AC Condensation

Have started to see condensation develop on the casing and then drip water on the passenger side of my 1999 Tahoe. I took it into the dealership and they told me that the drain was clogged and so they cleant it and charged me $85 for the cleanup of the drain.

Well the $85 would have been well spent if that would have resolved the problem but it did not. The water is still dripping in the truck after condesation accumulates on the passenger side and so took it into the dealership again this morning. The story now from the service advisor after checking with his technician is that this is normal behaviour. I asked to talk to the supervisor and got the same story.

I can believe condesation occuring but not at the rate that this is happening and causing water to drip into the passenger side next to the feet. Also I did not experience this problem for the 3 plus years that I have had this truck and now suddenly have this water dripping in the cab.

Basically I have been told that this is working as designed and there is nothing that they can do to fix this problem. I am having a problem accepting that answer and so am going to take it in to another dealership or shop to see what they come up with.

In the meantime wanted to put this out here to see if anyone has any suggestions as to what the problem could be and how to solve it.

I just cannot accept that a $35k truck does this and I should just accept it. I like the truck and would like to have the problem fixed and hope that happens otherwise I have to look fo a better engineered truck which does not leak water like an old bladder.

What chaps me is that the dealership is putting the ownes on me to find why this is happening and not doing the proper diagnosis and figuring out the cause of the problem which is what the supposedly are trained to do.

Reply to
va.patel
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Hi!

I hope you realize that with 5 minutes and some stiff wire, you could have cleaned the same drain yourself for nothing except the cost of the wire and your time. IOW, you got burned...bad.

Maybe the drain is still plugged. That is probably unlikely though.

I would bet that your A/C system may be low on charge or isn't getting enough airflow across the cooling (evaporator) coil. This could make it freeze up and then water could leak from it into the cab. Double check the drain hole, and then have the A/C system examined for problems.

Clean any fan air intakes. See if the condition improves on the recirculation setting, as this will pull much less humid air across the coil.

There is a faint chance that it could be "as designed", but it is rather unlikely. On a trip I took to Missouri in my dad's '94 Chevy, the A/C coil froze up and leaked water all over just like you describe happening in your '99. It even happened in the same place in the cab. I guess maybe the air was too humid and the fan speed too low. After letting the system rest a while and using a higher fan speed (in addition to checking the drain hole) it has not happened again.

Check the drain hole yourself with a stiff wire. To find it easily, you can turn the A/C on, drive for a while, park the truck and see where it is dripping water from.

Have the A/C system inspected. You probably can't do this yourself, but it should not cost much to have it examined by a shop you trust. I wouldn't take it to the dealer.

Well, you know what they say...no machine is perfect. That gets to be much more pronounced of an effect when you need said machine to function properly.

Maybe you should try another dealership or another shop that you trust for another opinion.

Dealerships may not want to look at your vehicle if you didn't buy it from that specific dealership, but that's why I don't let any dealer I have ever bought from attach their logo to my vehicle. I'm sure the original point of purchase can be looked up easily on computer, but why go to that effort if the source isn't obvious?

William

Reply to
William R. Walsh

Va,

Ignore Williams post.............he's out to lunch. It's one of two things:

1) The 90* elbow on the A/C condensate drain has fallen off or broken off, causing air to push the condensate back inside when yer' truck get's moving.

2) You have a small crack in the evaporatore core housing or some of the RTV sealant on the evaporator housing has degraded and is allowing a leak. The Evap core is two parts (top and bottom) and the seam is sealed with silicone. If you can get yer' head under there while she's dripping and find the crack/broken seam, just hit it with a thin bead of RTV and your problems will be solved.

Regards,

Doc

Reply to
"Doc"

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