98 classic, water in passenger side floor?

Ive searched and didnt see anything on this, i just got a 98 and i was sitting in it working on cleaning the interior up, i turned the hot cold knob on the heater control from cold to hot and when i did water started pouring in the floor, i guess about half a quart. it didn't smell like antifreeze, seems like just plain water. has anyone else had this problem or know what might be wrong with mine?

Sounds like your heater core is leaking.

The heater core and air conditioning evaporator are both behind the passenger side dash.

I know this because my air conditioning stop working due to a leaking evaporator, and I changed the heater core while I had the chance.

You will need to change it, the part is cheap, but getting to it takes some time.

It was to much labor for me, so this is one job I opted to pay labor for, but I got a good price, I know a mechanic in the Ghetto that does good work and is a nice guy, I just pick up and drop off the jeep before the sun goes down. Ha Ha

Good luck

Actually, there is a foam gasket that seals off the HVAC unit from the cowl, These are rather notorious for leaking. I had to repair mine last summer... If the heater core is leaking, you will get hot coolant in the cab. If it is, as I suspect, the foam seal, then only water will be in the cab.

I've had both the seal leak and the condensation pan drain (hose) plug up and the pan overflow.
Something you don't want ignore too long, the carpet gets wet and stays wet. On that side, the floorboards are constantly warmed from the Cat converter. Rot, corrosion and rust can make short work of your floorboards under the carpet. Not a bad idea to pull the carpets up and have a look anyway, on both sides.
My experience is if the heater core is leaking you'll get steam in the inside of the windshield, especially in the wintertime. I can smell the anti freeze.

^^^ I've also had both on my 99 classic. The hose is easy to check, its a 90deg. rubber hose elboxe that exits the firewall, right infront of the passengers feet. When I pulled mine off, it had a mud daubers nest in it.
The foam gasket leaking is a little tougher. I noticed after a heavy rain, a ton of water wa i nteh passenger footwell all the way back under the rear seat. I pulled all carpet and seats, then reinstalled seats. To fix the leak, I used about 1/2 tube of RTV smeared under the HVAC plumbing, on the engine side of the firewall. I did it by feel with RTV on my fingertips, because there was no way I could snake my hand and a tube in there, and see where I was squirting. It has held up for about a year now. After the carpet dried and the trial period to see if my fix worked, I reinstalled the carpet.

Sounds like the foam gasket is what it is on mine, i have had a few vehicles with a busted heater core and remember the antifreeze smell and the steam, however this is just water. i will check the hose you guys are talking about as i have seen it before. anymore info on this foam seal? where its at and how to get to it? Thanks for all the info you guys have on this.

So, I cut an access hole in the cowl to make it easier to get the sealant into the area it needed to go, then I welded the sheet metal back together... A fun afternoon.

resq229 said:

Sounds like the foam gasket is what it is on mine, i have had a few vehicles with a busted heater core and remember the antifreeze smell and the steam, however this is just water. i will check the hose you guys are talking about as i have seen it before. anymore info on this foam seal? where its at and how to get to it? Thanks for all the info you guys have on this.

Click to expand...

The foam seal can be seen with the hood opened and you standing by the passenger side frotn wheel. Look at the firewall, there is a 4x6 or so hole behind the AC stuff, with hoses/pipes going in. I spooged RTV on my 2-3 fingertips then smeared it around. It was the superslack fix, but the longest part of it was washing my hands, well no, probably the hours I wasted "investigating" lol.