nbuzz

Hey guys, I'm new here and really like it here already. I've been searching for air conditioning problems but haven't found anything that answers my question.

So here's my problem; I had the a/c on in my 94 pickup (3vze) and I had water dripping/leaking out front under the dash on the passenger side. got home, pulled the glove box out to get a better look, and I found the leak. there is a factory sealed box(leak tested stamped on front) to the left of the blower motor. there is a 2" long crack on the bottom of it where its peeing water. I'm guessing that this is the a/c condenser housing? can I repair it?

Any advice is appreciated! thanks!!

elblako91

Ok this happened to me like 2 weeks ago. What you need to do is take out the glove compartment. then take out the blower assembly then take out the evaporator box. There should be some screws holding it in place. You will need to disconnect the A/C lines that run to you evaporator box which will discharge your system so be prepared to recharge it when your done. Wiggle out the whole evaporator system and take it apart by undoing the clips on it. Clean out any junk that is in there. (This is why mine was leaking). Since you have a crack get some epoxy glue mix the resin and hardener up and apply it over the crack. Once its dry fill it up with water to see if it leaks and if it doesn't than put everything back in and just go backwards..

Good luck!

nbuzz

thanks for the reply! I take it that the drain holes get filled up with a bunch of crap from the blower sucking things up? this thing is theoretically supposed to drain out through the firewall, right?

disconnecting the a/c lines isn't difficult is it? and do i need to seal the seam on the box? or just re-clip it? I was planning on using JB weld on the crack..

thanks again for the help!

elblako91

Nope disconnecting the two lines isn't difficult at all. Just use the right wrench and take care because one of them is made of aluminum and you could strip it. The box has a gasket that does not need to be redone. You can reuse it once you take it apart. They usually get clogged up with leaves and crap and over fill wich makes them leak through the gasket. Does your leak through the gasket? Do you have a pic of where it leaks? Where the gasket is located is the raised part of the box and if it is leaking there that usually means the water has to fill up quite a ways to get over a wall inside the box to get to the gasket which means it is plugged up.

Heres what mine looked like. Take a pic of yours and mabey i can help out more and be more specific.

nbuzz

thats it!! thats the problem, mine is cracked across the front edge on the bottom... I'm guessing it got kicked or hit too hard a couple of times. the lower end in the back is the drain hole then?

hopefully this weekend I'll be to tackle it!! thanks for the help, you saved my butt from the mechanic!

elblako91

Yup shouldn't be so hard. I had no idea what i was doing either. lol Just take your time. And yes the lowest part goes into the drain. Just slips in to a hose. I saved my ass from a mechanic as well. If you need any help just PM me.

SacRunner

I figured I'd bump an old thread rather than start a new one, but I was having a similar problem with water dripping on the passenger floorboard whenever the A/C was running. With my 91 4runner still having R12, I really didn't want to open up the system like is suggested in this thread and I just hadn't gotten around to trying to clear out the evaporator drain, until a couple of days ago, and to be honest, it really couldn't be easier.

Soaked passenger floorboard:


I used an 8" zip tie and cut off the flimsy tip:


Then carefully "snaked" it up the drain tube in the passenger fender well (I don't have the rubber "skirt" or starter access plate attached), you can see the buckle end of the zip tie sticking out:


After that water started dripping out so I removed the zip tie and it slowly drained out a lot more water than I would have thought. Here's a shot showing it dripping, I didn't get a shot of all the water on the ground:


It has continued to drain for the last couple of days, and so far it hasn't leaked any more on the floorboard.

RAD4Runner

Mine's starting to sweat there also. Im pretty sure it's because of all the debris that collects there.

I'll clean it as much a possible and try to avoid discharging the AC system. It might also be possible to make an access port into that box to facilitate cleaning without "breaking' the refrigerant loop.

Unfortunately, the cowl grille design is retarded. It allows leaves, etc in and those get trapped in the vent system.