96 Honda accord coupe air evaporator drain tube.

We moved to FL last year and the AC gets quite a bit of use, now it appears
the drain to the AC is blocked and water is getting into the car on the
passenger's side. Does anyone know where the drain tube is and what is the
easiest way to clear the blockage. The car is a 96 Accord SE Coupe 4cyl 5sp.

 

A very common problem! If you crawl under the car on the passenger side,
just aft of the firewall you should see the end if a plastic tube, about 1/4
inch diameter. That would be the evaporator drain tube. Simply fishing in
there with a couple feet of wire will probably break up the blockage, but
not really clean it out. An alternate approach is to fill a turkey baster
with rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol (shellac thinner) and use that to
reverse flush the tube. The up side is that the alcohol will reduce the mold
that is undoubtedly growing in the evaporator drain pan, the down side is
that it is messy, both where you are trying to fit the tube and baster
together and inside the car where an overflow is guaranteed.

Mike

 

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Look at drawings from www.slhondaparts.com to see more. Unplug the fan
motor, remove three screws, whole fan falls on floor. Use a good
flashlight and a small mirror to look inside.

'Curly'

 

I haven't done much work on vehicles, but yesterday I did tackle some
of the A/C system yesterday in a 94 - same generation.

The fan motor and three screws approach will remove the fan blower
motor and fan itself. This is all part of the A/C, but not part of the
evaporator and I doubt will be the source of the leaks.

Climbing under the car and shoving a wire up from there may solve the
problem, but it was suggested to me that you tackle the problem right
at the evaporator. What I saw yesterday is this:

Climb under the glovebox and the evaporator is part of the black
plastic housing you see underneath. The evaporator has a rubber tube
running from it into the firewall. You really have to get low - I did
it by kneeling on the ground outside and looking up in. Look to the
left-middle and you should see it there. You can remove the tube from
the evaporator. I used a small-blade screw driver and carefully peeled
it back until I could pull it off by hand. The tube apparently does not
disconnect from the firewall, but goes through it.

Once disconnected, you can try (with a paper clip or whatever) to see
if there is a clearable blockage right in the tube or evaporator right
there where the meet.

That's what I know. Please feel free to correct me.

John

 

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Sounds like you've got the better idea, John. I know that guys
(including me) have used the 'drop the fan' method to get a clear view
up thru the heater into the windshield cowl (CR-V) to check for the
source of water leaks and obstructions (nests).

It's just so easy it's hard to resist.

'Curly'