E9 A/C Condensate Drain

[rsporsche]

okay, for starters, i received an a/c condensate drain from @HB Chris <THANK YOU Chris> ... so the first thing i have done is to create a 2d drawing. measured it and created a drawing. i will probably go buy one of the Mercedes pieces to compare to.

i will next check the fitment into my 2800cs ... from memory, the hole in the tranny tunnel is smaller than 17mm.

so more on this soon
scott

 

[ScottAndrews]

So you need something like this?

This is to your drawing. I can print this in elastomeric plastic.

 

[rsporsche]

Scott, i have one ... Chris Macha sent me one. i did a measured drawing in case somebody wanted to 3d print one. i also thought i would go buy the Mercedes part and compare the dimensions ... if its close enough, no reason to make one.

 

[ScottAndrews]

I'll be needing one, so I did the 3D model. I am going to print a few. Cost for 10 each is about $10 each plus shipping. Anyone who needs one PM me

Thanks for the drawing!!

 

[ScottAndrews]

I can’t find any part in the RealOEM catalog that looks like this part. They seem to list round gasket like devices, two pieces, nothing tapered, although the tapered funnel seems like a good idea.

 

[rsporsche]

I bought a couple of parts to try. Will post results when I get them

 

[vewbeekman]

Received the Mercedes part today, but sadly fit isn't ok. So search goes on...

 

[rsporsche]

oh well, good to know. i have looked at the e24 condensate drain and the hole in my 2800cs tranny tunnel is about 6 or 7 mm (1/4"). not sure how i'm going to make that work.

 

[Ohmess]

Scott - I think there is more than one e24 condensate drain. In particular, I think the early e12 based e24s have a different part than the later cars (and this earlier part is more likely to be the part you are seeking). Do you happen to know which e24 your part came from?

 

[rsporsche]

Chris, the e24 condensate drain that i have is new, its the one that @sfdon had shown a while back that is NLA. its the one that i did the drawing of (post #1 of this thread). the base is 17mm wide. so my question to anybody that has taken their a/c out, is the hole in the tranny tunnel 1/4" (6mm) in diameter or do you have one that is about 5/8" (18 mm)

 

[ScottAndrews]

oh well, good to know. i have looked at the e24 condensate drain and the hole in my 2800cs tranny tunnel is about 6 or 7 mm (1/4"). not sure how i'm going to make that work.

6-7 mm doesn't seem like much of a drain. If the walls of the tube are 1mm thick, then the inner dimension of the drain will be only 4-5 mm, which is more of a seep than a drain... Can you enlarge the hole?

If you want me to work up a model for a smaller drain I'll be happy to do that. The one above took all of about 10 minutes (draw the half profile and revolve...). I can post the 3D file here and you can get it printed.

 

[rsporsche]

Scott, thanks ... i have to see if i can enlarge the hole. i know the tranny isn't very far away so i hate to try to put a drill into the hole. i might be able to enlarge with a dremel tool. going to give a look and will post the findings. if we go to a drawing for a scaled down version, i might look at doing something that has a physical lock to keep the drain in place.

 

[ScottAndrews]

Scott, thanks ... i have to see if i can enlarge the hole. i know the tranny isn't very far away so i hate to try to put a drill into the hole. i might be able to enlarge with a dremel tool. going to give a look and will post the findings. if we go to a drawing for a scaled down version, i might look at doing something that has a physical lock to keep the drain in place.

Good idea. Seems like we should work out the bottom of the evaporator box, the mount and the tunnel, and work out a proper drain

 

[Dlc]

The repair manual lists this in the section for AC retrofit:

"Drill a 10mm hole for the condensate drain":
(and that's what I did with my retrofit)

 

[sfdon]

“Chris, the e24 condensate drain that i have is new, its the one that @sfdon had shown a while back that is NLA. its the one that i did the drawing of (post #1 of this thread). the base is 17mm wide. so my question to anybody that has taken their a/c out, is the hole in the tranny tunnel 1/4" (6mm) in diameter or do you have one that is about 5/8" (18 mm)”

I’m going to paint today and will check…

 

[rsporsche]

i measured the hole in the top of my tranny tunnel - 10mm ... so that agrees with what @Dlc posted. the picture out of the blue book looks like the condensate drain was glued on the top of the tunnel ... nothing actually went thru the tunnel.

 

[Jimmi]

Pretty sure the AC drain on my car is clogged. I put her up on the lift and looked for it, and I think it is hiding on top of the trans and I can NOT see it or access from under the car it to unclog it. I am not capable of pulling the console apart to fix it. Anyone have a cheat code for fixing this from under the car? Thanks.

 

[rsporsche]

its on top of the tranny - you won't see it from underneath. the only way you will is to drop the tranny and i would rather remove the a/c because you can't install a drain from underneath the car. the chances are, whatever was there has separated and all the water is going down the sides of the tranny tunnel and onto the floor boards.

 

[Jimmi]

Thanks Scott. That's exactly what I am seeing. Water coming inside the car along the tranny tunnel and puddling on the floor boards (and you can see the damp carpet where the water went). And the water is very warm too! Bummer about not being to access from down below. I was envisioning using a coat hanger end to unclog the drain. Clearly that is not going to happen. Off to VSR to get it fixed correctly!

(BTW, I was thinking of getting an endoscope camera for my iPhone to see if I could find the drain that way from under the car. Not sure that would work though)

 

[ScottAndrews]

Does anyone have the measurement from the evaporator mounting plate to the tunnel?

As I recall my evaporator box has a small tube protruding down about 15 mm or so. From memory it looks to be about 15 mm long. I would guess that is supposed to contact the top of the trans tunnel, and goes inside the sort of big washer like thing that is glued to the tunnel top. Seems pretty flaky, and the down side is that any leaks here will destroy the floors (my car was rotted out right in the footwell area below the trans tunnel drain). I suspect it was supposed to work as shown below. Here you can see that as long as you feed the evaporator tube into the grommet, and as long as the grommet stays flexible, this will sort of seal, but if the tube is misaligned it may not drain well, and if the grommet hardens, then it will leak.

I also don't really like the idea of a drink dripping water onto the top of the trans, so maybe I'll explore some sort of drain tube down the side of the tunnel.

So I am thinking the proper solution should look something like below. Here I have the tube coming from the evaporator box. This engages an elastomeric "funnel" that basically forms a water tight seal between the evaporator mounting plate and the trans tunnel. This way any water coming from the evaporator is directed to the trans tunnel and does not have any good way to leak out. I suspect getting the funnel to engage the trans tunnel and the evaporator mounting plate will be a small; challenge. Probably moon the funnel tot he trans tunnel, then squish the top of the funnel, maybe using a zip tie, and pass that through the larger hole in the evaporator mounting plate, and get it all seated properly. The put the evaporator on the plate making sure the tube engages the funnel properly...