the smuggler's box but not long enough to actually make it to the drain. The water was hitting the top of the smuggler's box and entering the interior of the car by riding along some wires under the dash and the hose leading to the passenger's side footwell blower.

Here's the placement for the missing hose. Its really not worth me showing you the really cool 2" of cut off hose and green duct tape left by the PO.


Here's where most of the water was entering the footwell. Note the other PO duct tape repair. That's next.


As the water drain hose is NLA, I guess I'll go to Home Depot and get 600mm of an equivalent-diameter hose as a replacement.

Some of the water must have made it out of the bottom of the car through the right hole. Is this where the end of the drain hose should leave the bottom of the car? How should I route the hose? I couldn't find an obvious path for it and hope I don't have to take out the evaporator to put it in.


Thanks for the help,
David

[DRACO A5OG]

I have the same exact leak during car washes but not during the rain.

When I take apart me trunk and venting, I will post pics to show you the route of my drain hose.

Soon I hope, too hot to work out there right now.

[ossiblue]

Since you mentioned an evaporator unit (assume it's in the smuggler's box), the proper routing of the drain hose is, in fact, between the bulkhead and evaporator. Without seeing pictures of your set up, my guess is whoever installed the AC either crushed the hose (it's a very tight squeeze between the bulkhead and evaporator) or abandoned it. The hose can fit with some units but you have to be very careful. If you want to route the hose correctly, I cannot see around not removing the unit in the smuggler's box. Again, I am basing this only on a set up I have, and not seeing what you're facing. BTW, you might find the ribbed, plastic hose used for garden ponds in the correct diameter to fit at your local DIY store. I have heard some people have adapted that hose since the original is NLA.

[Cattler]

Thanks for the advice--I fixed the problem last night and I now have a good route from the fresh air intake out through the bottom of the car. No more leaks...

I had to pull the evaporator box apart to have enough room to work. My A/C hasn't worked since I've owned the car--now I know part of the reason why. The evap is completely shot--it was covered in some hard black goo, the electrical connections looked like they'd seen a small fire (or at least a short), and the hosing was connected with a lot of duct tape. I pulled the evap from the box but could only remove the top of the box. I left the bottom in place and vaccuumed out the inside.

I could see the hold down straps for the water drain pipe between the evap box and the rear wall of the smuggler's box and I could estimate where the hose should go based on their its exit point from the bottom of the car. I used 3/4 corrugated hose intended for garden ponds (thanks for the recommendation). Cost: $12 for 10'. The exterior diameter works perfectly with the routing path from the smuggler's box back up to the fresh air intake. The interior diameter--about 19mm--required some thought. My wife was replacing our kitchen faucet and we noticed a 4" in length hose adapter connected to the side of the garbage disposal that looked like it might work. Cost: $4. The top of this adapter needed to be cut a bit down to size but the inner diameter--about 24 mm--fix perfectly on the discharge from the fresh air intake. We cut the bottom from the hose adapter to get to a wider section of the adapter and ensure it would fit in the car. I managed to get the adapter connected and in place without much difficulty. It has two stainless steel tightening straps to hold the adapter on the fresh air discharge and the pond hose.

I cut a small hole in the end of the hose and put a loop of string through the hole. I then fed the hose through the hold down clamps between the evap box and the smuggler's box rear wall and pushed it down underneath the evap box. I was able to first pull the string and then the hose itself out through the hole in the bottom of the car. That part was a piece of cake.

So, altogether it took cost about $16 and took about an hour and a half, including clean up, to get this job done. It tested well and I'm pretty sure that's my last leak.

Thanks again,
David

[ossiblue]

Great to hear of your successful repair! Would it be possible to post some pictures of either the parts you used or the completed repair as there are many here who have needed repairs for this NLA drain?

[Barrpete]

FWIW you need to remove the resistor pack from beneath the passenger floor board to remove the lower half of the evaporator housing from the smugglers box.

[Cattler]

Here are two shots--one from inside the boot and the other from under the car. I opened the smuggler's box and it wasn't worth taking another picture--you can't see the drain hose anymore without removing a ventilation line and the evap cover.

The new connection to the fresh air inlet is in the center with the two pipe clamps. I'm debating connecting the drain pipe under the car to the oil line with a zip tie. Necessary?

Let me know if there are any questions.

David

[Cattler]

You know what? The first picture's too far away--I'll post a close-up tomorrow.