Cold air on Passenger Side Floor - Has anyone figured it out? (1 Viewer)

[Alumin8]

YES YES YES - I have resolved this issue at last!!

You will not believe it until you do this yourself:

LX470 or TLC
- passenger side of engine
- roughly behind rear cam cover
- on the firewall you will find a small section of heat shield
- beside this heat shield, barely poking out (about 1" or so) is a rubber hose
- find a suitably sized item to PLUG THAT HOLE
- Rejoice in life with a warm passenger footwell
- Optional: I also blocked of about 75% of the driver side footwell vent in order to force more hot air to the passenger footwell since that is the typical bias between my wife and I anyway

 

[87warrior]

@Alumin8 I believe you just plugged the AC drain tube. I have been meaning to extend the drain to eliminate the water condensation drip on the frame, but hadn't considered it a remedy for the cold footwell. Instead of plugging the hose, you might try extending the hose downward so that air cannot be forced directly into the hole.

 

[Alumin8]

I agree that it is indeed the AC drain hole and that the real long term solution is to modify it rather than plug it seasonally as it would for sure result in damp carpets in the summer months. I will try adding an elbow and hose length to change the angle of the drain. I will also say that this reduces the cold air in-flow by around 90% or so. There is still some leakage coming form imperfect seals in the fan housing and air filter door areas, but this is easily overcome by the footwell heat flow. I had my wife driving while 10 deg F outside yesterday to verify all of this. Sure beats taking apart the entire dash / HVAC on a wild goose chase. The thing that remains is to figure out how to best maintain an open drain while limiting in-flow.

 

[SurfSwitch]

Do you know what size that hose is? I'm going to snag a couple and run the hose up higher and then block it. I have to drive from Seattle to Boise this weekend and it's like 20 degree difference driver to passenger side.

 

[Alumin8]

I'll measure mine tonight & let you know. I'm planning to install an elbow and extension down and put Bernoulli to work - by doing so, this should allow both free drain of condensate and provide a slight vacuum to prevent cold air inflow. My wife remains very happy with this discovery!

 

[TheForger]

Do you know what size that hose is? I'm going to snag a couple and run the hose up higher and then block it. I have to drive from Seattle to Boise this weekend and it's like 20 degree difference driver to passenger side.

Why would you run it higher and block it? There is condensate dripping out of it and it has to drip somewhere down.

 

[Alumin8]

I'll measure mine tonight & let you know. I'm planning to install an elbow and extension down and put Bernoulli to work - by doing so, this should allow both free drain of condensate and provide a slight vacuum to prevent cold air inflow. My wife remains very happy with this discovery!

It appears that a 10mm plug will do the trick.. again, long term this needs to be able to drain. After a week or more of using it here in Wisconsin, there was no condensate built up - no surprise there given the season..

 

[Muddy Bean]

I'm thrilled you guys are figuring this out. We've dealt with this for almost 5 years now owning our Hundy. We drive almost 45,000 miles the past couple of years and my poor wifey freezes

 

[labcab]

Sounds like a job for a one-way check valve:
Amazon.com: Farmunion New 10mm 3/8" Fuel Non Return One Way Check Valve Petrol Diesel Aluminium Alloy: Automotive

 

[SurfSwitch]

Why would you run it higher and block it? There is condensate dripping out of it and it has to drip somewhere down.

I was thinking for deep water crossings (higher) and blocking it for a road trip rather than freeze my passengers.

 

[JETTIX2]

I need to try this. We drove 300 miles
Today and my wife in the passenger seat had to cover her legs with my coat because of the cold air pouring in.

 

[87warrior]

Based on the information posted here, I tried three cheap and easy fixes for the cold air problem.

1) I removed the blower motor and cleaned the layer of dirt and grime off of the mounting surfaces. I then applied a very light coating of clear rtv in the indentation around the blower motor with a toothpick and remounted the blower motor. My thought was the rtv would help seal any air leak around the blower motor.

