Just Picked Up 1990 Coupe...Odd A/C Problm and Others
Just Picked Up 1990 Coupe...Odd A/C Problm and Others
Ok, so I picked up a clean white 90 SE Coupe for $2500. The only 2 problems are 1) the A/C actually drips water when it is run. It drips it on the passenger side, under the dash. It blows ice cold though. Any ideas? 2) the HUD/Speed display as well as the odometer trip meter sopped woking sinc the last inspection. I have a Speed display unit that came with the car, but is there any thing else I need? Anything to look for? Thanks for any help given!!!!!
I have no idea what that AC prob could be, a leak in the line somewhere?? but my last 240 (93 coupe) had a HUD that didn't work (well it worked only in freezing temps for some reason), I took it to a place that just did speedometers, they said it would be like 300 to fix. I drove for 2 years w/out it, and sold the car never getting it fixed 
BTW how many miles are on your car? 2500 seems a bit pricey for a 90, unless it's in awesome condition
BTW how many miles are on your car? 2500 seems a bit pricey for a 90, unless it's in awesome conditionIf your A/C unit is dripping inside the interior instead of through the condensate outlet pipe atached to the condensate pan it would appear that the piping and or pan is plugged up. I have had this happen on other vehicles. I don't know what steps you would need to take to clear the line on a 240. Since I have had success with other vehicles using this method I will share i t with you. Attach a plastic tube over the outlet tube of the condensate pan located under the car. The tube should be long enough to extend to the exterior of the car and elevated to the height of the bottom of the pan. Using a funnel inserted into the opposite end of the tube pour in some liquid drain cleaner and elevate the tube so that the fluid is slightly higher than the bottom of the pan condensate pan. Don't go overboard with the drain cleaner!! Too much may cause spilling into the interior and cause damage. Let the cleaner sit in the pan for a few minutes and then lower the height of the tube so that everything clogged in the pan should run out of the tube. Clear water should replace the drain cleaner after it all runs out of the pan to flush any remaining debris.
I must say, I was a bit worried getting a 240. I have a background in RX-7s and the online community for them that I frequented (http://www.rx7club.com) was simply incredible and I thought that I would never get so much help somewhere else. Well, I was wrong. Thanks a million for all the help guys!!!
Personally, I'd only use drain cleaner as a last resort, because you'd be putting it in the same duct that your air blows through. I wouldn't want to breath that stuff, even in trace amounts. Its not exactly spring fresh =)
Basically, the A/C evaporator under the dash is encased in a plastic air duct. Moisture from the air forms condensation on the cold metal of the evaporator, and eventually starts dripping, creating a puddle on the bottom of the plastic air duct. For this reason, the plastic air duct has a drain. This drain is only a couple inches long and sticks straight though the firewall, so the water can drip on the pavement.
There is actually a little rubber extension piece on the end of the hard plastic drain tube. If you lift the hood and look at the firewall on the passenger side, and you should see this rubber drain extension. It looks like a rubber hose that is only a few inches long and is bent to point toward the ground. Make sure the rubber hose is there, because without it, the hard plastic drain might not be long enough to extend past the firewall. A missing rubber extension could itself be the cause of wet carpet.
Anyway, since the hard plastic part of the drain is only a couple inches long, it should be easy to clean by hand with a few pipe cleaners from the craft store or something... be creative. You might have to remove the rubber hose thingie from the firewall to get good access to the actual plastic drain tube. (Be warned, if memory serves, the rubber thingie is a nuisance to get back on)
Basically, the A/C evaporator under the dash is encased in a plastic air duct. Moisture from the air forms condensation on the cold metal of the evaporator, and eventually starts dripping, creating a puddle on the bottom of the plastic air duct. For this reason, the plastic air duct has a drain. This drain is only a couple inches long and sticks straight though the firewall, so the water can drip on the pavement.
There is actually a little rubber extension piece on the end of the hard plastic drain tube. If you lift the hood and look at the firewall on the passenger side, and you should see this rubber drain extension. It looks like a rubber hose that is only a few inches long and is bent to point toward the ground. Make sure the rubber hose is there, because without it, the hard plastic drain might not be long enough to extend past the firewall. A missing rubber extension could itself be the cause of wet carpet.
Anyway, since the hard plastic part of the drain is only a couple inches long, it should be easy to clean by hand with a few pipe cleaners from the craft store or something... be creative. You might have to remove the rubber hose thingie from the firewall to get good access to the actual plastic drain tube. (Be warned, if memory serves, the rubber thingie is a nuisance to get back on)
Thanks for pointing that out I wasn't sure either where the drain extension was because I haven't had a problem. The car the I had the problem with where I needed to resort to drain cleaner was an Acura. The pan was really hard to get at as well as the piping. There was an accumulation of years of organic debris in the drain pan that only removing the pan or blowing it out with cleaner was my only solution. Actually the cleaner worked really well and did not have any residual odors or problems. Can't remember what brand but it was a gel. Took about 30 seconds to work and when I lowered the tube the disolved matter just flowed out.