I have a 98 GS400 with 60K that has developed a water gurgling sound in the area of the glove box. It only happens on acceleration from a slow roll or dead stop. It sounds like something ac related but water appears to drip underneath the car. Is there a reservoir or something that may be plugged from leaves?? Im a little confused as to what this could be.

Thanks in advance,

Kurtdog

 

bleed ur cooling system there is air in it

 

Hard to diagnose without more detail info and/or visual inspection. Been running AC haven't you? Could be water condensing on AC condenser. Check for AC condensate drainage.

 

Yes, I live in Texas and AC is a must - I dont think bleeding the AC is it - it sounds like falling water in a reservoir that is sloshing around. I havent visually inspected under the car after running the AC for a while but I believe the AC condensor drainage tube may be partially plugged with leaves or junk. Im not even sure if there is a reservoir or tube??????????????

 

I had this also recently.. I drained my cooling sys.. it went away

 

Oops - I misread your email you said cooling system, my mistake.
How do you bleed your cooling system? All I would do is drain the
cooling system and replace the fluid? Do I need to do this or is there a way I can just bleed the system without removing the fluid?

Thanks,
Kurtdog

 

you might have a serious problem. water always drips from under the car if you use your ac, that is normal. what the problem is could be one of the pully's in your engine. 2 months ago i had the same problem that when i accelerated, i heard like water slushing around, but instead my power steering pump pully was falling off. go check your belts and pully's to be safe.

i was not so lucky...my power steering pully came off and along with it my belt...all thanks to the mechanics at westminster lexus who did not tighten the bolt on the pully when i had it in for service.

 

In the process of cooling the incoming airflow it will also get dehumidified. Airborne moisture, gaseous water, will literally be "wicked" from the incoming airstream and onto the A/C evaporator surfaces. ALL automotive A/C systems have a drain tube so the moisture, as it accumulates enough "mass", will drip down and run out of this drain tube.

Before the more recent addition of pollen filters it was not at all unusual for these drains to become clogged due to "atmospheric debris being sucked into the system by the blower.

The water sloshing sound that you hear in the area behind the glovebox is undoubtedly about an inch or two of water trapped in the A/C evaporator plenum area due to a clogged, or partially clogged, drain tube.

 

How do you bleed the cooling system? I checked the fluid level
and it was a touch low but not even down to the coils. Does the radiator fluid have to be "topped off". I thought the cooling system bleeds itself through the overflow reservoir?

Thanks,

Kurtdog

 

60k is when you're supposed to replace your belts anyway, so you might as well do that first and then let us know if you still get the slosh. If you've already replaced them, then nevermind.

Otherwise, I like wwest's explanation. Very scientific!

 

An automobile cooling system by its design automatically bleeds air to the coolant reservior with use. Without such capability the cooling system would have air in it throughout. As the engine heats up, water vapor in the coolant will be produced visible as bubbles, especially in area near the cylinder walls, in very much the same way as bubbles forming at the bottom of the pan when booling water. To make the story short, there is no need to bleed air from the coolant system. Just fill the coolant to proper level for several heating and cooling cycles.

Unless you're turning on the heater or the heater valve is not functioning properly, the coolant should not flow into the heater core inside your car (under the dash). Is the heater on or malfunctioning heater valve? If not, the sound you hear is not from the cooling system.

 

The radiator was just a little low. Filled with Dexcool and
filled the extra reservoir to full. Noise went away. Thanks
to everyone for the responses