Leaking A/C hose

Has anyone else discovered substantial wetness under their passenger side carpet? It has been suggested to me, that this might be a leaking AC hose, but do you guys know of any other commong infiltration areas? I don't have any rust yet, but I definately want to nip this issue in the bud...

It could be the a/c compressor.

On my '96 ZJ we had the same problem. The hose was clogged, and they blew it out, but it turned out the compressor was bad also.

I had this issue in a 94 Sport I owned. The drain from the interior A/C unit was the problem, but in a very sneaky way. The drain was a short rubber stub that stuck out of the firewall about 1" and just let the condensate drain down onto the frame ( horrible design, IMHO). The fiber packing around the hose where it went through the firewall was actually wicking the water back through the firewall. It took me about four hours over several days to discover this.

Went to the stealership to see if I could replace that hose. The part they gave me and insisted was correct wouldn't fit and they insisted that I was the problem. I finally invited the parts counter guy out to the parking lot so he could "show me" how it went on there...... imagine my shock when he admitted that it wouldn't fit. We did find an "L" shaped hose, supposedly from an LHS that did fit over the stub so the water was released below the level of the stub and could not wick back through. That solved the problem of water inside, but still had a constant drip onto the frame (a/c in Texas is used 9 months per year). I rigged a piece of tubing from the hardware store that fit over the end of the LHS drain and used a cable tie to secure it in position so the water dripped onto the ground and not on any part of the Jeep.

I was convinced that my windshield was leaking, that the firewall had a seam that was leaking and several other things. As usual I ignored the best advice I've ever gotten from these forums - start simple.

Good Luck !

xj-grin said:

Has anyone else discovered substantial wetness under their passenger side carpet? It has been suggested to me, that this might be a leaking AC hose, but do you guys know of any other commong infiltration areas? I don't have any rust yet, but I definately want to nip this issue in the bud...

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A/C produces water when running, there is a drain that's plugged if you have water on your carpet.

I had a big water infiltration in the passenger side of my 95 XJ, but it was caused by a frame panel joint without sealer from factory, the stealership never found the leak and I only remove the carpet and use a water hose below the XJ to find the water entry and then sealed it with a marine elastomer, never leak again.

Thanks fellas, appears nearly unanimous that it is the AC drain hose. I'll check it out tonight...

It is probably the A/C, but could also be the seal around the blower motor or the fresh air intake that is under the cowl on the passenger side.

OK, so I'm stumped. I drove home yesterday in a driving rain -- no leakage. I ran the AC in my garage on high for like 20 minutes last night -- no leakage and the vent/drain tube seems to be working fine, as it was blowing cold air... any other suggestions on what got the passenger side carpet so wet?

TIA hasta

Smell it, is it peepee.

xj-grin said:

OK, so I'm stumped. I drove home yesterday in a driving rain -- no leakage. I ran the AC in my garage on high for like 20 minutes last night -- no leakage and the vent/drain tube seems to be working fine, as it was blowing cold air... any other suggestions on what got the passenger side carpet so wet?

TIA hasta

Click to expand...

Clutching at straws here, but I've seen drains partially clog up. If the vehicle is moving, higher RPM, lower evaporator coil temperature, removing more moisture from the air, drain not able to handle the excess moisture?

Depending on position of the drain hose, vehicle moving down the road, wind pushing water back in to the blower section and overflowing?

Were you running the A/C when you were driving home in the rain?

Just other things to look for, can't really say without being there to look at it. Can't say any of these are even close to your problem!!

HTH,

I also had the soaked carpet thing. I used a ton of silicone on the AC outlet and anything else that looked suspicious. However, I noticed that the rubber surround on windscreen had actually shrunk somewhat (especially at the corners) and I suspect that a lot of water was creeping in through there. I took a damp rag and cleaned out the area where the rubber touches the bodywork and squeezed a bead of silicone in there. Seems to have worked. Someone also mentioned somewhere that the pipe carrying fluid to the rear washer runs along the sill. Might be worth checking that as well.

I don't mean to be hijacking here but what is the best way to unclog the evap drain on a 96- XJ? Mine is just partially clogged, but my passengers' feet get wet only when I have the air on.

I use a strong wet/dry vac on the drain line.

Thanks for the replys guys, I'll keep digging. And no, John, not peepee... did your gears get there ok?

xj-grin said:

Thanks for the replys guys, I'll keep digging. And no, John, not peepee... did your gears get there ok?

Click to expand...

Sure did and they look great.