Air Conditioning "Issues"

J

JunkyardVolare

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Bradenton, FL
So my Volare, I've been using it more and more as a daily driver with how much nicer it is over my Dart, and being we are in the hot season in Florida, I've been using the a/c. Yesterday, I made an eight hour round trip drive in the car and must've had two gallons of water on the passenger floor board. I have verified the drain is sealed to the firewall and is free flowing out of the car. All of it was purely condensation from on the outside of the air box under the dash. Does anyone have any recommendation for what I can do to prevent this? Can I just stick some Dynamat or similar product to the outside of the box and it stop soaking my floor? I really don't want to remove it from the car to do anything to it because it is a working factory system, still on its factory R12 charge. My commute to work is only about an hour, and although it doesn't do enough for me to notice, I now know it's doing this and don't want it to lead to the floor rotting out. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
Are you running it on recirc (Max A/C)? At some point the air inside the car should by dry enough to not condense on rhe case.

Gluing insulation to the case (not DynaMat) might help. Use some 1/2" automotive insulation, with a foil backing on one side. Haven't looked lately, but Speedway Motors used to have "Hot Rod" insulation.
 
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I am running it on Max, but the doors don't seal that great. I've installed Metro door seals, and I've adjusted the doors to where they seal about 90%. I think I have to open them up and adjust the glass itself at this point. It's also a vinyl top car with opera windows, but currently no top, so it is bringing in some air around those windows as well.
 
Sounds like pretty rad A/C if it's condensing the outside of the box that hard. Should be drying out the inside of the cabin enough that doesn't happen.

Insulation isn't a bad idea, it could delay condensation enough to dry out the cabin.
 
Aspen500 said:
Tried to edit my post but failed.

I meant to say 3/8" insulation.

Speedway doesn't call it Hot Rod anymore, but this is what I was refering to.
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Alum...nsulation-Shield-46-Inch-By-75-Inch,2604.html

A bit humid down there in Florida? :)
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I will order that and see what it does. And yes, we are entering rainy season. It's gonna be 50-80% humidity through November. I am also going to get the windows tinted, too.
Ark said:
Sounds like pretty rad A/C if it's condensing the outside of the box that hard. Should be drying out the inside of the cabin enough that doesn't happen.

Insulation isn't a bad idea, it could delay condensation enough to dry out the cabin.
Click to expand...
I was surprised when I hit the button that it worked. To my knowledge, it's never been messed with. The lines and compressor are original, and the amount of dirt on it suggest it's never been serviced. The car sat for 10 years before I got it, so I fully believe it is 100% original down to the R12 in it. Blows 35° out of the vents on its coldest setting.
 
Are you sure it's all from condensation and not a leak in the box somewhere? That's an awful lot of water.
 
Yeah stupid questions, you sure it ain't rain water or a leaking heater core?
 
Mikes5thAve said:
Are you sure it's all from condensation and not a leak in the box somewhere? That's an awful lot of water.
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Not that I can see, no. My Dodge has a knee knocker and it does it too, just not as bad.
AMC Diplomat said:
Yeah stupid questions, you sure it ain't rain water or a leaking heater core?
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Car does not leak in the rain, thankfully. Does it in the sunshine. Does not smell of coolant, doesn't run hot, and isn't losing coolant, so not a heater core.
 
On ANY vehicle that has Air Conditioning, that also has a wet floorboard – feel the floor after a drive.
If the floor is cold, then the A/C drain is not draining.
If the floor is hot/warm, then most likely it is the heater core leaking.

Bugs and other “stuff” (leaves,dirt and/or bug dirt) can and will stop up the drain.

Some vehicles (not so much FMJ's, but it can still happen), is the drain hose is fine, the drain pathway is clear, but there is a crack in the lower evaporator case that water is leaking out of.
That said, the drain hose being stopped up is by far the most likely cause.

Unrelated. I do not think adding any thing to outside of the evaporator case will help with anything – unless you do have a confirmed crack in said case.
If you have a confirmed crack, then I would try Super Glue (or similar) to fix the crack - which might require removal of the evaporator case to do it properly.
BudW
 
My first thought was the rubber drain hose was clogged but since that was said to be clear then I was thinking maybe a hole or crack in the case
 
BudW said:
On ANY vehicle that has Air Conditioning, that also has a wet floorboard – feel the floor after a drive.
If the floor is cold, then the A/C drain is not draining.
If the floor is hot/warm, then most likely it is the heater core leaking.

Bugs and other “stuff” (leaves,dirt and/or bug dirt) can and will stop up the drain.

Some vehicles (not so much FMJ's, but it can still happen), is the drain hose is fine, the drain pathway is clear, but there is a crack in the lower evaporator case that water is leaking out of.
That said, the drain hose being stopped up is by far the most likely cause.

Unrelated. I do not think adding any thing to outside of the evaporator case will help with anything – unless you do have a confirmed crack in said case.
If you have a confirmed crack, then I would try Super Glue (or similar) to fix the crack - which might require removal of the evaporator case to do it properly.
BudW
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Heater is not leaking, verified no cracks, drain is sealed and free flowing. The entire box, top to bottom, is covered in condensation. Even has some build up around the vents on the way to work in the morning. My Dart did it too, but that was a knee-knocker in a car I didn't have carpet in to care about. I'm in Florida, where it's usually 70% humidity. Every car I've had with working air has done this, I've just never had one nice enough to want to fix it.
 
BudW said:
On ANY vehicle that has Air Conditioning, that also has a wet floorboard – feel the floor after a drive.
If the floor is cold, then the A/C drain is not draining.
If the floor is hot/warm, then most likely it is the heater core leaking.

Bugs and other “stuff” (leaves,dirt and/or bug dirt) can and will stop up the drain.

Some vehicles (not so much FMJ's, but it can still happen), is the drain hose is fine, the drain pathway is clear, but there is a crack in the lower evaporator case that water is leaking out of.
That said, the drain hose being stopped up is by far the most likely cause.

Unrelated. I do not think adding any thing to outside of the evaporator case will help with anything – unless you do have a confirmed crack in said case.
If you have a confirmed crack, then I would try Super Glue (or similar) to fix the crack - which might require removal of the evaporator case to do it properly.
BudW
Click to expand...

Long time no see BudW.
Nice to see you on the site again!
 
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