Avensis leak

[jonny123456]

After a ~20 mile trip home (mainly motorway/dual carriage way) this (hot, sunny) afternoon, I noticed a wet patch on my drive. Upon closer inspection, there was a constant dripping from the pipe indicated in red on the attached pictures (front, passenger side). The liquid is clear, the coolant level (which is pink anyway) doesn't seem to have dropped.  The dripping seems to be dropping down to the area indicated by the yellow circle and then onto the floor (where it left an approx 40 x 15 cm patch). 

Any ideas as to what it might be?

Is it a leak, a disconnected pipe or some sort of overflow?

Power steering fluid? Air-con coolant? Brake fluid?

Edit: I'm not sure if the pipe is disconnected from the bottom part, or if it's just the pictures making it look that way.  Also I still have 1 month warranty left if needed.

Edit 2: Just been back out to check it, and after 5 hours parked it's still dripping.  Engine starts fine, and no warning lights are displayed. 

 

[TomdeGuerre]

That's the air conditioning condensate drain pipe, it's meant to leak like that, shows you the drain is clear and working OK.

[jonny123456]

Thanks for that. Panic over

So is it normal for it to still be dripping 5 hours after parking?

Also, is it normal for it to drip onto something? My initial thought was that it would speed up the corrosion of whatever it's dripping on, though I suppose the underside of the car is used to getting wet here in the UK!

 I can't believe that in over 15 years of driving I've never noticed this before

[Anthony Poli]

Fortunately I had heard of this kind of thing long before I had a car with Air con. I remember driving in very hot weather and stopping at the services and on my return back to the car, I saw what looked a water leak that had started and had run across the road.

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

We've had 12 new cars with air con since 1998, and they have all expelled condensed water from the system. 

[TomdeGuerre]

Fair enough for every one to say this and that but kudos to Jonny for a good, clear post. He eliminated the pink coolant, confirmed that all the other levels were OK and put up photos with the item in question clearly circled and he raised the question of whether it was related to the air-con system. I wish every query was as well written and clearly shown. He asked a question which no one has answered yet ie whether it was normal for it still to be leaking out after 5 hours. TBH I wouldn’t have expected it to leak for as long as that, offhand I’d have said a couple of hours at the outside. I suppose it depends on how long the A/C was running, and the size of the evaporator core and heater box etc surrounding it.

There's also the question of how humid it has been - pretty bad down in England whereas up here in God's country it has been just perfect. 

[Konrad C]

On 07/06/2016 at 10:15 PM, jonny123456 said:

Thanks for that. Panic over

So is it normal for it to still be dripping 5 hours after parking?

Also, is it normal for it to drip onto something? My initial thought was that it would speed up the corrosion of whatever it's dripping on, though I suppose the underside of the car is used to getting wet here in the UK!

 I can't believe that in over 15 years of driving I've never noticed this before

I had the same worry years ago, but I checked up on-line and realised it is a normal part of the air-con.

There must be a lot of water to still drip after 5 hours! May be there was something damp in the car, which air-con absorbed?

I initially thought it was the scuttle drain tube. I had one on my old Cavalier that was blocked, causing damp carpets and electric windows to go down. 

Anyway now I know what to look for.

[Cyker]

Yeah, that was a very good, clear, concise post!

I just hope it isn't still leaking by the weekend...  

 

[jonny123456]

Thanks for all the input everyone.  It's good to be able to put my mind at rest :-)

[jonny123456]

After having new front brakes and disks fitted today, I just got home and parked up to find a wet patch under the car, and have a mini panic after seeing what looked like an exposed pipe dripping. 

I took lots of photos, powered my laptop up ready to create a post in here, and then found this thread.  That I started. 

Apologies for the thread resurrection, but I felt I had to share my relief!