Damp carpets VN

[Chuff]

Hiya All,

Bad News. I just joined the damp carpet club.

Good News. I know where it's coming from.

From what I've read so far, my situation is the same as the rest. I have a VP, with climate control, and the problem only occurs when the climate control is running. How bad is it? Well, according to the missus (her car) about half a cup of water soaked her left foot as it sat on the foot rest as she drove home from work (30 minute drive).

So with this knowledge at hand I had a look behind the centre console on the driver's side above the foot rest, and found what I believe to be the A/C condensation drain tube. This is where the water is coming from. Needless to say, the tube is not blocked, hence wet feet.

I had a similar problem in my old VK when the drain tube would leak, so I fixed it. The drain tube was meant to go out the firewall, and it wasn't, so passengers (in a VK the tube is behind the glovebox) would get wet feet whenever the A/C was on, so to fix it, I pushed the tube a little further, and it stuck out the firewall. Incidentally, have you ever noticed on a hot day a small pool of water under the firewall of a Commodore. This is caused by water draining out the A/C drain tube.

Now the problem with my VP is that the tube I'm talking about is absolutely nowhere near the firewall. I have attached 2 photos, 1 showing the location of the tube, the other showing a closer view of the tube.

So the solution to the problem here is to direct the tube to the outside of the vehicle, but I have lifted the carpet around the tube, and generally had a really good stick-beak, and for the life of me, I have absolutely no idea where the hell it should go.

I know what's causing the problem. I know what the solution to the problem is. Yet, short of drilling a dirty big hole into the top of the transmission tunnel, I have no idea where to direct this tube.

So, if there's any VN-VP owners out there, who do not have wet feet, could you please have a look behind you centre console and tell me where this tube goes.

Thankyou.

CATCH!

 

[gsmrobinson]

What ever you do do not drill a hole in the car.............................

On the VN and VP there are two (2) drain tubes, one on the drivers side and one on the passengers side, both are the same and go into the floor at about the same side on either side of the centre hump.

Have a look at the one on the passengers side and then go and look for the corresponding hole on the drivers side. It will be there but unlike older models it goes out via the floor NOT the firewall. It should be just under the carpet in probably hidden a bit by the floor felt. Have a look.!!!!

On the VR VS the drain tube is SOLID and only goes down into the floor on the passengers side, I have explained how to get them flowing before so I'll leave it at that for now.

Regards GUY.

P.S the ribbed pipe on the climate controled vehicles IS NOT A DRAIN TUBE only the rubber tube that you can see the end of in the previous post is the drain tube.

 

[Chuff]

What ever you do do not drill a hole in the car.............................

On the VN and VP there are two (2) drain tubes, one on the drivers side and one on the passengers side, both are the same and go into the floor at about the same side on either side of the centre hump.

Have a look at the one on the passengers side and then go and look for the corresponding hole on the drivers side. It will be there but unlike older models it goes out via the floor NOT the firewall. It should be just under the carpet in probably hidden a bit by the floor felt. Have a look.!!!!

On the VR VS the drain tube is SOLID and only goes down into the floor on the passengers side, I have explained how to get them flowing before so I'll leave it at that for now.

Regards GUY.

P.S the ribbed pipe on the climate controled vehicles IS NOT A DRAIN TUBE only the rubber tube that you can see the end of in the previous post is the drain tube.

gsmrobinson,

Thanks for the reply.

I had a look and could not find the tube on the passenger side.

I ended up going to the local radiator mob and they said "yeh, it's the overflow, there has too be a hole in the top of the tunnel for the water to exit."

Well I looked and there is no hole, so I went to the local Holden dealer and asked a dood in the service department.

He told me that the tube above the foot rest on the driver's side was the secondary overflow which would only dump water if the main overflow was blocked. The main overflow exits the vehicle from the top of the tranny tunnel.

So I went home, got under the car and had a look, found the main overflow above the tranny just left of centre. "How the f**k do you get to that?" I thought to myself. Ended up getting a length of wire, and after a few attempts at different bendings, finally hit on a combination which allowed me to stick the wire into the drain tube. I then jiggled & jiggled the wire as suggested by the Holden service dood, and heaps of crap fell from the drain tube.

I have since driven then car with the A/C cranked, and I have dry feet.

So that's it. Just get under the car, and jiggle a length of wire in the drain tube.

CATCH!

 

[MasterOfReality]

Jeez you are a lucky bastard,

Water pools under my car and the passenger side footwell still seems to get soaked every time.

From what Guy said, if there is 2 drain tubes on the VN/VP's, I hope that the passenger side drain tube is blocked and nothing more sinister.

 

[gsmrobinson]

I'm a little scared if Holden are saying crap like that!!!!!!!!

Both drain tubes go down and drain directly above the exhaust pipes on either side of the transmission, they don't stick out much but they BOTH have an exit point.....keep looking and when you find it go and say a friendly hello to Holden from me. Pull the carpet and underlay back and have a REAL GOOD look otherwise on real humid days and hooking it at 60k/h around a left hand bend you'll end up with water on your feet again.

And DON'T use a piece of metal to poke up the drain tube.....use a piece of normal electrical wire or BETTER STILL a CABLE TIE / ZIPPY TIE or what ever you call them....they don't do so much damage if you push too far in.

Regards GUY.

 

[GTRVL]

it says it in the gregories manual to get up under the car wid a bit of coat hanger and clean it out every now and then :-D

 

[Vt-Brrrlina]

As someone who has owned a Vp and done the Aircon system and Heater system himself - I had a similar problem with damp carpets.

Unfortunately it meant I took the dash out and then the box housing the evaporator and heating element out. The heating element was corroded thru leaking water when ever any movement to the climate control was used.

In my experience if you decide to do this yourself make sure you do it all on the same day there are too many screws to muck around with to try and remember the next day.
Total parts cost me like $150 and a day lost doing the repairs myself