A/C Condensate Drain Cleaning

[BlackWidow]

Wanted to post my experience here since Ford wants to charge almost $3000 for something that can be fixed with $30 and some time. Over the weekend my Wife had water splash on her feet when we were driving. It was particularly worse when turning left. When I got home I took a look at the AC blend box from the passenger side and noticed it dripping water. I called my local Ford dealer and explained the situation, since I was out of warranty they presented me with 2 options, drop the tranny or pull the dash, both upwards of $3000.. I took it to a local shop and their suggestion was to cut a hole in the blend box to create space to clear out the clog and seal it back up. Faced with these options, I was leaning towards the latter but before I take drastic measures to fix the issue I wanted to take a crack at it myself. I was able to find some Ranger owners in Australia with the same issue, they recommended drilling a hole after the blower and before the evaporator then spraying coil cleaning foam into the unit and letting it work its magic. I was ready to drill a hole when I looked on the driver's side and noticed the Evap Temp sensor harness is held in place by a mount that when removed gives you an access hole large enough to get a pick, water, or cleaner right by where the drain is. I tried the cleaner, but it didn't work, I tried a shop vac and that didn't work, next was air. I had a blow gun with a 12-inch extension on it, I bent it to allow me access to the drain. I was able to get the nozzle into the bottom right-hand corner and work my way left, blowing air every quarter inch. Finally a gush of water out the bottom of the truck. Although this fix worked for me I recommend caution when attempting. You are right up against the eval coil and you run the risk of damaging it and then you will have to spend thousands to pull the dash and replace it. I've attached photos to assist anyone else having this issue, the drain is in the most inconvenient location bound to have issues after the warranty period. I also posted a photo showing the sensor hole location in relation to the drain, you can see there is about a 3/4" to a 1" of spacing between the evap and the bottom of the blend box allowing you to get an air gun in there. I would strongly advise resorting to picks as a last resort, you are in there blind and the risk of damaging the coil is too great. Good luck!

Sponsored

 

[airline tech]

For a reference pic, this is the drain location above the Bell Housing, some have had luck getting to it with the transmission installed, it is a pain and a poor design.

But good info on a alternate avenue - Thanks for posting this as I am sure it will be helpful for others as this is not the first post about the drain being clogged.
I had thought about suggesting that for previous posts but did not know how much access it gave.
My thought was to go through the (Induction Tunnel) from the blower.

 

[Red5ThGen]

if you're careful not to lean on anything in the engine bay, you can reach behind the engine and get to and unclog the drain with a long zip tie. If memory serves, I put my left knee on the battery and held onto the area near the gasket that presses up against the top of the hood.
Interestingly some dry glue/plastic came out with some plant matter when the drain was cleared.

 

[Excmelin]

I had a similar issue a while back and just couldn’t get the drain cleared no matter how much air I pushed through. Ended up reaching out to https://emersonproservices.com/carrollton/ and they got it sorted way faster than I expected. Turned out there was a partial clog deeper in the line that I wouldn’t have reached with the usual DIY stuff.

 

[sfttac]

