Hi all and glad to have joined here

I am the proud owner of a 2003 SXT with 164k on the odo... no major issues so far, until the one that can best be summarized in the title of this thread...

Seems to have been going on a while as I always noticed a puddle of water by the passenger side and dismissed it as coming from A/C condensation...

Well has gotten real bad lately.

1) It goes on even if the A/C is off
2) 2 mechanics have looked at the issue and CANNOT point where it is coming from.

In fact the wet carpet saturated with water on the passenger side seems to be so... out of nowhere. No stream of water from the vents or any place I can easily see.

There was no sizeable decrease of pressure in the radiator so far.

Well one guy quoted me $700 to literally remove the dashboard and replace the part... which may be quite cheap.

Looking not good... and that's why I am posting here. If anyone has the slightest EXPERIENCE with this kind of stuff and it happened to them and they repaired it that would be great to hear. Otherwise I do not have much to even grasp to right now as I cannot even see where it is happening.

The A/C and cooling seem ok, and I live in a high desert dry climate which would preclude any rain accumuation etc...

 

ok so assuming i understand this correctly you live in an area that doesnt getmuch rain (no rain for say 3 weeks b4 you noticed this) and have not been using the A/C for a while (say a week or so) and you still have wet passenger floorboard?, the only thing left is the heater core, which is behind the dashboard, but if that is the case it SHOULD smell like anti-freeze in the cabin, otherwise i would ask if you have been using the defrosters? (they run the a/c compressor)

 

It's negative on all of these... the water that is flooding (after about 1/2 hr of operating the vehicle) is tasteless and odorless... almost as if it was distilled.

There is no water running from the vent above the carpet on the passenger side but the carpet itself is damp.

Frankly I am at a loss where it comes from. The coolant in the engine is at the same level and the A/C is off. There is no easy way to look behind the dashboard and looking underneath the car there is no water also unless I come underneath the passenger side of the vehicle and along the right side between the 2 wheels.

 

It's either a plugged A/C drain port on the inside engine bay or a heater core IF you have not washed the truck or drive in rain. Also do you park next to a sprinkler system grass cause that could cause water to get in through a bad seal.

 

Where is that A/C drain plug so I could check that puppy real quick? If that is it that would be awesome and save me a lot of time and money. I have a factory manual and can check it out too later tonight.

 

No rain and I park it in the dry desert... well doesn't rain here for 6 months a year. Now the passenger side carpet will be dry after I leave the truck parked a few days from all the latent heat during the day making all that water evaporate... and it will be back at a mini pool after about 1/2 hr of driving. Something tells me it ain't any outside water for sure...

 

no drain plug, just the drain port could be plugged, it sticks through the firewall on the passenger side of the truck, behind the passenger side exhaust manifold iirc

 

Is it easy to see? any picture of it maybe?

 

real quick to find out if it IS the ac drain port.. crank it up turn on the AC and look underneath near the passenger tire to see if water is dripping , if it is NOT then it is the drain port plugged and its filling up the air box under the dash until it finds a way out and floods your floor. and if it is dripping it should be a good bit of water dripping underneath .. also after this problem is solved you should leave it parked for a while with the carpet pulled back and the windows down to let the padding under the carpet dry out im surprised you already dont notice a musty smell..

 

Thanks I will try that for sure now. I read some stuff on here regarding the fact the heater core and A/C will corrode and leak. And there is no other way to get to them but pull the entire dashboard...

I have a bit of experience and so far my most ambitious job had been to replace the transmission fluid and transmission filters by myself. I also do all the oil changes myself and about to replace my driver side keylock that some hudlum tried to force open with a screwdriver a little while ago. Not sure how the complexity compares but everyone who did it bitches about it. On the other hand I want to learn how to deal with such potentially expensive issues myself for obvious monetary reasons.