Q45 leak diagnosis and fix!

[elwesso]

So for a while ive noticed that I had a leak where the passenger side floormat would sometimes be found wet... I could never figure out why this would do this... I posted a thread a LONG time ago and someone mentioned something about the windshield not sealing, but my windshield is a factory windshield so i sort of ruled that out..

on saturday afternoon i had nothing better to do with my time so I decided to try and figure it out... I had a hunch that it was coming from somewhere around the evaporator box right behind the glovebox.. 6 bolts to take off the glovebox and that baby was off in a jiffy.....

So I get in there and this is what I see, minus the strategically placed text...



After trying to figure this out, the place where it was leaking was the foam seal in between the blower area and the evaporator box...



You can see the wet spot...

Here is the culprit...



As you can see in the picture, water could gather in this little area... Its kind of an odd design i guess because it is curved and then there is a taller piece of plastic that divides this area... Whenever there would be any water sitting in there (still not sure how it got in there to begin with? I DUMPED water everywhere and couldnt recreate it) and the fan was turned on, or you even took a corner (i had a waterfall one time when taking a right turn) it would just push the water over the foam... It appears that some of the foam had worn away.....

So as a temporary ghetto fix, i took some saran wrap, wadded it into a long thin thing and wedged it in between the 2 boxes over the foam.. If the chance that water gets in there it should at least hold it back so it wont get the floormats all wet.....

I cleaned out the evaporator box and rinsed it out REALLY good and made sure the drain was clog free... All good there.....

Another thing I did while i was in there was i cleaned out the HVAC blower motor... When i took it out, and you take off that rubber foam covering, youll see 2 screws... When I saw this ( : ) i thought to myself.. Screws mean that it can come apart, and if it can come apart, that means we can see whats inside and possibly have some more fun..... When i took apart the blower motor, there was a TON of dirt and icky stuff in there... So I took my brake parts cleaner (if i can use it on the MAF its OK for a simple electric motor) and cleaned it out real good (first taking some compressed air, IE my lungs and blowing it out real good) and then WD-40d it... Let it dry and air out, and put it back in...

Any difference?? Not sure but its definitely not leaking anymore and the fan might be slightly better, but its most like placebo if anything.....

Just trying to share what i accomplished over this crappy weekend of cold weather i had... if i cant play golf, theres always the Q!

[PalmerWMD]

Yayy!

Good job Wes!

Fred..

[AZhitman]

Nice work bro!

Man, you have the weirdest damn projects, LOL....

[elwesso]

when i made the title of this thread, i should have put at the end "I hope"

Well unfortuntately, it rained again, and yet again the floormat was soaked.. The odd thing is, it rained all night and it was dry as a bone this morning... Rained all day, and when i got in the Q today it was soaked, and when i took my turn, yet again the floodgates opened... So in back to square one.. I know the drain isnt clogged, and after seeing the design, i just dont see how water can get in that area...

Any ideas... Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Greg, no way this car could have normal issues.. Injectors, fuel pump, MAF.. NAAAA lets get something not very many people know how to fix, thats more fun!!!

[rsiwicki]

Wes....maybe somehow you can convert this extra water to a water cooler so that way you have cool water anytime you are thirsty just like they would do on pimp my ride

[elwesso]

ROFL!!!!!! Ill just put a straw on the bottom of the plastic piece that goes under the glove box..... plus its right by the AC...

LOL thanks for that Rob...

[texasoil]

water should never accumulate under the evaporator. I suspect a plugged drain. Other location is on top under the wiper linkage shield--check for an opened seam in the sealant allowing rain water to flow into th A/C intake . Also check the drains for that plenum (favorite haunt for leaves, dead mice, hautna-virus pellets (mouse and bird droppings,etc.) a plugged drain will get you wet.

[elwesso]

The water is on the fan side, not the other side...

[Jeff Williams]

Try this:

1. On a hot dry day, run the A/C for a long time, then shut off the car. If you get no drainage, then it's the drain plugged.

2. On a rainy day, don't run the defrost or the A/C, then see if it leaks inside the car. If it still leaks, then it is a rain leak.

I suspect it is the evaporator drain. Even in the rain, your A/C runs for the defrost, and with the humidity being so high, there is a lot of condensate.

[elwesso]

I think that the evap drain is fine.. I poured a TON of water through there and it was leak free.. I dumped a TON of water in the evap case to rinse it out, and it came out as fast as I could pour it in...

[maxnix]

Great pictures! I wish the G50 had the cabin filter like the FY33. Won't make it faster, but makes it a lot more livable.

Good luck on your leak. I agree with texasoil. Only experienced the right turn waterfall on a Alsfa Romeo Milano many decades ago. It is a real waker-upper when the chilled water drenches one's ankles! Much better than coffee.

[louiegz]

I had a similar problem in the past with my 86 Chevy Cavalier I use to have. An idiot mechanic replaced the heater core that winter and cracked the drip tray for the A/C condensation. When I used the A/C that summer, it would leave about an inch of water on the passenger side mats. What a pain. I finally got the tray fixed and no more water.

Not to get off subject, Wes, but those pictures look good. Did you upgrade your digital camera as you said you were going to do?

[96Qowner]

Hot damn, louie! Those wheels look GREAT on your car!

[Q451990]

Wes,

You might want to check your cowl vent area to see if there's water running down the windshild area that should be redirected, but is instead heading down in to the air intake...

I had a problem on my Mercury Cougar like that. Not sure if it's a possible problem on the Q or not.

Heath

[louiegz]

Thanks 96Q. I've had them on for a bit over a week and I love them. Check out more pics on this link. zerothread?id=112433

[FarFetched]

I would start outside. CHECK THE AIR INTAKE FOR THE HVAC system OUTSIDE where the cowling is!On Fird Taurus (there is a TSB) on water leak. There might be a crack on outside of air intake where it meats with body.Check it very carful, take your time. Cheers!

[elwesso]

Not to get off subject, Wes, but those pictures look good. Did you upgrade your digital camera as you said you were going to do?

Nope, just played with settings more.. When im doing even semi close things i always put it on macro and it has less tendency to overexpose things..... I also changed the metering... Q looks REAL nice!! really transforms the look from how I saw it last time.. you need tocome back out here soemtime

Heath I see what your saying and I will look into that more... I pored water all over the windshield and i never reproduced the leak..

Ill check it out maybe later today and we'll see whats going on.....

I dont think its the evap box thats leaking...

If I dont get it fixed im just going to put a towel under there (wedged above the thing)

[louiegz]

you need tocome back out here soemtime

We'll see next Thanksgiving. That's the only time of the year that I'm in that part of the country. Next time I wont come out with snow tires.