Hi, I'm driving a 2002 Discovery II with 123,000 miles on it. I have water leaks into both the driver's footwell and the passenger's footwell after driving, and it hasn't rained in several days. I just cleaned out the AC drain holes, and found they were both clogged. After vacuuming up the water on the passenger side successfully, the driver's side seems very different. The water there seems never ending, and after vacuuming and driving again for several minutes even more has appeared than was there before. The liquid is brown/yellow-brown and sudsy. Its concentrated on the side close to the door and also (mainly) in the middle of the footwell in front of the seat. It seems to have caused the carpet there to bubble up a bit and it looks like its appeared before because there are previous stains (I've only had the car for a week).

Could it be a leaking heater core? I'm not sure how the heater core works, and I haven't been using the heat since its summer. After driving 700 miles, the coolant reservoir is about 2" below the fill line and a murky green/yellow color. Very strange. Any thoughts?

 

Call a priest. Perform an exorcism.
jk... Sounds like a coolant leak from the heater core and that you need a serious coolant system flush ASAP.

 

Does it smell sweet? I second the heater core leaking. It's a pita to fix, a lot of the dash has to come out and it's not a job for a novice.

I would start by pulling the two hoses for the heater core off, and trying to back flush to see if it's clogged and leaking. You should be able to see the water dripping on the pass floor.

If it is leaking, I suggest a full coolant flush with green stuff, a new t-stat and check the pulley on the water pump. If there's any play, get rid of it.

 

The coolant circulates through the heater coil whether you use the heater or not, so it doesn't matter that you haven't been using it for it to be leaking.

 

You can always jump the circuit with a couple elbows to eliminate the heater core and see if the problem goes away.

 

Yup. You might even get colder A/C this way!


When you open your hood and look at your motor you'll see 2 black hoses near the center, but slightly on the passenger side... that go from the motor/radiator back into your cockpit firewall. Obviously there is a heater core just inside, not visible from your over-the-hood vantage point.

That heater core is a simple thing. Coolant flows in one hose, through the heater core, and then out the other hose.

As Ahab describes, you can use a radiator hose elbow from a local parts store to connect those 2 hoses together. Then your coolant never makes it to the heater core.

Great and cheap idea for a test. Not so great as a permanent "fix" for Winter in cold climates, though!

You're just verifying that most/all of your cockpit leaks stop once you bypass your heater core that way. If that works, then you simply need to replace your heater core and then put your hoses back to original.

 

Defo sounds like coolant from the heater matrix core leaking (b____d job to replace), are you losing/missing coolant from the reservoir? take the cap off when cool and the coolant will either rise and overflow or fall considerably.

 

I was able to get a cleaner sample of the liquid and compare it to the coolant. I don't think its coolant, it appears to be clear and odorless. The brown color must have come from the carpet.


Here's a photo of the liquid bubbling up when I press down on the carpet. This is after vacuuming the area for 30 minutes and then driving 1 mile. Its surprising how fast if came back.



Maybe time to check the sunroof drains? Whatever is happening the liquid is either being stored somewhere or regenerating at an alarming rate.

 

A/C drains?? I've seen them pop off the HVAC unit when people tug around with trim/carpet. Or it's the nipples themselves being clogged.

 

Thought he had just serviced those, but a easy test would be to run for a few days with no ac and the windows down. If no more water than he knows where to look