i have 98 f150 4wd ext cab 4.6 auto. at about the same place where your ac drips i have a fluid thats kind of brownish in color(hard to verify color since its on the ground) coming out without ac running since its 60 degrees here. i cant see exactly where its coming from as theres to much in the way that its running off of. from what ive researched on here i think its the heater core but have zero fluid inside. does any one have any ideas before i go through the giant task of pulling my dash to replace the core. any help or info would be greatly appreciated

 

if it's leaking from the actual ac lines it might be compressor oil leaking out. If that leaks out your compressor will seize up.

 

Have you checked the coolant level to see if it's losing any?

The A/C is running if you have the switch in anything except PANEL or FLOOR (or OFF - duh )

 

yes the coolant level is definitely dropping. i dumped a gallon in the overflow the other day and it emptied quite quickly so it was definitely low

 

Not the core, you would smell it inside the cab and the floor would be wet.

Shine a flashlight behind the alternator on top of the block valley. Are you holding coolant in the cavity ?