Water in passenger footwell, Disco II

[khaywood]

I just picked up a 2001 Disco with 100+k miles. I found the passenger footwell wet. It does not smell like coolant. I'm assuming condensation from the A/C which I have run continuously while driving these past couple days.

Any suggestions as to where to look? Is there a ventilation drain I should be looking for?

[DiscoMania]

I have a '01 disco (94k miles) as well and at one point last summer my right front passenger carpet was getting went - it was water and not motor coolant. I was 95% sure it was from the A/C condensation as well... Someone told me that my A/C drain was probably clogged so i used an air pressure hose to clean it. It stopped getting wet after that, but have a funny feeling it wil come back this summer. I also noticed water coming out of the same side foot air vent when i made sharp turns - did this happen to you?

Let me know what you come up with - i am really curious!!!

Thanks.

[khaywood]

I never saw the water coming out, but I assume it was coming from the vent you described. That would be the logical outlet given a clogged drain.

I ended up having a local independent Land Rover service shop clean out the lines for me. I looked through the factory service manual and it seems like you need to pull out the center console to get at the two drain lines. I'm not certain that is necessary, but wasn't willing to dig into it. If/when the problem returns I will buckle down and do it myself.

[tempestv8]

Crawl underneath the car, and look directly up past the gearbox to where the HVAC unit would be - you will see two black rubber "nipples" which tend to get clogged up. Just pull these off and be prepared for a gush of smelly water that is trapped in the HVAC unit.

So best to wear an old tee shirt when doing this!

No need to replace the "nipples"

[pistol98]

water in footwell of 03 Disco II

I also have water in the passenger footwell and took the advice on cleaning out the HVAC nipples, which were very clogged. However, that does not seem to have fixed the problem. What would be the next step without taking it in and getting fleeced by the local dealer? I pulled the center console before and it is not an easy process, and it did not really allow for access to the vents that are leaking. Should I pull the dash apart? If the dealer can "clean the lines" what do they do to do that?

[SixthFlick]

Crawl underneath the car, and look directly up past the gearbox to where the HVAC unit would be - you will see two black rubber "nipples" which tend to get clogged up. Just pull these off and be prepared for a gush of smelly water that is trapped in the HVAC unit.

So best to wear an old tee shirt when doing this!

No need to replace the "nipples"

Anyone have a picture of these HVAC unit "nipples" that I should be looking for? I also have a flood of water sitting in my footwells, but I'm not sure if it's from my HVAC unit drains or if it's from the Sunroof drains. I don't appear to have any water damage in the headliner area so my first guess is the nipples that are being discussed. I just drove through a torrential downpour the other day and didn't notice any water seeping in at all, but the following day the water was there - lots of it. I had the a/c on for my entire 4hr drive to Lake George, but I'm not sure if that's enough to explain the volume of water I've found. Where do the drain lines from the HVAC unit drain to anyways and why would they drain inside the car if they were clogged?

I already starting taking out the carpeting as well in order to dry it and the floorboards out, but am a bit apprehensive about taking out the seats (to remove the carpet) due to the electrics within the seat. Any suggestions? Any idea where I can buy the star shaped wrench required to remove the seats?

[roverformygirlfriend]

Anyone have a picture of these HVAC unit "nipples" that I should be looking for? I also have a flood of water sitting in my footwells, but I'm not sure if it's from my HVAC unit drains or if it's from the Sunroof drains. I don't appear to have any water damage in the headliner area so my first guess is the nipples that are being discussed. I just drove through a torrential downpour the other day and didn't notice any water seeping in at all, but the following day the water was there - lots of it. I had the a/c on for my entire 4hr drive to Lake George, but I'm not sure if that's enough to explain the volume of water I've found. Where do the drain lines from the HVAC unit drain to anyways and why would they drain inside the car if they were clogged?

I already starting taking out the carpeting as well in order to dry it and the floorboards out, but am a bit apprehensive about taking out the seats (to remove the carpet) due to the electrics within the seat. Any suggestions? Any idea where I can buy the star shaped wrench required to remove the seats?

a pic is worth a thousand words, any ideas.

[SixthFlick]

Found my nipples

Okay, so I was able to locate the nipples from the a/c condensate drain that tempestv8 mentioned and boy, they were exactly as described - two little black nipples. I've attached some photos to show the process, but it's a bit difficult to describe exactly where they're located other than saying that there is one on either side of the oil drain pan and about 6 - 12 inches up.

Since my carpeting is already sopping wet and I wasn't sure if trying to unclog the nipples from below would completely clear them out, I did the next best thing - I found their point of origin (where they connect into the a/c vent at driver and passenger side footwells) and unhooked them from there (actually quite easy - see the attached photos) and blew through them with my own breath - definitely do NOT suck in as your mouth will more than likely be filled with that nasty mixture of mud, water and gunk that's clogging the drains in the first place (luckily I thought about that result before trying it). Of course, I had to carefully pull up the carpet from the footwells in order to locate their point of origin, but it was fairly simple and didn't take long at all - a few screws here and there and also had to remove the sills (and the plastic cover over the screws on the sills) in order to start pulling it up.

I shot a few photos to try to help explain where the main connections are located as well as the actual nipples themselves. In my opinion, I think it best to find the drain's origin and blow out through there rather than climbing under the car, trying to locate the nipples, and then getting an armful of nasty water.

The photos (hopefully) go in order from driver's side point of origin, passenger side point of origin, passenger side nipple from below, driver side nipple from below.

[SixthFlick]

continued...

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[SixthFlick]

continued 2...

continued 2...

[SixthFlick]

continued 3...

continued 3...on to the passenger side nipple.

Yet I've gone past my quota so it looks like I won't be able to upload the driver's side nipple - but I guess this gets the point thru.

[SixthFlick]

Watertight cabin, not so watertight.

Now that I've cleared out my clogged nipples, I have one HUGE question - How does having a condensate drain below the floor boards and open to below make the cabin anywhere near watertight when traversing fjords, waterways, and all that mud???

Answer - it doesn't.

Perhaps I should look into temporarily plugging those drains from the inside when I plan on taking it through deep water and plan on NOT using the a/c during those water crossings, unless I remember to remove plugs or perhaps there's a way to temporarily connect the drains to a holding container during the trip.

Any thoughts???

[kh500]

Thanks for the photos. It really helped me greatly to do same troubleshooting - wet carpets in summer days.

[SixthFlick]

kh500 - You're welcome on the photos! I find them worth a lot more than words alone. I ended up taking out all of the seats, the amplifier, the cd changer, the center console, and finally the carpets...and yes all of my water worries were coming from the condensation drain from the a/c at the footwells as I suspected. I have photos of that entire process as well is anyone needs to see additional pics.

Now I just have to figure out a fix so that it doesn't happen again after a day of driving in mud.