Interior Water Leak [Archive]

Sudesh

01-08-2008, 05:57 PM

I noticed over the past few days that there was a damp/moldy smell in the car. This only started as I have been using the aircon the past few days as its been quite warm.

So today I removed my over mats and found carpet below to be wet!! I then removed my seats etc and stripped out the interior carpet only to find the carpet and floor to be soaking wet.

I dried the floor and have the carpet out to dry then going to wet vac and dry again later.

I have found that the water is coming from what I think is the aircon condensor. It drippes quite bad with the ac on. Anyone idea what I can do to sort this out? Is it possible that a drain plus is blocked somewhere?

Pics here:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/DSC01673.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/DSC01671.jpg

Nick Graves

01-08-2008, 07:20 PM

Sudesh,

There's supposed to be a drain tube to take the condensate out of the car through a hole in the floor; your car should piddle on the ground on a humid day. If it doesn't, there's a problem

I suspect yours had become blocked/dislodged and your A/C is filling up.

I'd check that first.

Can recommend a good company in Chelmsford if you cannot get rid of the smell.

Sudesh

02-08-2008, 10:48 AM

Thanks Nick for the reply.

I found the problem. As I have stripped out my carpet I found the drain plug/pipe from inside the car and pulled it through. The drain pipe itself was clear and didnt have any build up inside.

I then took a piece of clear pipe and pushed it inside the condensor outlet. At this point the outlet cleared and the water started to flow out!!

So could this mean that there is possibly something inside the condensor that is blocking the drain?

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/DSC01674.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/DSC01675.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/DSC01676.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/DSC01677.jpg

Sudesh

02-08-2008, 10:48 AM

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/DSC01678.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/DSC01679.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/DSC01680.jpg

Sudesh

02-08-2008, 10:56 AM

On another note this may be one of the reasons why some NSX members have mentioned the MOLDY smell when using aircon? possibly a water leak coming from the condensor and seeping into the capet. You wouldnt even realise the carpet is wet unless you removed it as, all the foam and underlay below actually soaks up quite a bit of water before it will reach the surface, plus if you have overmats in your car you would notice the damp at all!! Also the water laying in the condensor would probably smell over time.

Lankstarr

11-08-2008, 06:16 PM

My wifes aircon started to smell and after 6 months of getting stinkier we ook it to Honda for a clean. £25 to clean the system and she's as fresh as a daisy (the aircon smells better as well).

L*

11-08-2008, 06:46 PM

Sudesh maybe it was dislodge and there is nothing bad in there?

If I was you, leave the carpet off for a few days, and monitor the leak.

Cheers,

Ary

Sudesh

11-08-2008, 07:35 PM

Ary its all back to normal now. After I took out the carpet, I left it to dry, then used a wet vac with some carpet cleaner then left it out in the fresh air to dry again for a few days. I also then cleaned the metal floor itself and used some WD40 and wiped the floor a few time and left it all to dry.

There was nothing actually disloged or blocked in the drain pipe but there must have been something in the condensor because when I removed the drain pipe from the condensor no water came out,? but when I pushed the smaller clear pipe into the condensor and blew into it, what ever water that had built up inside just flowed out!

A guy on prime replied to my thread on there, and he mentioned the rubber/foam that's on the flaps that direct the air flow can perish over time and fall inside the condensor causing it to block the drain hole. So I'm thinking that maybe there is something in there that caused the problem.

At the moment I have been testing it and the water flow is good from under the car and there is no smell anymore, but thats not to say that what ever is in the condensor might not shift over time and block the hole again.

I had a look at actually removing the base of the condensor and having a good look but it would involve alot of work and I think the blower under the bonnet would have to be taken out also.

Ewan

13-04-2009, 10:31 AM

Guys

Sorry to ressurect an old topic but I just wanted to check something...

I often get a small puddle on the garage floor, which I presumed must come from the A/C. My coolant level's looking a bit low (though still around the min level) and I thought I'd see if I could work out where the drip was coming from, so took the car out for a blat (and ran the a/c cold and hard) then parked on the driveway with some cardboard underneath.

I spotted a drip further back from where I was expecting, and remembered reading this thread about a drain pipe...

5207
Q: Is that the chappie?

I have two puddle areas, one that corresponds to the location of this pipe, and another that's a bit further forward and towards the nearside - pretty much underneath where the LH condenser is (though I suppose it could be a leak from the bottom of the radiator). Is this a common symptom?

The car's due for a service in a few weeks, so I'll get that double checked then.

cheers
Ewan

13-04-2009, 10:14 PM

That looks like it to me. The radiator would/should have antifreeze, so it will look slightly different than plain old water. Condensation perhaps???

Ewan

13-04-2009, 10:22 PM

Cheers Ary - That's what I'm hoping - though would condensation from the condensers just vent straight out, or should it flow through the drain pipe... :dunno:

Whatever is on the garage floor to the front/nearside doesn't smell like anything and doesn't look like anything coloured ... so I'm presuming it's H2O.

I'll put some card under the car marked by the front left nearside wheel, so I can check exactly where it is coming from.

E

Dave J

14-04-2009, 08:26 AM

amo

14-04-2009, 08:35 AM

sure u will get water drip from the condensers as long as you have the a/c on
what colour is your coolant may be put some die in there so you know where its coming from

thx amo

Ewan

14-04-2009, 09:59 AM

You can always get a friend to taste it just to make sure :)

He heh - there's an idea...

