air conditioning leak?

Perhaps the AC drainage hole or whatever term is clogged?

 

There is a little rubber hose through the firewall which is blocked, it is most likely blocked with organic matter (leaves). You will when you find the rubber hose see it is pinched off at the end. Squeeze the sides to open the end then with a blunt stick clear the material from the drain. You may need to lift the car to get to it from underneath and you might get wet draining it. I don't think a mechanic would charge a great deal to unblock it if it isn't a job you are comfortable doing yourself.

Once you unblock the drain you need to dry the carpet. Park in the sun over hot pavement with the windows open a crack to let the water vapour out.

To reduce the chance of a recurrence avoid parking under trees or clean out the air inlet in front of the windscreen often.

 

Hi n8p, welcome to PriusChat! :welcome:
Bob nailed it. Water is condensing on the cooling coils of your AC and dripping into the box above where you see the drips. This is a common problem with all cars with AC and not a Prius problem, per se. Any gas station with a lift can get your car in the air where the mechanic can blow compressed air up the drain tube to unblock it.

Be sure and dry the floor with a wet-vac and towels, and use the AC once it's unplugged. You don't want mold and mildew growing in your carpet.

 

I'm very well acquainted with this drip hose. You can just about reach it laying on the ground but you can't do anything to it with one hand so it must go on a lift as Bill said. The vent tube is about 2.5 feet in right behind pass front wheel. There's front cowl vents too.Do you park under tree's a lot? To check cowl vents:
Get a bucket filled with water and dump it at the bottom of each side of front windshield into the black plastic tray under windshield. Just dump a little under control..don't splatter it over the vent lip though and you should see water pouring out of the vent tube behind each front wheel. This cowl vent is where the fresh air comes in when you switch from re-circulate to fresh air on the AC mfd. That must be draining ok too.Good luck!

 

With the hit that AC causes to fuel economy, I rarely run it on a sustained basis. Yesterday was a notable exception: shuttling my fiancee across town for an ophthalmologist appointment (she's not very tolerant of open-window breezes) and then a highway trip with my kids. 360 miles total, almost all of which were with the AC on. Dropped my tank MPG from 78 to 63 () but that's a story for another day.

To the point of this thread: I have a big-time water leak in the cabin, presumably from a clogged AC drain as others have described. Noticed it first as I was driving my fiancee when I felt a trickle of water on my sandal-clad right foot, but only during sharp right turns. Noticed it substantially more after I got her home and the passenger side mat and carpet were rather damp. I didn't have time to do anything about it then because I had a "date" with my daughters. All I could do is dab it with a hand towel I carry in my car.

During our almost 300-mile trip I did multiple dabbings and multiple wringings-out. The floor mat and carpet were saturated by the time I got home, and I placed a large bath towel on them overnight to absorb the water. This morning the towel, though not saturated, was still quite heavy with moisture.

My guess is this drain has been clogged for some time and I just haven't noticed it because of how infrequently I run the AC.

My main question after this long-winded introduction: Can the drain hose be accessed and, as Pat describes, a stick inserted with the car on ramps, or will it need to be on a lift?

A secondary question: What would cause the transient trickling (hmm, sounds like a urinary problem, doesn't it? ) on the driver's side only during right turns? Made it seem as if there was a reservoir of some sort that splashed over the edge. Is that the "box" that Bill is describing?

 

[Bump]

Anybody?

 

It's the same problem: clear the condensate drain and the trickling will go away.

 

I understand that. The question is whether the car has to be on a lift to get a stick in the drain from underneath or can I do it on ramps?

 

Oh, sorry. Uhh, I haven't tried it, but it should be accessible with ramps. But it may be necessary to blow the tube clear with compressed air from the other end.

 

Two days ago I was passing by the shop where I bought my last set of tires, and whose manager I know. On a whim I figured I'd stop to see if they could clear the drain quickly and inexpensively. Timing was good; they had no cars in the queue and got me right in.

The tech hunted around a bit for the drain and when he found it hooked the air hose to it. He let me under the lift to see where it is so I'll know for future reference. (While underneath I did a quick check of tire wear, suspension components, and for leaks around the transaxle drain and fill plugs after my recent DIY fluid change. All checked out OK.) In answer to my original question, I agree I should be able to access it with the car on ramps.

He took a couple of shots at it then asked, "Have you been running the AC today?" To which I replied, "For the sake of fuel economy I rarely run it, with recent road trips as the notable exceptions." Response: "OK, that explains why I didn't get doused with water," apparently the usual result. "Let's turn the AC on to see if it starts dripping."

As a fuel economy nerd, I groaned at the thought of the car sitting at idle with the AC running at full blast for several minutes. :Cry: With the peak summer heat and no highway driving the next three weeks or so, the current tank is my best chance ever at an 80 MPG tank, and it was just shy of 81 at that point.

But I understood the need. We turned the car and AC on. I was a bit amused when he wondered why he couldn't hear the ICE (after the initial S1 run-on). I assured him that if it sat there long enough with the AC running full bore, it would turn on (as I'm dreading rock-bottom SOC). He gave the drain a few more shots and waited a bit for the AC hardware to chill to assure it was working (as I'm still mentally obsessing over SOC and fuel economy). After maybe five minutes, though he never saw water start to drip, he seemed pretty confident the drain was clear: "This almost always works." I was torn between wanting to make sure and not wanting the car to sit there in its current state any longer.

So I took his word for it. When I asked the manager, "How much?" he said, "No charge; a tip to Lee will do." I gave him $10 and was on my way -- with SOC down to 43% and tank MPG down to 77-something. Figuring I'd better make sure it worked before my next highway trip at the end of the month, I bit the bullet for the trip home and hit the highway (instead of through town) with the AC set to 72. On arriving home twenty minutes later (with tank MPG at 76.9), no sign of leakage in the foot well. :rockon:

Oh, and after yesterday, the tank is back up to 78+.