I found the floor in the front of my 1994 Club Wagon soaked after a couple of heavy rain storms. The moisture is not coolant, it's water. I live in a heavily wooded area with lots of leaves and pine needles falling on the van. Two things that I suspect are a blocked AC condenser drain or the pine needles have plugged something up, just below the windshield and water is finding it's way into the passenger compartment somehow. I don't know how to locate the condenser drain to check to see if it's plugged. Where should I look?

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Driver or passenger side? You said passenger compartment but I'm curious which side of the doghouse?

 

Mostly on the driver side of the doghouse. By the time I noticed it, it had spread straight back from the dog house between the seats.

 

Has the windshield been replaced in this van, to your knowledge?

If this leak is indeed noticeable on the drivers side its not likely the A/C evaporator housing clogged or otherwise leaking. Being a windshield installer I suspect a leak somewhere along its bonding area.

 

I've got the same problem, and as far as I know, my windshield is original. Just clear water under my floormat just under my feet. No other symptoms.

 

Get a helper with a hose and started wetting from the entire back edge of the hood then move slowly upward. You need to be under the dash while the hose is wetting the van and watching for water coming in. Then direct the hoser till you find the leak.

 

Could be as simple as a rust hole in the floor. lift the carpet and inspect.

JWA, I used to work for safelite and triumph as installer- we got too many common things! lol

 

Could be the grommet that seals the electrical leads for the windshield wipers, under the wiper motor. That's the only penetration in the drainage gutter, other than the blower air intake.

 

in the f-trucks and some non-fords, i've seen pine needles accumulate in that space behind the hood and forward of the window - where the heater sucks air from. these pine needles block the water drains, and it overflows into the passenger compartment. i haven't experienced it on e-vans, but its a likely possibility

 

Please clarify. You found the floor soaked after heavy rain, as in parked & before driving in heavy rain?

If rain leaks ONTO driver front floor parked, as opposed to leaking UNDER carpet/mat driving in rain, it's got to be from windshield or cowl. Club Wagon fixed glass is glued in place, seal hides behind black mask. Nearing 20 YO & w/accumulation of "leaves and pine needles" it could have rust in cowl area. Rust can go under the paint & glue, or glue can loose its grip. Take brite light under dash & look for streaks of rust/mineral scale, or water, to try to find source of leak.

Note: AC "condenser" is in front of radiator. It's the AC evaporator/heater core box "drain" you might want to check for "leaves and pine needles". However it's on passenger side, at top of toe board & it's not supposed to drain rain. If drain gets plugged, passenger floor gets wet when AC is used. A way to locate/check is, run AC on hot humid day, park where you can watch for water draining from AC & follow to source. Clog may be at bottom of tube & be opened w/wire.

AC evaporator is like a seive, most debris that gets in HVAC collects on it, reducing blower's effect. Got to open the box to get at it. There's just enough AC hose to swing the evaporator out of the box for serious cleaning, w/o disconnecting. Debris also includes bugs, road dirt & mold. Can be a mess, cut airflow to ziltch & require pressure washer to dislodge!

 

Oh yeah BB---I follow a LOT of Safelite installers around, resetting their work or trying to patch something. That's no indictment of every installer working for them but its a lot more common with them than any other local glass shop. I'll bet between us we could find this leak in about 2 minutes, that that we ever created any huh?

You're correct about the floor thing---my '97 E250 had developed severe rust in the right side floor where it bends upward to form the toe kick. It didn't leak from below though. It seems a leak in the upper right side of the w/s ran down the A pillar behind all trim, under the mat soaking the area and rust eventually ate its way through the metal.

Even if the w/s is original there is a body seam at the very top of the A pillar that is a known leak point, often times its not easily seen from the outside of the van. If the w/s was pulled out this is more easily seen but we don't want to go to that extreme just yet.

PST has the best idea so far---its how I'd approach this myself. I'd pull the A pillar trim pieces to look for rust stains from the upper corners---if leaking at the top there will be considerable signs. Clean water collecting in the foot areas tells me its dripping straight down, not eventually exiting there from somewhere higher up on the body. FWIW I've rarely seen any lower body seams or grommeted holes leak--almost always somewhere along the windshield's edges.

At this point we're all just speculating where the leak originates so finding its source is your first step. Anything is possible though---how long have you owned the van, has this just begun to happen?

 

I suffered this same problem for awhile myself....but,as previously mentioned,the floor near the doghouse seems to be a hotbed for rust,as mine was almost to the point i could pop my feet out like flintstones. Another common leaking area on my truck is the lip on roof (gutter) near back doors,and it runs all the way through ceiling to front window.
So id get underneath and check the areas around doghouse for rot,or check the lip around the entire roof. I used marine sealant for the roof along the entire lip and it stopped the leaks.