1999 Winny Brave Leaking cold water

[2oldman]

We just left home for the south and the subject RV is leaking water from the passenger side, engine compartment, from some kind of large black plastic box.

It's plain water, it's cold, engine is at temperature, heater's been on, no a/c. It's dripping too much water to be from A/c.

Drat!

Edit: we just had it swerviced and they said they topped off everything.. windshield washer?

[OhhWell]

Executive wrote:
It almost looks like they added a siren...alarm system maybe..:h..it looks like the drain hose is pushed up against the base of the siren. If that's the case, maybe it won't drain at all....Dennis

Looks like an aftermarket alarm to me as well. Also, it looks like a drain hose directly over it cut short to drain onto the siren. From the buildup, it looks like it has been draining on it.

[Executive45]

It almost looks like they added a siren...alarm system maybe..:h..it looks like the drain hose is pushed up against the base of the siren. If that's the case, maybe it won't drain at all....Dennis

[2oldman]

darsben wrote:
What is the tube above the tan round thing below the box?

I don't know. The tan thing looks like a horn.

[darsben]

What is the tube above the tan round thing below the box? The tan thing appears to have a red wire coming out of it and there appears to be a tube out of the bottom of black box above it. Is this the drain hose? Is it plugged?

[Bobbo]

2oldman wrote:
BYW, she was running "Mix" on the heater setting.

Mix runs the AC compressor just like AC or DEFROST does. Since she was running the AC compressor, it is very likely that there was condensation on the pipes just above the area you have identified as the leak. If you seal that opening with something like JB WELD, you may fix your leak.

[OhhWell]

If your engine is at temp and you are getting cold water dripping, it must be something to do with the air conditioning system.

Locate your ac compressor and watch the pulley while the engine is running and you think the AC is off. If it is truly off, the outer pulley will spin with the belt but the inner part will not move. If your AC is actually running, whether by design or through malfunction, the inner part of the pulley will engage intermittently and activate the compressor.

I'm unsure of your "mix" setting on the heater. I am guessing it either means a mix of outside and inside air or it runs the AC compressor to dry out the air even when using heat.

Another thought : I do know that there are some cars that still run the AC system at a lower level at all times to dry out the air and avoid any window fogging, even when the heat is on.

[2oldman]

BYW, she was running "Mix" on the heater setting.

[wolfe10]

Check that the condensate drain is open, with no blockage.

Best to use a long hose over the condensate drain and suck on it. If you just blow into it, you can push any debris back into the condenser case and it will clog again in the future.

[Bobbo]

I had a van that did that once. It turned out that there was a tray under the hood right below the windshield. It traps the water coming from outside to keep it out of the engine and off the electronics. It has 1 or 2 drain tubes leading down below the engine. (I forget how many.) The drain tubes had all stopped up. I cleaned out the drain tubes and the leak never recurred.

Of course, mine only leaked when it rained.

[2oldman]

Here's a couple pics.. it's pretty hard to get a good shot of the exact spot. It sure looks like it's a heater box with 2 vents on the inside passenger side.

Pic 1 is an overview, then pic 2 is closer in.


Pic 2:


We drove another 50 miles with no problem. When we stopped it wasn't leaking. Then it stared dripping after about 10 minutes of sitting. I collected water in a cup.. it's clear and cold.

[2oldman]

Thanks. She says a/c not on, defrost off. Seems like too much water for condensate. It was dripping pretty good. Stopped now.

[darsben]

large plastic box on passenger side is USUALLY were the dash heater core and dash air conditioning are located. So since it is clear water and not antifreeze we can hopefully eliminate the heater core as the culprit. This leaves only the dash A/C. Are you aware that the A/C runs when the control is on defrost? So it is probably condensate

[wolfe10]

Could be windshield washer.

Could also be condensate from the dash A/C. Was the dash air or defrost on?