i had kind of a strange experience with my ac. i was pulling a large trailer for an all-dayer on the interstate. temps were about 92*. ac blows mighty cold. in fact, max recirc on 3 or higher was too chilly. as we were approaching a fuel stop, i thought it was interesting that i suddenly felt like i wanted to open my vents up all the way. i even said to my son something about the ac not as cold.

i pull into a fuel station, and first thing i go inside to p. when i return i can see a puddle under the hood that seems larger than normal. i think... 'huh... interesting'. the puddle was maybe the size of a p that my 4 year old might have achieved.

so i start pumping the fuel and decide to check the oil level. oil is fine, but i slam the hood shut. right after i shut it, it sounds like a grown man from the bar is taking a p under my truck. what the heck? i look under there, and sure enough... an extraordinary amount of water (?) is coming down. i pop the hood and can see right where it is coming from. directly from the bottom of the silver ac canister on the passenger side firewall, and still coming. so i think, crap ac is a goner. at least i only have 200 miles to go and the sun is going down.

we get in the truck while it is still leaking and take off. but here is the weird thing... everything is fine. the ac works great, and is blowing cold.

is this normal? did slamming the hood pop open some kind of valve that was backed up somehow? :confused:

i just read through the ac post below. sorry... i didn't see that before. seems that recirc max maybe caused some freeze up that suddenly broke free when i shut the hood?

maybe there should be a TSB advising truck owner to kick their boot into the truck to jar any freezing.

It is completely normal for a puddle to form under the truck from A/C. All vehicles with A/C do it. It is normal condensation and you will notice it more with higher humidty levels. The drain pipe might be a bit plugged and that is why your are seeing spurts. If you have a look you can see the rubber drain and you should be able to poke something in it to clean it out. It could also be turned up since it is a 90degree angle and therefor not draining properly and retaining some water. Look on the firewall slightle below the "silver ac canister".

My wife had a 2003 Grand Prix and that drain plugged. It built up inside the car and everytime she turned a sharp left corner the passenger would get a cup of water on their seat. I cleaned it out with a stick and it was fine after that.

thanks. i just couldn't believe how fast and how much was draining out. and why the change from a piddle to a flowing stream?

is the rubber drain plug on the bottom of the canister? that is where it was draining from. then what do you mean it is a 90degree angle?

thx.

No, the rubber hose comes out of the firewall right behind the accumulator. It comes out perpendicular to the firewall. Actually, mine is pointed slightly down. The hood slam probably jarred loose what ever was blocking the hose and it was squirting out onto the accumulator and that's why you thought it was coming from there. The pan under your dash will hold a couple gallons of water, and it was building up for awhile, so that's why it gushed so much.

couple gallons... wow. thanks i'm sure that is what it was.

i'm sure that if i went to the dealer with this question, they would have given me just as thoughtful responses, and i wouldn't have to give up my truck for a couple days or anything. for free.....

amazing how powerful the knowledge base of a collection of willing participants can be. thanks again.