THIS IS IT!!! THIS IS IT!!!

I cranked it up... waited 15 min... nothing.

Now I got to finally pull all the stuff below the rug on the passenger side and boy what a pool was in there... surely if it was the coolant my engine would feel it.

So basically my truck is drowning in its own (distilled) AC condensation... WTF!!!

Now can you be so kind as to tell me where to FIND that AC drain plug? You see when I look underneath all I see is a forest of cables and tubes etc... I have a hanes manual but its microscopic closeups in B/W are about as usuless as they get and a generica of Dakota/Duranga from all years and mine is a 2003 with the newer 4.7 L engine and mercedes series 300 transmission (no joke! same one!!!).

Anyhow... worth a try to unplug it but would be nice to actually find it.

Anyone with precise instructions as to how to get it to it... or better a set of pictures???

Thanks now for the help... making progress and seem to be sure at 90% of what it is

 

unfortunately i dont have any pictures and my truck is at home so i cant get any of my own, but here is one that i found online (i think this is from a 5.x series engine vehicle, but the drain location should be the same, its the black piece in this pic, yours probably wont have that black piece on it)

 

To help you find it, it is on the passenger side firewall (cab) under the hood. It is back by the head of the motor. So as the A/C condensates (when A/C is on) the water drips out down to the ground by the inside of the passenger wheel.

 

Awesome thanks let me check it later today... started to dry out the floor on the passenger side, as I had to drain maybe 1/2 gal of water from there using towels...

For short trips < 1/2 hr there is no water so it reinforces that the drain is the culprit (A/C and heat work ok... engine coolant at ok level too.

Now it looks to me that the pic is taken from above? If this thing is accessible from above that would be heaven... I would need to see if a simple tube runs down but seen nothing of the like after following the coolant lines from the A/C unit.

 

you wont have the down-turn on the end of your drain tube, the guy with that truck added it to correct another problem

 

Ok I checked... it is similar but like a screw on cap with 2 sides hollow and fitting on a protruding screw, and right behind the manifold on the passenger side. I will get some pics and upload later for everyone's enjoyment.

My next question is how to unclog that drain? Any product I can inject? will dran-o suffice? (probably not lol).

I got that cap unscrewed and probed the inside around that screw but it didn't go far... so I would definitely need to inject something in there to get it to clean a bit.

 

use an unbent wire coat hanger rigid enough to knock the blockage loose while also flexible enough to follow minor bends in the line

 

Would one of those plastic tie wraps also do? in any case will try again tonight... good thing my hand can slide in that really small space behind the manifold.

 

I wouldn't recommend using anything metal to unclogged the drain tube because you run the rick of damaging the evaporater core. Use a piece of rubber hose small enough to fit inside the drain tube and then use compressed air to blow away the clog.

I'm not familiar with the 'cap' over the drain tube you're speaking of but here's a $2 fix that has worked great for me. Pick up a 5/8" heater hose 90* elbow at any parts store, file or grind off the barb on one end. Apply a small amount of RTV on the end of the elbow and insert inside the drain tube and allow the RTV to dry. This will allow the water to drain and will prevent the air coming in front the front of the engine bay from forcing the water back inside the cab. It's not the best looking fix in the world, but it will cure your problem. Good luck!

 

Tie wraps should work well, just take bwdak's advice and not use any rigid metal to poke around the hole.