Air conditioning leak?

[verity]

I have just returned from a 200 mile journey and there was pool of water (roughly a pint)on the top mat on the front passenger side. Looking underneath the glove compartment you can see that the water is dripping from a white cicular object which has a grey foam band around it and I am assuming that is something to do with the Air con.

[verity]

It has been suggested to me that there's a good possibility that the drain tube is plugged up. check to see if you get a puddle of water *under* the car after running the AC for a while. if no puddle appears that means it's draining into the car. try finding the drain hose exiting the passenger compartment and try to clear it. I have a Passat Estate 1.8 20v turbo. Any help with locating the drain hose would be much appreciated.

[MOSE]

Have had a similar issue recently. But on driver's footwell. The aircon overflow is located near here, just above the clutch, then makes its way to a pipe and onto a small rubber outlet which is located just above the transmission. I've turned aircon on when the car is idle, then moved it forwards and there is a small puddle there. I think it is always best to consult the dealer ton the safe side, but whenever I have faced the issue before, it has never caused any problems to the car. I also had the same issue on my Espace and Octavia when I had them.

I think this is a horses for courses kind of situation and after consulting with other Monaro owners (and dealer) there is no cause for alarm.

[karlosthejackal]

Hi Chris,

I think your problem is more likely to be failure of the pollen filter seal, please read previous posts regarding SOGGY CARPETS.

Hope this helps.

Oh and welcome to TSN.

[verity]

Hello,

I checked the battery and the other drainage hole and they were clear of any debris and there was no build up of water in the battery well, so I don't think its coming in there.

Also the water is dripping on to, and not under the carpet, as you would expect if it was coming from a leaking seal in the bulkhead. The water does appear to be dripping off the grey foam thing under the glove compartment and the pipes that it all attaches to are also wet.

I'm going to swith the air con off for a time and see how it goes.

[aaabbb]

The air con drain pipe is situated in the passenger footwell. It nomally splits and gets twisted which cause the leak. I reccomend repalcing the pipe and then selaing the pipe where it joins onto the other pipe.

[meriafel]

As Madrigal has said it is most probably the pollen filter seal or that the water has risen to such a level in the 'battery box' that it has gone over and through the pollen filter. Have you had torrential rain that could have overwhelmed the ability for the water to flow through partly blocked drain holes?

Also is possible that you have a cracked plastic deflector above the pollen filter.

[mulkbear]

There is a common fault with the air con drian flap being blocked and the water off the air con radiator leaking into the car. Go to you local friendly VW dealer to get it checked out .

[verity]

I booked the car into VW yesterday and the car had been sitting out in the rain all weekend and there were no puddles in the car. So I am convinved that the drips are coming from the air con as already suggested. I took the car for a good run before going to the Dealers. It was not raining and I had the air con on and sure enough things were starting to get wet around the right side of the glove compartment. Despite me telling the service manager this he was adament it was rain water. Anyway I left it with them, confident they would find the leak and put it right. While I was there I also told them about a flat spot when the car was at top speed and suspected the MAF sensor. Big mistake!!!!!

I got a call from them at 5.30 to say that they need to spend eight hours stripping the whole of the insides out to trace the leak and that know the car was suffering from acute power loss and undrivable. Of course I stayed calm and I told him to his surprise that I'm coming straight over to take the car away form them. It took me 15 mins to get back there and Low behold! there was the smiling Service Manager at his desk with what looked like an MAF sensor. 'So what have you done to my car' I said. 'That's the problem' he replied, your MAF sensor was faulty and I got a couple of the lads to replace it, but we need to strip the car down to trace the leak. He charged me £75 plus 1/2 hour labour for the MAF sensor and is going to check whether my warranty covers this part. I don't think it will. However I now have my car back but I'm convinced there is no new MAF sensor fitted. So I will get him make out a bill and have this work entered on my service book and of course I still have the leak to deal with.

[Waitey]

I had a problem with my MAF, it was losing power (flat spots), i took it to local garage for them to have a look, but the electrician didnt turn up so couldnt do anything. When i went to pick it up it was undriveable (nearly crashed twice), either they played about with it or it just went all of a sudden. When they changed it the next day they didnt tell me you could get recon ones, it cost me over £240. wont be going there again. At least the stealers put a recon one in yours, could have cost a lot more. If they have changed it you should notice the difference straight away i know i did.

[verity]

I've just spoken with VW and my warranty will cover the MAF sensor, and after explaining the leak problem to one of the mechanics, his opinion is the same as mine that the air con drain pipe is leaking. I'm sure that a quick test can be made on the water to see if its rain or condensation.

I believe you have to remove the glove compartment to access the a/c area. Until then, to prove no water is entering the car from outside I am leaving the air con off for a couple of weeks.

[aaabbb]

I would do the job myself its a peice of cake if the cars not under warranty. I can almost garantee that the air con drain pipe is leaking. Just remove the glovebox and try and pull the carpet back a bit and you will see the pipe. Remove it take the part number of it replace the pipe. seal the joins wityh some sealant to make sure it doesnt leak again and job done. 2 hours tops if the parts are in stock. Probably will be quite a common problem.

[verity]

Problem solved. I removed the glove compartment and found that the a/c drain shoot was full of water. So I got a lengh of garden hose and stuffed this down there and gave it a good blow and cleared the blockage. And there was the stealers wanting to strip out the interior for £600!

[pritesh]

How did you get the glove box out?

[verity]

Remove the Five star screws and gently prise it away, and then you disconect the light swith and thats it.

[pritesh]

cool..... just good to know these things....