2005 Camry - Help with A/C Leak!

[ThirdHorseman]

My mother's 2005 Camry with 54,000 miles just developed an AC leak from behind the passenger side dash. After using the AC, water will dump into the passenger side footwell.

Warranty is up so she'd like to avoid the dealer. Any idea on what this could be? Is there something wrong with the draining system? Which hoses can I check?

Thank you in advance!

[DFBonnett]

It's not an AC leak. The drain for the condenser has clogged and what should be draining onto the road is filling up the plenum and running into the cabin. Look on the firewall on the passenger side about half way down. You should see a piece of rubber hose sticking out of the firewall and pointing down. It's plugged. Rod it out with a piece of coathanger or similar. You may need to get under the car to do this.

[ThirdHorseman]

thank you!!

[73mach1429]

Be careful with a coat hanger so as not to damage the evaporator core. If you pull back the carpet, on the passenger side. You can access the rubber drain hose and clean it that way. You can also just blow a little compressed air up through the a/c drain hose and dislodge the debris that way. When the debris is dislodged, quite a bit of water comes out.

[TomX]

Thanks for the input! This worked for me as well on our 2000 Camry. Instead of a metal object, I used a tie wrap to loosen the gunk up, and used a vacuum to clean the tube out from the bottom of the vehicle. Jacking up the vehicle was helpful and made it easy to get the hose of the shop vac to make a good seal around the drain port and really get the stuff out. Once the plug came out, a good deal of water came out as described earlier.

One other thought if this becomes a recurring problem, is they sell tablets for home AC units which go into the drain pan of the condenser and prevent the algae and buildup. I may grind up one of the tablets, mix with some water and inject it into the system from the bottom. But only if it clogs again.

[ThirdHorseman]

I'm just concerned about finding this tube...since it's not my car, I don't know my way around it! Mom is visiting this weekend, so I'll be trying my hand at unclogging it.

[TomX]

Tube is very easy to find. Just look under the car by the front of the passenger side floorboard. It sticks out and is not hidden.

Here is another link I found with some pictures. Just don't do the thing in the engine compartment, as it is probably not necessary. With the vacuum, you won't have to take back the carpet any.

Oh, btw, I did use a wet/dry shop vac to suck up the standing water in the passenger side to prevent mold and odors.

link:

Toyota Camry LE Is Taking On Water

[73mach1429]

It looks like a piece of 1/2" hose sticking out of the firewall just to right(passenger side) of the center of the firewall, about 8-9" from the bottom.