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Off/on I’ve noticed dampness on my passenger side floor. It’s worst up around the firewall. Although I live in a wintersnow area rarely does anyone sit in that seat in order get the floor damp. This is dampness, it not soggy wet.
I did notice that my recirculate air was turned on and has probably been turned on for a quite sometime. I know this function does move air and moisture around your car as it can fog up the windows. Do you think having this turned on could cause dampness on the drivers side floor? Since turning recirculate off the floor has been dry.
I do have an appointment booked at the dealer but wanted to ask about recirculate function.
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Whenever the AC is on, water will collect in the HVAC case and is supposed to drain outside of the car. That is what the dripping water under every car on hot days is from. Whenever your defrost is on, the AC runs (regardless of temp setting) to pull moisture out of the air so your windshield doesn’t fog up. The air is drawn thru the cold AC evaporator and all the water condenses out of the air onto it, then the air goes thru the heater core and is warmed up to the temp you feel coming out of the vents.
Since it’s dry now, run your AC the whole time next time you drive, which will create a lot of water that needs to drain out of the HVAC case. Then see if it’s wet again after that. If it is, then the drain from the HVAC case is clogged or something. It’s the most common reason to have unexplained moisture on the floor, but a 2014 seems a little too new for that to happen yet. Not that it couldn’t, it’s still worth checking and the dealer will appreciate if you can tell them if the moisture is related to AC usage or not.
Thanks for the reply. I did try this for about 5 minutes a couple weeks ago but will try it again tomorrow for a longer period of time.
If the drain is plugged and the HVAC case is dry, you would generally need about 20 min+ of AC to get a enough water in there to leak on the floor
As previously mentioned, it could be a plugged or partially clogged A/C drain if it only happens with the A/C on. Keep in mind that your vehicle will cycle the A/C in colder whether as well if you have it set to defrost. A problem like this, over time, could also lead to a nasty odor in the vehicle from mildew etc. accumulating there. So does this problem also happen when the vehicle is physically wet with rain, snow or washing the car? Has anyone sitting in the passenger seat ever complained of cool air or a draft around their feet while driving? There should be a cabin air filter located behind the glove box in the heater case. If this filter is missing, it could be a source of possible water entry and would let cool outside air into the footwell area. Finally, does your Tucson have a sunroof? There are four drains that you don’t see to drain any water from the sunroof area. Perhaps one of them is disconnected or plugged and letting a small amount of water leak down.
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