Is my 2003 Chevy Trail Blazer LT, suppose to drip air condition condensation from under the vehicle?

Question

My Chevy 2003 Trail Blazer Lt has a bad odor that comes out of the vents in the Blazer, mostly when the air conditioner is off. We have taken it in twice to see where the smell is coming from, and the machanic keeps telling us nothing is wrong and puts chemicals in the vents which works for a while then the smell returns. I keep asking " Why is my Blazer not dripping condensation under the vehicle?", and they can never answer me. They say it's not suppose to. So that's my question. Is my vehicle suppose to drip condensation from the air conditioner?

Answer 1

Yes, it is supposed to drip. In fact, on a hot humid day, there should be a pretty good stream of water draining from it. The odor you are getting is caused by mold growth in the air plenum where the evaporator is installed. Since water isn't draining properly, mold can grow since it never dries out properly there.

Your mechanic is incompetent. Find another one. If the dealer is telling you this line of bull, pitch a hissy-fit with the service manager and then complain to the GM zone office.

Answer 2

Yes it is suppose to drip water when the A/C is used and its usual a lot of water. The foul odor is mold and comes from standing water in the case that hold the Heat and A/C so you can get hot air or cold air from the same vents. If the vehicle is less than 18000 miles on it then you may have a Lemon Complaint, call a good Lemon Law Attorney for some advise it usually don't cost you.

Answer 3

Yes it is supposed to drip. The drain is not working properly. It is a small right angle piece of rubber attached to the firewall by the passenger side of the vehicle.
You need to raise the vehicle up on a lift or jack stands (remember there is always time for safety) find the drain piece and remove it. Get a strong wire tie and push it into the hole and move it around to try to remove whatever is clogging the drain.
If it still will not drain properly your only option is to remove the AC heater box and clean it out by hand.
This will be a lot of time and money.
Try the clean out method a few time before you give up.

Answer 4

OK, you have a few options. If you can...get some a/c foam cleaner (hardware store or appliance repair supply store) and try to spray it up the tube when you find it. Getting some of these chemicals into the air chamber might disolve the goo that is decomposing inside of your chamber. Otherwise, you will want to disassemble the heater and condensor chamber and clean everything out. Obviously a mouse or leaves or something got down inside of the heater core and is rotting. Disassembly is very difficult on the blazer so do your best to try to flush it out from the weap hole. But I personally would pull it apart and clean it by hand. Sorry for your troubles. Best of luck.

Answer 5

Your looking at a lot of upcoming maintenance costs, at the very least timing chain, water pump, alternator, ect. Keep in mind also, that the 1997-2005 models, have a lot of problems that should have been recalls, but was never issued. Things like, the rear brake calipers never functioned correctly (and still yet only when you purchase the SSB after market calipers), they are prone to having starting issues after only 20-30k miles requiring a new distributor drive gear, are prone to the lower door sections rusting out, and have very poor fuel mileage. I am a GM man, but after the problems I have run into with my Sonoma, I'll never again buy a Newer Chevy/GMC, until they show an improved track record.

Answer 6

Yes most vehicles drip condensation from under the vehicle, as far as the smell i couldn't say are you the original owner or did you buy it used, its possible that a previous smoked or had pets in vehicle or some small animal crawled into a vent and died.

Answer 7

If you run the a/c it has to remove the condensation. If it doesn't then the drain for it is plugged, The smell is bacteria and other nasty things growing inside your evaporator case. It needs to be cleaned and there's products out there that can kill off the bacteria, but if the drain isn't unclogged it will only come back. I'd go to a parts store and talk to one of the guys there, they can lead you to the best cleaner for it and probably help you unclog the drain also.

Answer 8

Yes due to the engine heat compared to the refrigerent in the ac canister. the smell could be caused by something in the heater core or the vents themselves try an ionizer for cars that should help with the smell.

Answer 9

You should definitly have a drip from the codensation when running your a/c. If you have an odd smell, you either have mold or something crawled up in there and died. More than likely it's just mold.

Answer 10

Yes all cars will drip some water when used. Checked to see if the drain is clogged. If it is clogged then water will stagnate and stink like hell.

Good Luck