fogged windows, can't clear them!

Haggisman

Haggisman

Haggisman

Soldato
Joined
6 Oct 2004
Posts
19,231
Location
Birmingham
Got into my car yesterday morning, was quite frosty, so started it up, turned on the blower to clear the glass and set to scraping the ice off the windows, same as usual. Except the windscreen wouldn't clear so I wiped it off with one of those microfibre cloths, and was on my way.

I got a couple of miles down the road, and the windscreen started to fog up again, so I turned on the a/c to clear it, but it actually seemed to make it worse, so I turned off the a/c and just had it blowing hot air, opened the window too to try and let some of the moisture out, this seemed to help a bit, the screen didn't fog up too much after but I could occasionally see little wisps of vapour coming out of the vents. This morning was pretty much the same, having to wipe condensation off the screen every 10 mins.

Obviously something isn't right, but not sure what, my only thoughts are either: ice I scraped fell into the vents and there's a massive puddle somewhere in the system. Or. I had a cup of coffee in the car yesterday morning while scraping ice, half of it's evaporated and is floating around the car. But I would have thought it would have cleared after a few hours of driving round with heat on and windows open?

Anyway, any suggestions on what to check?

Car is a t reg galant if that makes a difference?

Cheers!
 
Look in the wheel well for a puddle of water and feel carpets for dampness. Any leaks in the car cause nightmares with condensation. A good microfibre cloth is always handy to have to mop up what is on the screen.
 
Yeah its producing hot air as normal, nothing damp been left in the car. A quick check under the bonnet for any loose pipes and I've notice the coolant level is very low, possibly coolant leaking into the air system... I'm assuming antifreeze is not a good thing to be breathing in... =/
 
is your A/C actaully working? my mondeo clears the windows pretty quickly and then keeps them clear with the a/c. in my old golf you either have to go super hot to keep them clear or open the windows. Sounds like your ac isnt working properly
 
sounds to me that your heater matrix has popped m8 or your heater system has got water in it check your windscreen scuttle see if it is clogged with leafs or dirt that sometimes let water into your air inlet ok m8
 
System is not on recirc, ac was working before, I can still hear the compressor kicking in when I turn it on, but it doesn't help at all. I just topped up the coolant and started it up again, and the cabin filled with a cloud of steam, which smells and tastes distinctly like ethylene glycol =P Also the coolant level has already dropped by a cm in the expansion tank after running for 10 mins, looks like I'll be pulling that apart over the weekend then...
 
It's either because of a damp interior simply due to the weather or your heater matrix is likely to be leaking. You don't necessarily need to have coolant all over the carpets, as it may well be only leaking slightly at the moment and the residue is collecting in the plastic trims.
 
I think its gotta be the heater matrix, as there is a lot of obvious vapour coming out of the vents and the coolant level is dropping quite quickly =/

Did have a look at how easy it is to replace... Seems the ac needs to be discharged, and half the dash needs to come out, so I might just drop it into my garage - think it needs regassing anyway =P
 
The AC evaporator pulls a lot of water from the air, which is normally piped outside the car via drain hoses. If these become blocked the water backs up and fills up the evaporator housing with the result that it puts more water into the air rather than taking it out.
 
Dogbreath said:
The AC evaporator pulls a lot of water from the air, which is normally piped outside the car via drain hoses. If these become blocked the water backs up and fills up the evaporator housing with the result that it puts more water into the air rather than taking it out.
Click to expand...

Still doesn't explain the massive coolant loss :p
 
Haggisman said:
System is not on recirc, ac was working before, I can still hear the compressor kicking in when I turn it on, but it doesn't help at all. I just topped up the coolant and started it up again, and the cabin filled with a cloud of steam, which smells and tastes distinctly like ethylene glycol =P Also the coolant level has already dropped by a cm in the expansion tank after running for 10 mins, looks like I'll be pulling that apart over the weekend then...
Click to expand...

It is possible that the recirc flap is stuck in recirc mode regardless of the setting. However, with the coolant loss I would go with heater matrix as the initial diagnosis.
 
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