2) I extended the AC condensation drain. I used a piece of PCV hose intended for a PCV valve, heated up one end in hot water and slid it over the rubbery AC drain port (part of the heat shield along the firewall needed clearanced a bit). The hose was bent in a smooth downward swooping motion towards the top of the frame and I utilized two zip ties (with the pine tree fastener on one end) and stuck them into two unused holes on top of the frame to hold the new hose. I then routed the hose down beside the frame at the body mount. My thought here was with the drain pointed downward, cold air won't be pushed into the AC condensation pan and leak into the footwell. As a bonus the AC condensation will no longer leak into the frame.

3) I cut a piece of high density foam (leftover from a Jeep heaterbox rebuild) to fit into the driver side floor vent. If you look at the floor vent on the driver side, you will see one large opening and a smaller one. I cut the high density foam to fit the larger opening and secured it with a small piece of Gorilla Tape. Heat will still flow into the driver side footwell via the small floor vent opening as well as the 'crotch vent' under the steering wheel. My thought was since I am always warm and she is always cold, let's divert more heat to the passenger.

My wife and I just took a trip to Colorado, temperatures varying from 3°-70°F. I am happy to report that my wife did not report any cold air in the passenger side foot well, even with the hvac selector on 'fresh air'. She did notice some lukewarm to cool air coming through the vent next to the window while the air coming through the driver side window vent was hot, even when the vent position was set to 'foot'. This was lessened when the hvac system was set to 'recirculate' and I imagine is the result of worn out seals on a blend door @273k miles.

 

[TheForger]

This makes me question whether that extra door seal @LandCruiserPhil discovered to be on the LX's plays into the amount of cold air getting past the OEM seal and mixing with the air coming out of the vent closest to the window. Nonetheless, great information @87warrior I will be looking to do similar mods the next chance I get

 

[sorich]

I'm so excited to see this thread.... And my wife will be even happier. I'm going to give this a shot - Just wanted to say thanks to all those that posted with helpful information! For reference, I'm seeing the Ice cold issue at highway speeds on the passenger side and a slight cold draft on the drivers side on a new to me '98 LX470.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Reviving an ancient thread:
I have the exact same issue: hot air blowing from both passenger and driver foot vents but passenger was also getting a draft of icy air with flow proportional to the speed of travel .
Yesterday, took the glove compartment off and decided to experience the draft myself while wife drove. It was readily apparent that while fixing the AC condensate leak last summer, when I added rtv sealant to the heater core cover - I broke one of the tabs that holds the cabin air filter door. The cold air was just coming through there.

I made a quick fix by covering with duck tape. Drove on highway and the draft is definitely gone
But a few dozen miles later it was apparent the issue isn't 100% resolved. There's still radiating cold coming from somewhere around the passenger feet.
Now I am at a loss what to do? It is definitely now coming from the blower motor. And I have plugged the AC condensation drain already

 

[H E A V Y M E T A L]

I am still looking into this, don't give up guys!

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Yeah, I am inspired by everyone else's success on this. But truth be told, I am so fed up with this bs problem and if I had even an iota of confidence in my local dealerships ability to fix this, I would take it in.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

I am planning to order a new replacement cover 88891-60040 and 88891-60060 and 88578-47040 for the seal. Hopefully that would cure the leaking air. I also plan to stuff something to close the driver side vent half way, just as @87warrior did.

 

[87warrior]

I am planning to order a new replacement cover 88891-60040 and 88891-60060 and 88578-47040 for the seal. Hopefully that would cure the leaking air. I also plan to stuff something to close the driver side vent half way, just as @87warrior did.

All I know is my wife has been complaint free about the cold draft since March 2017

 

[Ninja Cruiser100]

The last couple of days I have spent cleaning my evap core and adding canbin filters in my 2000 LC. Make sure you go in on the passenger side with compressed air to blow out all the debris you cannot see. There was a lot in my car.

When I ran the blower fan without the cabin air filter cover on there was a tremendous amount of air blowing thru the cover slot. Make sure this cover is properly seated. If there was a small gap it would let in a lot of air.