My A/C is leaking water whenever it is turned on. i haven't been able to figure out where it's coming from yet. i recently did a clutch relacement, and the car hasn't been turned on for about three weeks. anyone have any guesses before i go looking into it?

 

How do you know it's water? Where exactly is it coming from? My a/c condensates a bit...

 

Usually condensation is the issue... like clouds form in the sky, water droplets will form on the coolest parts of the A/C components...
think of it like the water droplets that form on a cold drink on a hot, humid afternoon... they have to go somewhere and down is usually the direction.
Look for small puddles of condensation under the front end of your MINI anytime you run the A/C. Normal. :-) What you should worry about is if the A/C not delivering cold air into the cabin.

 

All AC units will make water; this is by design, one of the functions of the AC system is to reduce the humidity in the air, the AC unit has a hose that runs under the dash to the outside of the car. If you find that water is accumulating inside the car then the hose is either clogged/pinched or disconnected. If the system does not make water its not working. More water will be produced when the humidity is higher.

 

frenchie is right on. The fact that the car sat for 3 weeks would lead me to believe that mold/mildew has built up in the tube that allows the water to drain (notice the puddle on the ground that normally forms when your car sits with the A/C on?--bet it doesnt do that now.)

You must locate the tube and clean it out.

BTW, this is a common problem in many cars and leads to odor where the water lays in the car and forms mold/mildew.

 

so the puddle under the car is normal? i've never seen it until now. i figured it was condesation, but i had no idea there was actually a tube to direct it out of the car. today wasn't especially humid, though it was rather warm outside. it must not be clogged either, because it's leaking onto the ground from the engine compartment somewhere. thanks for the input, i feel a lot safer driving with the a/c on, knowing that it won't cause any major issues.

p.s. i know it's water because it's basically colorless, not oily, and doesn't smell sweet. that pretty much rules out any of the fluids you put in the car.

 

you must taste it to be sure.

 

myla2003,

You are correct on all counts but one and that is water in the car will cause harm in that you will get mildew and mold after a while. The smell that develops will be very difficult to get out of the car, so check out that tube to see if it is blocked or partially blocked.

BTW, I don't know MINI engineeering but there is also a drain tube in the sunroof of most cars to route water from the area away from the headliner. That is also another possibility for the source of the dampness.

Best,

cigarman

 

I wouldn't say it is one of the "functions" of AC; more a consequence of the cooling. Cold air will not hold as much water and so the water vapor condenses. It is a byproduct of the system.

 

ofioliti- were does all the water from the fridge go then?

 

Hopefully it doesn't stay in the fridge.

Our fridge (as most do I think) has a pan at the bottom where it collects. The hot air blows over it, so the water evaporates back into the kitchen air.

 

i did, actually.

 

The air conditioning system does two things; it lowers the temperature and it lowers the humidity. If it does one without the other it will not create the comfort we are accustomed to from an AC system.

In fact one of the challenges that AC installers face when sizing a system for lets say residential or industrial buildings is to not install a system that is over sized for the application; why you may ask?

The reason is that a temperature sensor is used to tell the AC system when not to run based on the set temperature being met, if the system is too large for the application it will reduce the temperature fairly quickly, but not run long enough to reduce the humidity....the result is a cool but humid environment......which gives a cool but clammy feeling which is certainly not comfortable. The system must be effective at reducing the temp and humidity before and comfort can be achieved! This is by design........dont believe me do a search on how AC works!

 

that ofiolitis point was that the two functions aren't really separable, and have to do with the partial pressure of water vapor in air as a function of tempurature. These are facts without dispute. While your point about sizing of A/C systems in the home has it's place, inside the passenger compartment of cars isn't really appropriate as most car A/C systems are undersized, not oversized. Especially with all the glass that's in little cars like ours.

For those of you with issues with mold and mildew, call Way at Way Motor Works. He's had lots and lots of experience with this (and a girlfriend with significant health problems due to automotive mold in another car) and he's got some killer stuff for cleaning and disenfecting the system in our cars. He can also let you know what you're in for if you want to clean all this stuff up.

Matt

 

I see your point. It is, after all, Air Conditioning, not Air Cooling. The device conditions the air for T and humidity.

That was an interesting fact about the under-sizing of AC units; I didn't realize that. Makes sense!

Exactly.