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I had the blocked drain a few years back, I removed the plastic engine cover and slide my hand down between the engine block and the firewall and found the drain hole in the bodywork, but my hand was to large to allow me to slide my finger all the way in. So I got my son who's hands were thinner to stick his finger in the hole and he could feel the end of the "duck bill". I told him to wiggle his finger around and all of a sudden the water poured out. I then put a big blob of Vaseline on the end of his finger and got him to coat the end of the drain, (so the rubber wouldn't dry out and stick together again). Still ok 4 years later, but I do regularly close all the vents and turn the fan on high to blow the water out, so far so good. If you don't have someone with a skinny hand and long fingers you could try a scope, which was my next go to.
Yes! @apross01 , finally the right solution! I read through this whole thread, and I know most of you are clever folks who are good with tools, but ripping the interior apart, drilling holes, running extra tubes, that’s all way too much work. This happened to my wife’s ‘09 XKR a few years back and after pulling out the fan unit, pulling up carpets, scouring the forum, pulling out my hair…. Well, this method is what finally did the trick.
Open the hood, stand on the right side of the car, reach with your left hand down between the firewall and the back of the engine. It’s really tight in there. My arms are not exactly skinny, but I was able to get the left one in there. Take off any jewelry, watch, ring… With my arm plunged down there as far as it would go, I felt around and was able to feel that rubber end of the “duckbill”. I had just enough reach to get my middle finger in that thing, and the water poured out! (Kinda reminded me of high school) Whatever it was that kept that duckbill stuck together let go, and it has not clogged up again, knock-on-wood.
So, easy fix, and I didn’t have to modify anything.
I know this is an old thread, but wanted to thank @hloucks for his tip on "whacking" the duckbill open from the interior with minimal disassembly. It worked for me!
See his orig post #1 and also post #8 with a better pic of where to attack.
I recently found a pristine one-owner 2010 XK convertible with 15K miles that I bought on the spot. Although I had been looking for an XKR, this unicorn was too good pass up. But like any car that has not been driven enough, there are a few things I am working through. First big problem was moldy smell and water in passenger footwell.
My 2010 should have had the improved duckbill but a/c condensate was not draining (except in footwell). Also, being a 2010, firewall carpeting covered easy access to duckbill from engine bay. Then I found this thread.
What were the chances, I thought, but worth a try. As suggested by another post in the thread, I had the a/c vents closed and fan on high when I reached through with a long wooden dowel and started wailing away. After a few whacks I looked under the car and my jaw dropped. Looked like Niagara Falls!
So give this method a try, just might work for you, too!
After noticing the dreaded condensate water in the passenger footwell of my '07 XKR (14k miles) from clogged A/C drain tube, I diligently checked the forum and found that I needed to: either drop the tranny and update the A/C drain hose; remove some exhaust parts and cut off the end of the drain hose; or add a new DIY drain hose behind the carpet in the passenger footwell. OK, says I: put in the DIY drain and that way, you can access and clean it easier if it clogs again.
So, looking in to the footwell with carpet removed, I see the little triangular funnel on top of the drain tube over the tranny in the center of the dash. See the low, black piece in left center of pic. Hmm. Maybe if I whacked it ( I used a 12" x 1/2" steel rod) it might loosen up the tube and start draining. I really didn't want to drill holes in my mint XKR floorboards. Sure enough, a couple whacks resulted in a fine half pint of drainage onto the garage floor. Problem solved, at least for now, and all it takes is pulling back the carpet and whacking the tube a couple times. Less than 10min work. It's been draining fine for over a week now.
This hack worked amazing. Over the past 3 years I needed to do it twice and it was a hit totally drained out the system unfortunately this time around it was not working. I was constantly walking that spot but minor drops were coming through the drain and the water was filling up in the passenger foot well. And then it hit me💡 why all that manual wacking.... I got out my powerful sports massager, got the wishbone attachment and put it rite up in that spot. Wowww! It was like 1000 times of wacking in a minute with no wacking. All heavy vibration and after a few minutes that pool of water 💧 came out through the drain from under the car. With no Manuel labor
💥 💥 💥
this hack worked amazing. Over the past 3 years i needed to do it twice and it was a hit totally drained out the system unfortunately this time around it was not working. I was constantly wacking that spot but minimal drops were coming through the drain and the water was filling up in the passenger foot well and swooshing around in the air vents. And then it hit me💡 why all that manual wacking.... I got out my powerful sports massager, got the wishbone attachment and put it rite up in that spot. Wowww! It was like 1000 times of wacking in a minute with no wacking. All heavy vibration and after a few minutes that pool of water 💧 came out through the drain from under the car. With no manuel labor.
💥 💥 💥
07-31-2023, 09:09 AM
Whatever it was that kept that duckbill stuck together let go, and it has not clogged up again, knock-on-wood.