Oh and amo: I think Honda the coolant is stained light blue, isn't it?

Just called Reading Honda and they said they only have one type of coolant, suitable for all vehicles (no mention of it being "All Seasons, type 2"... £4.89/L

cheers
Ewan

Lankstarr

16-01-2010, 08:21 PM

16-01-2010, 08:42 PM

Luke I saw one of them pipes while removing the sub. I think Sudesh has a nice write up about it somewhere on this board.

Lankstarr

16-01-2010, 09:05 PM

This is the thread with Sudesh's write up!

Thanks Ary - I'll have a look in the passenger footwell.

Luke

Sudesh

16-01-2010, 09:27 PM

Hey guys,

IS teh condenser under the passenger carpet at teh back near the sub?

I want to have a look at this to see if I have a blockage but would like to know if I need to take the seats out and more importantly which side I'm looking at!

Cheers,

Luke

Hi Luke,

Are you noticing condensation on the windscreens? or carpet being damp?

If just checking the area I worked on, then you dont need to remove the seats. But if you a leak similar to what I had, then removing the seats and carpet is the best way to dry the carpet out and the floor of the car.

There is quite a bit of sponge/sound deadning which can soak up alot of water so if you had a leak, it may have been going for a long time and you didnt notice damp on the carpet because, the sponge/sound deadning soaks it all up first and then pushes it to the surface.

Lankstarr

17-01-2010, 06:42 AM

Hi Sudesh,

It's just condensation as far as I know; if the carpet is saturated then I'll proceed with project seat out and carpet clean. There's no smell at the moment... none other than that caused by myself anyway!

I'll hopefully get a chance to do this today after Isla treated my to a nice early 4:30 start!

Cheers,

Luke

Lankstarr

17-01-2010, 09:33 AM

Hmmmm no sign of any wet carpet so far. Will have to revisit later but I assume the offending article is behind the sub?

L*

17-01-2010, 11:04 AM

How are the door membranes?

Lankstarr

17-01-2010, 01:18 PM

How are the door membranes?

I've only ever had the driver's side door card off and it's fine; could probably be more watertight but not by much. I'd like to find the drain first and check that out, if it doesn;t help door cards can be next weekend!

L*

Kaz-kzukNA1

17-01-2010, 10:58 PM

Hi, Luke.

Not sure your condensation issue is caused by the water trapped inside the evaporator plastic case but following information will help you for diagnosing the cause.

If you want to have a good look at the drain hose of the A/C evaporator, you need to first remove the passenger side carpet covering the foot bass speaker area. Then, you will see silver flat metal plate protecting the plastic foot bass speaker box. If you remove this metal plate and look across the right shoulder of the speaker box (you don’t need to remove this) towards the centre of the car, you will see yellow SRS harness running vertically along the sloped section of the body panel.

There, you will see big white plastic case and the drain hose is attached to the forward left corner of this plastic box. The photos that Sudesh uploaded in post #4 of this thread will provide you with some idea.

The key points are the vertical yellow harness, sloped body panel, centre of the body, quite forward than where you think.

If your passenger side carpet and floor were not wet, I don’t think you’ll get much information by inspecting this drain hose. It’s short, angled and not that soft. You should see white or yellow check mark from the factory on the hose so if it is plugged in tightly to the white case, then leave it without removing it.

If you can put your NSX on the stand or on the lift, please look at the area behind the steering rack between centre and passenger area. You should see a small and very short black hose outlet sticking out at the sloped section of the body panel. This is where the moisture from the evaporator is drained.
If you have access to the compressed air, you can use short burst of air to clear up the blocked drain hole at the base of the evaporator case as a temporally measure.

The main issue is the debris getting inside the evaporator plastic case. Unfortunately, none of our NSX models were equipped with any sorts of pollen/air filter at the entrance of blower motor. If you use your A/C or Heater in ‘Fresh’ mode and not in ‘Re-Circ’, then regardless of temperature setup, A/C on-off, Vent mode, etc, the air from outside will first directed to the evaporator including any leaves, insects, dust, fume and so on.

Eventually, it will build up on the surface of evaporator fins or simply drops to the bottom of the evaporator case where the drain hole exists. The debris will simply block the drain hole but sometimes, with the moisture, heat and lots of debris (such as leaves), it will form a nice compost and blocking the drain hole.

Under this condition, you’ll see mould at the surface of the evaporator fin. This is why you get bad smell from time to time when you operate the A/C.

You don't want to know what kind of cabin air you are breathing while you are inside the car....

This is one of the reason why I recommend owner to wash the evaporator once a year.
Some of the photos that you can find from the post of my Health Check Service.
6493 6494 6488

The DIY filter that I made for some of the owners. This is the one removed from my NSX a while ago and the clean evaporator after being washed.
6487 6492

The other thing to check is the gas level of your A/C system.
Around this time of the year, you can easily get moisture inside the cabin.

The capacity of our A/C system is huge for the small NSX cabin size so if your A/C is working fine and the drain hole is not blocked, then you should be able to clear the condensation in a short time.

Please look at the check window at the top of the A/C receiver. It’s next to the washer tank blue cap just in front of the radiator and located almost at the centre.

If you see lots of bubble or no fluid movement, there is not enough gas in the system and thus, your A/C is not removing the moisture from the air.

Hope you'll enjoy your next weekend....

Regards,
Kaz