I was driving around running various errands in LA today, with temps mostly in the 90s, so I was running the ac the whole time. I noticed A LOT of liquid pooling under the car. I've seen other cars with some dripping from the ac, but this was way more than dripping, and it is NOT a humid heat here. I blotted up some of one of the rivers, and it didn't seem to be any particular color or have any particular smell. I opened the hood and all the fluids seemed fine. Is it normal for the ac to drop so much water even in a dry heat, or should I be panicking about the health of my car that has just about 1,000 miles on it?
Looking at the Relative Humidity and Dew Points for LA on July 3, I would not say LA had “dry heat†for the day - Oh sure, compared to the humid Southeast US, it was dryer – but from what the weather report shows, I wouldn't worry about your Prius dropping copious amounts of air conditioner condensation. http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/getobext....ner=off&num=720 If you want to experience a “dry†day in LA, visit when the Santa Anas are blowing. Now THAT is dry . . . and miserable! http://meteora.ucsd.edu/cap/santa_ana.html
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ Jul 4 2006, 06:02 AM) [snapback]280930[/snapback]</div> What humidity? Doesn't every Prius owner without a garage have to run their air conditioner a few minutes every morning to dry their windows? I'm lucky, I have a garage that my a/c evaporator manages to flood every night. Rufaro, I think "a lot" of water is normal; don't worry.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ Jul 4 2006, 03:02 AM) [snapback]280930[/snapback]</div> Well, my motto is "panic early to avoid the rush." Thanks for the reassurance--and no thank you VERY much for the Santa Anas-time invite, although, with all of my family down here now, I expect I'll hit it sooner or later. For the record, I grew up in New York and Montreal, then lived in Boston, Newport RI, Northern Virginia and London before moving to Northern CA in 1992, so, WHATEVER NOAA says--it WAS dry heat to me! And thank you Vincent for the reassurance about how much water CAN come out of the car under normal conditions, whatever those might be!
Here in FL, it is very common for the Prius to "pee" when the A/C is on. (That's what I call it, anyway!) As long as it smells and looks like water, I think you're fine...
As long as it's clear water, you should be ok. If it's the color of fluids like oil, transmission fluid, coolant, power steering fluid or brake fluid, then I'd be worried.
If the liquid is clear and appears to be water, you should make an effort to capture it so you can water your garden or put it on your compost. The natural process of condensation has given you a gift and there you go wasting it on the pavement like that. You should be ashamed! (I'm sorry, my wife says that sometimes people can't tell when I'm joking. Maybe if I use a smiley)
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Jul 6 2006, 05:58 AM) [snapback]281923[/snapback]</div> Thanks for the clarifying smiley--I was halfway out to the garage to find a container with a long stick so I could easily place it and get it out to water the roses...
