Need car help - air conditioning question

[acehistr8]

I know there are a lot of car gurus on here, of which I am admittedly not one.

Have a 96 Jetta GL with 29,000 miles that I baby as much as I know how. Meaning I get the oil changed reguarly, get it serviced as much as I can, keep it washed and waxed etc. The car lives in a parking garage most of the week since I take the train to work and is in pristine mint condition. But I dont know shit about getting under the hood and doing hard core service, I leave that to the guys at the local Goodyear garage.

Anyway, thats the background to finding out whats wrong with my AC before taking it to the dealer to get whored. A couple weeks ago I noticed water vapor/mist coming out of the vents occassionally when the AC was on. No big deal, doesnt bother me. Also around the same time noticed that after the AC has been running and I take a hard turn, I can hear a running water sound, like a trickle from somewhere. I also notice a slightly damp smell when I first get in the car. None of these things may be related or they may all be related, I dont know.

This hasnt affected the performance of the car but again I dont know if this is something that left untreated will - say if there is a leak somewhere I need to fix.

Any help much appreciated. If somethings broken what might it cost?

 

[neverteaseit]

Sounds like the evaporator drain tube is clogged up. Somehwere near the firewall or towards the underneath of the car should be a black tube coming out of the firewall or from the heater/ac box mounted on the firewall.

Follow your ac lines underneath the hood. If they go right into the firewall then your drain tube is underneath the car. If it goes into a box then the drain is at the bottom of the box. This should be a round rubber tube about a 1/2 in diameter. Just take a pencil or a screwdriver and try to unplug the drain. Do not cram it to far up the drain tube. Could damage evaporator. If problem reoccurs after unclogging it then you may have leaves or other debris that will require you to disassemble the heater/ac box in order to remove the debris.

The smell is mildew and the water sound is from water trapped in the heater/ac box. Moisture from the vents is the water being drawn into the blower motor.

 

[neverteaseit]

and since i was bored I did some searching on the web to verify the location of the drain and here is the same problem by another happy jetta customer.



http://tech.bentleypublishers.com/thread.jspa?forumID=39&threadID=2977&tstart=30

 

[neverteaseit]

have anymore technical probelms with the jeetta here is a good site for discussion. also has complaints and solutions.

http://tech.bentleypublishers.com/forum.jspa?forumID=39&start=0

 

[acehistr8]

THANKS!

I will post my question there to see if someone can slowly walk me through how to find the drain plug. Just what I was looking for.

 

[neverteaseit]

click the first web address i gave you and it will tell you where it is.

There are two flap like perforations in the heat insulation foil just above the exhaust. Open the larger flap and lift up the insulation. There is another rubber flap that covers the evaporator drain. I used a piece of flexible wire, doubled over, to clean out the drain. All is well.

 

[TORONTO-VIGILANTE]

dammit, i wish there was a site for those of us that have a Renault Dauphine......?????

A side impact by a bicycle totaled my Dauphine after only one year....and now no one will do body work on it......
:lol:

 

[BADTODABONE]

Could be a bad heater core, right front under the dash drippin' on the floor board farfunuging drip kind of thing.

 

[Stuman]

Could be a bad heater core, right front under the dash drippin' on the floor board farfunuging drip kind of thing.

Very unlikely. If the heater core was leaking you would smell a stong antifreeze odor when you turned on the air. Tease is right on with the clogged drain. I would imagine that DC is very humid and that drain has GOT to be open at all times! Ace, when you park your car after running the air, you should definitely notice water driping on the ground at the passenger's side of the firewall. If you don't see any within a couple of minutes, no doubt it's clogged. If you don't want to tackle it yourself, the VW dealer shouldn't pimp you out too bad. As long as you know EXACTLY what needs to be done, and they know you know what you are talking about, I can't see them charging more than $50-$100. Good luck.

Stuman

 

[acehistr8]

I dont mind getting under there, as long as its as easy as opening up the drain and unclogging it.

neaverteaseit, I assume this work is done under the hood, this drain is not inside the passenger compartment, correct?

 

[Stuman]

Most likely from underneath the car right behind the front passenger tire. You're gonna have to get dirty. Don't let it drain on you!

Stuman

 

[acehistr8]

No problem with that Stu, I just dont want to do something stupid like open a plug that actually drains all the oil out. Just want to make sure I am doing the right thing. I know it seems like small thing to the car junkies out there, but for someone just starting out in doing the down and dirty stuff, I dont want to eff something up. Thanks for all the help guys.