Hey everyone!

Towards the end of last year, I had a mechanic bypass my heater core, so I would only have to spend $90 instead of $750. I went the winter without a heater (in Houston, Texas it wasn't too bad), but now that I am starting to use the cold air, I am seeing water again. My friend and I drove to Dallas, from Houston, with the cold air on the whole way, and when I got there, there was a puddle of water (and possibly coolant) coming up from the floor board on the passenger side. I had to pull up the mat, and there was a ton of water. I was able to dry it all up, and this was a couple weeks ago. Today, I thought I would inspect it, and it was pretty soaked again. I don't see any water whatsoever coming down, but it's some how getting in between the mat and the metal body. I checked the driver side, and it was dry. I am wondering, can it still be leaking with a bad heater core, just by running the cold air? I thought bypassing the coolant from the heater core was a cheap fix. What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

 

If your heater core is bypassed it wouldn't leak. I'll bet it's from the air conditioner. Find where it drains out- it comes straight out of the firewall on the passenger side. Make sure it's dripping good and not clogged up. Then get a piece of hose (sorry I can't remember the size) with a 90* bend in it and rtv/clamp/ attach it somehow to where the a/c drains. When you go down the road for a long time without stopping the wind blowing straight against the a/c drain doesn't let it drain so it backs up and soaks your floorboard.

 

Okay thanks! I'll give that a try!

 

check that the seal around the AC drain tube at the firewall is not cracked. if it is cracked, real it with black rtv. the drain tube is about 1/2 inch in diameter.

use a plastic wire tie or a piece of wire and poke around in that drain tube to see if its stopped up with mildew, or dirt-dauber nest, or other debris. its supposed to be open into the AC drain pan under the evap core. don't poke too hard or use anything sharp that would poke a hole in the evap.


edit - $90 to bypass the heater core. damn.

 

^^^ Holy crap I didn't see that earlier. What the heck did he put in there for $90? Better be made out of platinum! I usually just throw in a T fitting I have laying around from a flush kit until I feel like having heat lol. Usually leave a few different sizes in the tool box just in case I blow a heater hose.

 

"$90 to bypass the heater core. damn."

Lol. I figured someone was going to make a comment about that. I knew what the problem was, but I wasn't 100% sure how to go about fixing it, and I didn't have extra hoses, and I was having a bad day, and work was piling up, and I needed my truck to run, so I just took it to a local mechanic shop. Their hourly rate is $90 so I paid them $90 to fix it. I thought it was worth it.

 

+1 on the ac drain coming through firewall. With the humidity around Houston (and Dallas lately) the condensatiojn is collecting in the bottome and draining our onto the floor instead of through the drain. Gotta get that cleaned out.

 

Well, I didn't clean it out, but I did buy a hose and clamp, and so far it seems to be working.

 

air may have been pushing back into the tube and holding the condensate isnide and allowing it to build up and leak. But cleaning it out would be a good idea though.