Air Conditioner Drain

After a while your A/C drain can get blocked, and then your A/C drains onto your passenger's feet and the carpet. If you're lucky, you can poke something up the drain and clear the blockage. If you're unlucky, you might have to do this:

I lifted the carpets first, partly because the edges were wet and I wanted to dry them, partly so I couldn't lose screws under it, and mostly to expose necessary screws/bolts. First I had to remove the door step trim, then the carpet lifted off the sill lip. I also removed the glovebox and the ECU cover trim.

I unplugged the fan, undid the three bolts, and dropped it out.

I lay the ECU down so I could withdraw the fan ducting from above.

I had to take out the indicated bolts, so I could ease the dash forward, and expose the ducting screws. (The dash stayed in place.)

Then took out about six screws to remove the fan ducting.

The evaporator core is partially exposed! But it wasn't enough. (I had been hoping that I would be able to clear the blockage with a coat-hanger at this point.)

Things were going to potentially get messy, so I put the ECU in a plastic bag. The heater resistor also had to come out before the next stage.

The bottom of the evaporator enclosure is held on with these spring clips, there's about seven of them. The ones at the back are an absolute prick to get to and will test your patience. I found that a stubby flat blade driver could get under the edge and twist them out at the back. (The middle one is already off in this photo.)

Ease the enclosure bottom off, and voila, the evaporator in all its glory! Nasty! It was totally matted up on the top of the fan side with dog hair. That explained why my A/C smelled like wet dog. I pulled off what I could, got stuck in with an old toothbrush, then vacuumed.

A totally blocked drain, and an unblocked drain. It was packed solid. The hole is stupidly small (about 8mm) and makes a right angle turn, really crap design.

The main pieces that came out, not including trim or glovebox.

Right, so you clean everything up, put it back together, and no more wet feet. I also treated all the rusty little bits with rust convertor or zinc primer, and greased all the fasteners. When I put it back together I didn't put the clips on the back of the evaporator enclosure, because impossible to get to, and the back is held firmly in place by the bolts to the firewall. I missed a couple of screws on the fan ducting for same reasons. It also means that if I ever have to get in there again it will be much quicker.

I think that this was a worthwhile exercise even if the drain wasn't blocked, because the core needed a good clean, and nipping some rust in the bud was good too. I think that the fan is quieter now too, probably because there aren't any leaves spinning around inside it, and air probably flows better through the core.

Apropos of nothing, when I was putting it back together I dropped a screw that fell behind the ECU & dropped into the sill. Nightmares of a screw rattling back & forth in my sill everytime I accelerated or braked flew through my head. Luckily there are some access holes to the sill covered by gaffa tape. I pulled off the one nearest the screw, put a massive blob of grease on my finger, stuck my finger in the hole, and managed to get the screw to stick to my blob of grease. Very relieved.

Compiled by:

Prestagea