Wanted to post my experience here since Ford wants to charge almost $3000 for something that can be fixed with $30 and some time. Over the weekend my Wife had water splash on her feet when we were driving. It was particularly worse when turning left. When I got home I took a look at the AC blend box from the passenger side and noticed it dripping water. I called my local Ford dealer and explained the situation, since I was out of warranty they presented me with 2 options, drop the tranny or pull the dash, both upwards of $3000.. I took it to a local shop and their suggestion was to cut a hole in the blend box to create space to clear out the clog and seal it back up. Faced with these options, I was leaning towards the latter but before I take drastic measures to fix the issue I wanted to take a crack at it myself. I was able to find some Ranger owners in Australia with the same issue, they recommended drilling a hole after the blower and before the evaporator then spraying coil cleaning foam into the unit and letting it work its magic. I was ready to drill a hole when I looked on the driver's side and noticed the Evap Temp sensor harness is held in place by a mount that when removed gives you an access hole large enough to get a pick, water, or cleaner right by where the drain is. I tried the cleaner, but it didn't work, I tried a shop vac and that didn't work, next was air. I had a blow gun with a 12-inch extension on it, I bent it to allow me access to the drain. I was able to get the nozzle into the bottom right-hand corner and work my way left, blowing air every quarter inch. Finally a gush of water out the bottom of the truck. Although this fix worked for me I recommend caution when attempting. You are right up against the eval coil and you run the risk of damaging it and then you will have to spend thousands to pull the dash and replace it. I've attached photos to assist anyone else having this issue, the drain is in the most inconvenient location bound to have issues after the warranty period. I also posted a photo showing the sensor hole location in relation to the drain, you can see there is about a 3/4" to a 1" of spacing between the evap and the bottom of the blend box allowing you to get an air gun in there. I would strongly advise resorting to picks as a last resort, you are in there blind and the risk of damaging the coil is too great. Good luck!

Wanted to post my experience here since Ford wants to charge almost $3000 for something that can be fixed with $30 and some time. Over the weekend my Wife had water splash on her feet when we were driving. It was particularly worse when turning left. When I got home I took a look at the AC blend box from the passenger side and noticed it dripping water. I called my local Ford dealer and explained the situation, since I was out of warranty they presented me with 2 options, drop the tranny or pull the dash, both upwards of $3000.. I took it to a local shop and their suggestion was to cut a hole in the blend box to create space to clear out the clog and seal it back up. Faced with these options, I was leaning towards the latter but before I take drastic measures to fix the issue I wanted to take a crack at it myself. I was able to find some Ranger owners in Australia with the same issue, they recommended drilling a hole after the blower and before the evaporator then spraying coil cleaning foam into the unit and letting it work its magic. I was ready to drill a hole when I looked on the driver's side and noticed the Evap Temp sensor harness is held in place by a mount that when removed gives you an access hole large enough to get a pick, water, or cleaner right by where the drain is. I tried the cleaner, but it didn't work, I tried a shop vac and that didn't work, next was air. I had a blow gun with a 12-inch extension on it, I bent it to allow me access to the drain. I was able to get the nozzle into the bottom right-hand corner and work my way left, blowing air every quarter inch. Finally a gush of water out the bottom of the truck. Although this fix worked for me I recommend caution when attempting. You are right up against the eval coil and you run the risk of damaging it and then you will have to spend thousands to pull the dash and replace it. I've attached photos to assist anyone else having this issue, the drain is in the most inconvenient location bound to have issues after the warranty period. I also posted a photo showing the sensor hole location in relation to the drain, you can see there is about a 3/4" to a 1" of spacing between the evap and the bottom of the blend box allowing you to get an air gun in there. I would strongly advise resorting to picks as a last resort, you are in there blind and the risk of damaging the coil is too great. Good luck!

 

[sfttac]

Just wanted to say this worked for me as well. However I was not able to get it to work with the existing hole. I drilled a new hole. I then used the air compressor and was able to get the blockage cleared. I used a chair leg rubber foot along with some liquid gasket maker to reseal it. That way I can do this again if it crops up.

 

[airline tech]

Just wanted to say this worked for me as well. However I was not able to get it to work with the existing hole. I drilled a new hole. I then used the air compressor and was able to get the blockage cleared. I used a chair leg rubber foot along with some liquid gasket maker to reseal it. That way I can do this again if it crops up.

Awesome ingenuity for a work around and does not affect anything in the operation.
Things like THIS should be part of the factory design.

 

[seanellaz]

Just wanted to say this worked for me as well. However I was not able to get it to work with the existing hole. I drilled a new hole. I then used the air compressor and was able to get the blockage cleared. I used a chair leg rubber foot along with some liquid gasket maker to reseal it. That way I can do this again if it crops up.

Made a step by step pic of your process for dummies like me who can't follow words too well.

Sponsored