[Von B]

Hi guys,

New to the forum and a quick question.

I appear to have a leak in the drivers side (UK 2008 i30 2.0 CRDI car so right hand side) that is wetting/soaking the carpets. Haven't had a chance to do the hose test yet on the door (albeit I have put newspaper down to see if I can identify any leaks when it rains) but just wondering if anyone else has similar problems or if this is a common fault (my attempt at searching the site didn't find anything to suggest that was the case).

I have had a look at the door seal and on face value it appears to be in good condition and no major issues when it is closed/sealed. Likewise i have checked under the dash area for any leaks from the pollen filter (which was the bane of my life in a VW Passat I once owned) and no obvious leaks from there or the area of the A/C. In fact this area of the carpet appears bone dry. Water seems to be mainly in the area of the carpet nearest to the drivers seat and under the drivers seat where the air vent for the rear passenger footwell is located, but again non of the vent tubing appears to be wet or leaking.

Hopefully someone might have some experience with this, otherwise a case of the hose test and trying to lift the carpet to look underneath.

[Phil №❶]

The air conditioner condenser drain pipe is located on the driver's side of the car. Check to see if it is blocked or possibly unhooked inside the car. If so, the air conditioner will drain onto the carpet where you describe.

[Von B]

The air conditioner condenser drain pipe is located on the driver's side of the car. Check to see if it is blocked or possibly unhooked inside the car. If so, the air conditioner will drain onto the carpet where you describe.

Cheers for the info, excuse my ignorance but I assume the pipe runs from under the dash and along the length of the drivers side under the carpet?

[eye30]

Not had this in my i30 but did an another car and was the window not seated correctly when closed.

Also, check door seal on both doors.

As a long shot and not sure if the car has any, are there ant grommets missing from around wheel arch and floor area?


And the air intake infront of the window may be blocked.

Ps welcome

[asathorny]

I'd check out what Phil suggests first tho....  I am sure that this as proved to be the case in past cases 

[beerman]

I had the same problem Phil describes in another car. Driving around in bare feet will tell you if there is an issue. The A/C will dump ice cold water on your feet.....

[FatBoy]

I've had the air-conditioning drain pipe blocked on a previous car, the drivers footwell was saturated.  It isn't so much where the pipe runs, it is where the overflow from the pipe goes (if the pipe is blocked the water can't go anywhere else).  If you have a look under the car you should see the drain tube, give it a bend and squeeze to see if there are any obvious blockages.  When I did that with my previous car there was "mud" up in the pipe, which released a lot of water when it cam out.

[Phil №❶]

The air conditioner condenser drain pipe is located on the driver's side of the car. Check to see if it is blocked or possibly unhooked inside the car. If so, the air conditioner will drain onto the carpet where you describe.

Cheers for the info, excuse my ignorance but I assume the pipe runs from under the dash and along the length of the drivers side under the carpet?

Not sure of the internal path, all I know is it drains near the firewall on the driver's side. If you look under your car you should see an open ended tube pointing down, I would gently probe it and see if you can feel any resistance or check to see if there's any condensate dripping out. If it is blocked then the condensate will build up and eventually find a way out.