Wet Feet last week

Rained heavily last week and the following day I noticed the driver’s side footwell mat (I have a rubber winter mat there) had water trapped in the ridges. Bummed out, I thought maybe the solution to the leak I’d fixed years ago had given up and had opened up again …but no, that wasn’t it.

Having a quick look around in the footwell I could see a drip coming from the rubber heater connecting hose, so I pulled back the carpet to get to the drain tubes.
When I unblocked the tube, a full litre (quart-ish) of cleanish water drained out.
This was a bit of a shocker as it was only about a month ago I’d swapped out BOTH blowers …Now I do have the A/C on auto all the time and I do drive about an hour and a half every day but that amount of condensate does seem a bit much in a month? :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

Can water get into the heater from a heavy rain?

Yes, if the drain (a/k/a “duckbill”) for the air intake plenum at the base of the windshield is blocked. Lots of discussion in the archives.

Is the duckbill drain the same configutation on the 94MY, Mike?
Could the heater accumulate a litre of condensate in a month of daily driving with A/C on auto?

I do not have first-hand knowledge because I have never messed with mine but according to info in the archives the '94s have more of a rubber disc that covers the drain rather than the flattened rubber tube like the earlier models.

It would depend on the ambient humidity I suppose but yes, I believe a liter (or litre :blush:) would be possible.

I’ll check the screen drain, maybe there’s some organic debris clogging things up - I do park under trees, so maybe …although I’ve been parking there for years … :thinking:

If it’s clear, I’ll remove the silicone vents and do my best to clean out the evaporator cavity/free up any blockages at the drain tubes. The evap can be clearly seen with those vents removed.

Hi Larry, My 94 Sovereign had the same flat ended duckbill as the other models, we don’t get much bother here in the UK with critters invading engine bays so I just pulled mine off and left it like that. If you haven’t had the plastic cover off beneath the screen for a while it’s a good idea to remove it and have a look at the plenum, all the muck and debris from the windscreen and from washing the car ends up inside there and can quickly build up.

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Thanks Casso - Will pull the cover next week and have a look.

Yes indeed it HAS been a while since I was in there!

Larry …

Hopefully a diagram of the whole system will help you to understand what’s going on …

Other than things like a leaking windshield or rusted through scuttle there are only a few ways for water to get into your footwells.

  1. When the A/C is in operation there is quite a bit of water that comes off the evaporator and flows down into the bottom of the housing. This water exits under the car via two plastic/rubber drains. If BOTH drains are blocked by debris then that water can build up and overflow into the blower fan assemblies via the large rubber sleeve that joins them (2 arrows).

There is a LOT of debris that ends up in the evaporator housing. Remember the air that is sucked into
the fan assemblies and then blown into the evap housing is not filtered like new generation cars. Also the black foam rubber that is used to seal the actuator doors breaks down and is carried into the housing. When I removed my evaporator I was shocked how dirty and blocked with sticky black foam it was and how much junk was in the bottom of the housing.

  1. The outside air that is sucked into the blower assemblies enters via two vacuum operated flaps (A & B) from the long scuttle (actually just a metal channel in front of and below the windshield). All the water that enters the scuttle from outside moister (rain) is drained away via a short rubber hose that is tapered on one end to prevent small critters from entering it (located at C in diagram). This hose is called the “duckbill” for obvious reasons. If the duckbill is clogged up with debris and can’t drain the water will build up and enter the blower fan assemblies at the flaps (A and B on the diagram).

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So the first thing to do is ensure that the duckbill and two evap housing drains are clear. Next make sure those two plastic evap drain tubes are firmly connected to the rubber hoses that carry the water away.

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I wound up removing the duckbill on my 89, I was amazed at how much crud was in there and just left it off.

All good with the drain tubes outboard of the CC, just got back from fishing trip in my RV, so a day of rest before digging into the ol jag again - but what else would we be doing anyway, right?

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