please respond, I have the 2001 Montero XLS on the rack and for the life of me I can not find the drain plug for the A/C.
They told me it was on the drivers side,half way down, next to the A/c hoses... any help out there?
Rick

 

I've never heard of an A/C drain plug but then I don't know everything. There should be a high side and low side snap on plug(s) on your A/C system on the metal lines. On my Eclipse Spyder the low side is the larger line and the high side the smaller line. They have a push pin in the middle. These are usually capped with a rubber or plastic cap. They are a different size. You can bleed the system by pushing in the center pins manually and letting the freon escape from each side. Filling from the low side is easy with a can of R134 from you local auto store. Pressure on the low side when full should be 35-40 psi.

 

Yeh also never heard of an AC drain plug...Maybe he means the radiator drain plug usually located on the bottom...Mostly white in color...

 

The condensation that develops when running the A/C, is now collecting above the passengers feet and dripping onto the floor board. If you look under most parked cars in the summer (and they were running the A/C), you will see a trail of water... or water dropping down on the pavement. This is the item / drain hose, I am referring to.

It seems the hose that travels from the A/C drain to the firewall is plugged and not allowing the water to leave. I have been told by Mitsubishi that the hose is roughly 1 inch long, very small, black and just left of the steering column on the firewall.

Any help would be appreciated to locate this hose. I am afraid it might be behind the buffer material on the firewall. I will continue to look, if I do find it I will take a picture and post for others... seems odd they would use a small hose... but it has worked fine for 150,000 miles.

 

I have heard of this A/C problem when I was searching for solutions to my A/C failure. It came up on a bunch of web searches and they all complained about the wet floor and carpet.

Here are some seach link comments:

"The A/C drain hose is typically located under the car, near the firewall. This can at times get clogged from debris. The easiest way to unclog it is to blow compressed air up the tube and hopefully that will remove the clog"

"The A/C drain hose runs through the firewall and was hard to locate. I finally found it on at the drivers side of my Mitsubishi and got the clog cleared out"

I wish I could provide an EXACT location but hope this helps your search. At least you know it's running through the firewall.

BD

 

I have had the same problem for almost a month now. DO NOT RUN YOUR AIR UNTIL YOU DRAIN THE EVAPORATOR. I had to replace the fan (about $100) because water had backed up and shorted it out. I cannot find the drain tube anywhere. I climbed under the car numerous times, and have tried to find it. If you do, PLEASE post a picture.

 

I looked and found mine just beneath the firewall and it's actually more near the passengers side on my 2001 Eclipse Spyder. I guess it varies between models depending on the engine layout. It's such a tiny little tube. So I can see why it's so hard to find and locate. I found mine by looking up under where the puddle was after going for a drive and running the A/C on high with the top down. If my neighbor (with the two garages and constant car projects) didn't have ramps I can borrow I'd never get under this thing as it's so freakin' low.

 

Well we found it. If you are looking at the firewall from the inside of the car... it is a molded white plastic piece. It is next to the gas pedal in the center of the car. If someone pointed to it, you will see it. I will take a picture in the near future. As for getting to it... well that is a problem. It comes out above the tranny. So to actually get to it, you have to remove the exhaust and drop the front driveshaft. OR you may be able to come down from the top of the engine (3-4" space) and without being able to see... due to some wires blocking you view... magically find it with your eyes closed.

What freaking engineer thought this one through!

Mitsu said it would take roughly 2 - 3 hours labor to get everything out of the way just to get to the hose. Then they will need to blow it out and hope it does not plug up again.

I will try and see what else I can come up with, but what ever happened to the good ole days when you could actually work on your own vehicle.

 

I had the same problem on my 02 montero limited. I was able to clear the plug with a piece of weedeater string. The drain is located on the almost dead center behind the engine. It is a short piece of white plastic pipe. I first saw it from underneath the vehicle and was then able to reach it from the top. It was not easy and I am 6' 2" with long arms. I hope this helps if you have any other questions I will help if I can.

 

I found it this weekend. I put the Montero on ramps and got under there with a piece of PVC to try to press on what I thought was the drain tube. As I messed with it, the tube straightened up and pointed straight forward and out of the firewall. Then from above, I laid down a blanket on the engine and crawled over it to see the tube. It is white, and is DIRECTLY in the center of the vehicle about a foot and a half down on the firewall. I took some wire, doubled it up and cleaned the clog out of the tube.

What a ****TY design, what Jap engineer came up with that idea? I'd also like to slap all the people that work for Mitsubishi Service departments at three different dealerships that I called, and kept telling me its a small black tube with a bend in it on the passenger side near the tire flap. Thanks ********.