2007~2015 CX-9 Water leakage question

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dlev451

Member
Not sure the appropriate forum to ask this question so I just put it here. I apologize if it's in the wrong place.

I have an 08 CX-9 and in October of 08 I woke up to find my passenger side floor mat completely soaked after a hard rain the night before. At the time I figured I just left the window cracked a bit and dried off the mat and ignored it. A couple days later I was driving and heard a loud squeal (like water being pushed out) coming from somewhere around the passenger side whenever I turned the steering wheel left -- and only when I turned it left. The next time I checked the pool of water had returned. The water leaks from between the plastic and carpet on the left side of the console (for lack of a better explanation, near where the passenger's left calf would be).

Needless to say I brought it in to the dealership and after a full day of looking at it they couldn't identify the problem, only saying that there was a dirty filter and they recommend I close the external vents when it rains or going through a car wash.

This seemed to "fix" the problem for a few months but then it returned worse than before. I have diligently closed the vents whenever I left the car if it was supposed to rain or not so that can't be the problem. The dealership then told me after I brought it in again that it was a known problem on CX-9s and there wasn't much they could do except recommend closing the vents.

Also, not too long ago my blower motor went after only a year and a half. I could be wrong (and most likely am) but I have a hard time believing that these problems aren't related.

Does anyone have any ideas what this could be? Has anyone experienced this "known" issue?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and thank you in advance for your time.
 
This is the 1st time I heard of this. Your dealer's explanation is B.S.
Time to visit another dealer. Do you have moonroof on your CX9?
My guess is that you probably have improper windshield seal, which causes leak into the firewall to center console.
I have taken my CX9 into car wash many times. My A/C is always on Auto. Never seen a drop of water in the cabin.
 
TYVM for the reply. I'm going to suggest it to the dealer when I bring it in tomorrow. I don't know what it says about the dealership if it's something as simple as a faulty sealant.
 
OK, this problem is definately a air conditioning system condensate drain plugged up. I've experienced this today driving 10 hours from VA to GA. The fan housing is full of water and leaking on the passenger mat is wet. I can also hear the water getting caught up in the fan on a left turn. I've got no water dripping under the car when I stop.

Now the big question...where is the drain so I can get it unplugged. Please help!
 
The usually have a rubber pipe that will drain out the firewall somewhere. Look under there and see if you see the drain pipe and where it terminates.
 
I looked a little but it was a very tight fit and HOT. I'll check in the morning again.
 
The drain tube should be attached to the bottom of the evaporator housing and route it through the firewall into the engine bay to drain outside.
 
After much taking apart... I found it. There is a little rubber hose off the bottom of the evaporator coil. The coil is located in the center console below the radio. (above the air bag module) The hose leads through the bottom of the car to the right of the gas pedal. I had to get under the car and unbolt the heat shielding above the drive shaft to get to the outlet of the drain. After getting some compressed air into the drain, all the water came rushing out, close to 1/2 gallon. I'm still drying out under the rugs on both sides. I think this has been full and leaking for a while and during my long trip is when it got really full and noticalble.
 

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I have this problem too. It's been making whooshing sound on left turns and leakage on my front passenger side. I thought it would be the drain backed up since I haven't seen any puddles under my car after using the AC. Thanks for the info, now I know where to look.

Ed
 
rslam said:
After much taking apart... I found it. There is a little rubber hose off the bottom of the evaporator coil. The coil is located in the center console below the radio. (above the air bag module) The hose leads through the bottom of the car to the right of the gas pedal. I had to get under the car and unbolt the heat shielding above the drive shaft to get to the outlet of the drain. After getting some compressed air into the drain, all the water came rushing out, close to 1/2 gallon. I'm still drying out under the rugs on both sides. I think this has been full and leaking for a while and during my long trip is when it got really full and noticalble.
Click to expand...

Can you describe in more detail where the drain is under the car? Mine is clogged and I want to fix it myself. Which heat shield is it? Do you have a picture from under the car showing it?
 
Okay I found it and fixed it. This applies to 2WD model; probably similar for 4WD.

Here is how I did it.

Jack up the driver side of the CX-9 and place securely on jack stand. Slide under the car and locate the heat shield located above the exhaust where it runs down the tunnel in the middle of the car. (I assume the drive shaft on 4WD models runs here too). The heat shield is held in place by several 10mm bolts and is tucked under a black plastic underbody shroud. One of the bolts is impossible to remove without removing a thick metal cross member toward the back. Don't worry.

What I found much easier was to remove the front most bolts from the heat shield. Then simply fold back the front drivers corner of the shield. Under this you'll find a white plastic flange about 1/2" diameter that is the outlet of the AC drain.

I first tried threading string trimmer line and then coat hanger wire up the tube without success. Then I decided to use compressed air. I powered up my compressor and very briefly applied a burst of air into the drain flange and was greated with a flood of about a gallon of water.

Problem solved. Worked great. No more AC noise when turning left.

Now that I've done this, could to entire task in about 15-20 minutes. First time took about an hour which included trying to find the flange. Now that I know where it is should be easy if it ever happens again.

Sorry no pictures, hope my explanation was sufficient.
 
I took a can of compressed air with the little red tube for office use then blew some air into that hole. A lot of water came down. I didn't have to remove any parts. Thanks for the valuable info.

Ed
 
I also had water leakage & draining issues. Noticed water in fan motor housing, sloshed when turning corners. By the time I took it in the fan motor stopped working. At this time it was still under warranty, they said it was due to going through car wash with fresh air intake on. Dealer replaced fan motor.

One week later had water backing up again, took it to dealer and they found the ac line clogged.

Thanks for the post, if it happens again I will know how to fix myself.
 
Same thing in mazda3 this summer. Water that was coming inside the car was really hot when AC was on. I took the car to dealer and they said the pipe was clogged..
 
I have what appears to be a clogged a/c line. I have a 2011 CX-9. Is it located under the heat shield still?
 
ceric said:
I have taken my CX9 into car wash many times. My A/C is always on Auto. Never seen a drop of water in the cabin.
Click to expand...

Lucky you, if I go through a high pressure overhead wash, water always sprays between the sunroof seal and gets us wet. Never leaks during rain, just a direct high pressure from above. Just another reason to do it myself.
 
Just got done draining mine. Found this thread by googling "fan high when making left turn" haha. Thanks everyone who contributed, esp. rslam for the write-up. This thread might be an annual bump in the summer in light of the prevalence of the problem.
 
Dave,

Your diagnosis and instructions were spot on. I have an 2008 AWD and while I had to work around the drive shaft, I only needed to remove 1 bolt to pull the heat shield as far as I needed to to get to the 1/2" opening. Used a can compressed air meant to clean computer keyboards to clear the clog. Worked like a champ... Took less than 15 mins.

Thanks for the fix,
James
 
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