Where is the drip hose?

On the passenger side by where frame and firewall meet it's a little black 90 elbow that attaches to thebox through the fire wall might be clogged
make sure it's not ur heater core leaking
u need to takeoff the bottom of the boxto access the inside

I have a question about the drain for A/C Heat that comes out of the firewall.
I noticed the other day that I don't see a small elbow hose/tube coming from it and was wondering if this would affect how the A/C works?
It doesn't seem to be cooling like it did and I have noticed a faint smell of coolant.

It is easier to work on the drip pan if you take out the passenger side seat. I used a piece of coat hanger to clear the hole, but if your coolant is leaking, it may be overloading the capacity of the drain hole. It is possible that you have other leaks, so check behind the trim.

E Z Eric said:

I have a question about the drain for A/C Heat that comes out of the firewall.
I noticed the other day that I don't see a small elbow hose/tube coming from it and was wondering if this would affect how the A/C works?
It doesn't seem to be cooling like it did and I have noticed a faint smell of coolant.

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No elbow is fine. shouldn't matter on or off. FYI My a/c had a faint smell of coolant when on, got worse, and worse, started noticing little oily drips coming from my pass. side ashtray area.......cycled the heater and it blew warm, eventually not so warm and so forth 'till it started puking out coolant out of that drip hole in the firewall. Long story short, I would say both you guys have a bad and going bad heater core. The drip hole is kind of hard to see about 3" below the heater core holes in the wall. Turn your heaters on and see what the heat feels like if anything along with if it smells like collant. You will know for sure from here. PITA r/r also, good luck.

The elbow is actually needed. A few years ago GM did not think it was important either, but they found out that condensate water was "weaping" back inside the car running along the bottom of the drain. This was the case with my '04 Chevy Venture. I found a GM service bulletin that said to put an elbow on the drain, and hey, it worked no more wet floors. The elbow won't actually affect the operation of the A/C, but removing it might cause another problem later on down the road.

Not having the elbow attached to the drain will almost certainly cause a leak inside the passenger floor. Particularly in highway speed driving there is enough air under the hood that will not allow water to drip from the drain outlet. I have experienced this is 2 GM vehicle including my 95 RMW. Glenn

+1 that it is needed. From under my car I saw that without the drip elbow, rust had developed pretty bad where the firewall meets the floorpan, below where the water ran down the firewall. If it just dripped instead of being blown back into the car or down the firewall, it went directly onto the ABS sensor connector on the frame! (ABS connector should be tough, but that can't be good for it!) I extended a line from my drip elbow all the way below the pass. door, to make it easier to detect a blown heater core.

whoa, makes sense, I stand corrected, I have had mine off of both my cars for some time with no problems, forgot to put it back after the h/c r&r's. Never had any leaks, but definitely worth the 1 minute effort to put it back to avoid any minute problems. Right on...........

I ran a drain hose on my elbow. Keep any rush of air from pushing condensation back up into box.

Great replies, thanks!

I actually spotted the drip hose on the firewall last night. It is working, but I need to get the seats and carpet out to see what is going on under the dash. My heater core is not leaking, as it is fresh, clean water dripping under the car, and no fog or smell with the heat on.

That fix is a great idea, especially since I cut the air pump intake hose off yesterday.

Thanks for helping me learn about these cars. I have had 6 box-bodied Fords, and know about all their quirks, but this is my first GM car in years.

Al Von said:

Great replies, thanks!

I actually spotted the drip hose on the firewall last night. It is working, but I need to get the seats and carpet out to see what is going on under the dash. My heater core is not leaking, as it is fresh, clean water dripping under the car, and no fog or smell with the heat on.

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Sounds exactly like my problem. My mechanic showed me that the panel under the core and a completely ducked up gasket and fixed it with some silicone.
Week one: no problems. (haha. iPhone's auto correction is dumb.)

so i have the same problem with the pass. side carpet wet, but the elbow has a broken plastic peice attached to it. what do i do about that? could the plastic peice be the reason for the wet carpet? am i going to have to replace the box you guys were tlking about?

* no coolant smell

BoSStonsSS said:

so i have the same problem with the pass. side carpet wet, but the elbow has a broken plastic peice attached to it. what do i do about that?
* no coolant smell

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Are you talking about the elbow under the hood?
The 1 under the hood only needs an elbow that points down (extra hose for drain is better)

yea the elbow under the hood. but it looks like a piece the elbow connects to broke off

IIRC the pc that comes out of the car was a metal collar, say...1/2-3/8 dia & only 1/4 inch protrudes from the firewall
Sounds like what your sayin is its a plastic collar & its split up where it goes into the firewall?
I dont remember what the inside looked like when I pulled the core

muthaFFFFFACK!

Damnit.. i think its my prob also. i had a puddle under the pass carpet and assumed my core was bad so i r&r'd it. a week or so later my carpet is wet again! i noticed i dont have anything attatched to the drain in the firewall, just looks like a 1" plastic drain piece coming straight out. so i take it that wind is pushing the water back up into the box and not letting it drain out properly?? i bet my heater core was fine all along....

SEOK said:

... so i take it that wind is pushing the water back up into the box and not letting it drain out properly?? i bet my heater core was fine all along....

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Absolutely, I didnt pay attention & I had a puddle on the passenger back floor
Start pulling trim & throwing towels between carpet & padding. It takes a while for everything to dry out & it will smell

BoSStonsSS said:

yea the elbow under the hood. but it looks like a piece the elbow connects to broke off

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Yes, if that nipple that protrudes out the firewall is cracked/broken, It could very well be the cause of your wet carpet. That nipple is part of the lower cover/drip pan to the heater core & A/C under the glove box.

After you fix that, I recommend you attach some sort of elbow to the nipple and a hose to direct the A/C condensate below the car. I used a 90°spark plug wire elbow and a piece of clear plastic tubing with some zip ties.