Ac Condensation Dripping Down Into Floor Pan

04V6Stang · Jun 25, 2012

What is wrong with this system? There is so much condensation forming inside the car on the HVAC housing it is running down the firewall and collecting in the floor and soaking the carpet padding. I can look down the engine side of the firewall and see condensation dripping out of the drain, so I know that is clear. Owned this car for a couple of years now and have never had an issue with the AC or had any work done to the system. If the freon level is low, would it cause this?

wmburns · Jun 25, 2012

Has the car been in a wreck?

Even though you see it draining, it still can be partially blocked. It would be smart to try to make double sure that the drain is clear. One of the best methods is to use a wet/dry shop vacuum on the firewall drain. Other methods are pipe cleaners, thin brushes, low pressure compressed air.

04V6Stang · Jun 25, 2012

wmburns said:
Has the car been in a wreck?

Even though you see it draining, it still can be partially blocked. It would be smart to try to make double sure that the drain is clear. One of the best methods is to use a wet/dry shop vacuum on the firewall drain. Other methods are pipe cleaners, thin brushes, low pressure compressed air.

Thanks for the reply. As far as I know, never been wrecked. What would that do to the AC system? I will try and use my wet/dry vac to suck out the drain. Where would you apply the compressed air?

wmburns · Jun 26, 2012

I had a 96 Mustang involved in a minor wreck. The prior owner claimed that he hit a deer. Well I had a problem with the AC leaking into the passenger compartment. I found there was a slight crease in the firewall from the frame being slightly bent. The crease in the firewall bulged out right at the AC drain breaking it.

This is were the story gets interesting. I went to salvage yard looking for parts. 5 of 6 Mustangs that I looked at had nearly the same crease in the firewall terminating in nearly the same location. Apparently the streeses on the frame build up and the large hole in the firewall is a weak location.

In my case, I ended up pulling the dash to repair the heater core and AC coil. With the dash out of the way, I could pound the crease out so it was no longer pushing on the plastic of the AC drain.

04V6Stang · Jun 26, 2012

wmburns said:
I had a 96 Mustang involved in a minor wreck. The prior owner claimed that he hit a deer. Well I had a problem with the AC leaking into the passenger compartment. I found there was a slight crease in the firewall from the frame being slightly bent. The crease in the firewall bulged out right at the AC drain breaking it.

This is were the story gets interesting. I went to salvage yard looking for parts. 5 of 6 Mustangs that I looked at had nearly the same crease in the firewall terminating in nearly the same location. Apparently the streeses on the frame build up and the large hole in the firewall is a weak location.

In my case, I ended up pulling the dash to repair the heater core and AC coil. With the dash out of the way, I could pound the crease out so it was no longer pushing on the plastic of the AC drain.

That makes sense, but in my case there is no crease in the firewall. I can see that the foam seal around the drain is saturated also. If I press it, water runs down the inside of the firewall. So now I am not sure where the majority of the water is coming from. It might be that the water coming out of the drain is now running down between the foam and the hole in the firewall. I will keep an eye on it over the next few days.

04V6Stang · Jun 29, 2012

I did get a small hose with a pipe elbow taped to the end down to the drain and hooked my vacuum up to it, didn't seem to get anything out. I am pretty sure that the water coming from the drain is running down between the foam seal and the firewall inside the car. I dried out the seal day before yesterday and today it was soaked again. I am going to try and stick a piece of self adhesive gutter-seal up under the drain to deflect any water and send it down the outside of the firewall.

04V6Stang · Jul 8, 2012

Used the piece of gutter seal tape on the inside of the firewall beneath the drain. Not a real fix, just more of a band-aid than anything, but it worked. Been four days now in the 90's here and running the AC for a few hours with no water in the floorboard. Maybe this will help someone else that might run into this problem in the future. It is a poor firewall seal/drain geometry design IMHO.

Ac Condensation Dripping Down Into Floor Pan

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