Steaming up problem

[adamr8965]

Since the nights are getting colder my windows are steaming up permintally and i have to have the air-con to demist the windows all the time, what could this be?

I have cleaned the windows inside, there nothing wet in the car. Short of telling the wife and kids to stop breathing im at a lose.

Any thoughts would be brilliant :-)

[stevewalsh]

Might need new cabin filter, also check air vent is opening in front of fan under cabin filter

Steve

[plod]

Bad seals?

Damaged pollen filter?

[HimBigChief]

Leaky rear lights? Leaky sunroof? Is there any water in the spare wheel well, or are the base of the rear seats damp? How about all the carpet wells?

[no2lurch]

not wanting to hyjack the thread, but where is the pollen filter? is it in the same place on all models d8 & 9?

[adamr8965]

Cheers guys will have a look at the weekend, misses has gone to scotland this week in it.

[Captain Jack]

not wanting to hyjack the thread, but where is the pollen filter? is it in the same place on all models d8 & 9?

Yep, under the passenger side windscreen wiper.

[steve_earwig]

permintally

What is this word?

Every car I've had with air con has done something like this, water condenses on the evaporator inside the heater box (just like ice forming in a fridge), it has a drain (drips out onto the cat) but some stays there when the car's turned off. When you start it again the heating gets hot, the water evaporates and ends up on the inside of the windows. Not much you can do about it, apart from leaving the air con turned off (yeah, I know, I know...).

Of course there could be a problem, like the heater matrix is leaking, the air con drain's blocked, the carpet's soaking or your kids are breathing too much...

[Welly]

Bang on the money there stevie, it is in fact the air con itself causing the steaming up in a constant evaporating-and-condensing cycle.

I can only recommend turning it off and using heating only (although it has a habit of switching itself back on) this way you should get the car thoroughly dry inside and then maybe run the a/c once or twice a week with a window open slightly to help with air changes.

[Busman]

Odd this as mine does the exact opposite. Air con on, no condensation, turn it off, car steams up, especially after a few days if the tribe are on board. I now just press the auto button at leave it alone. This costs 2 mpg but i'm happy with that to keep the interior and french electrics dry.
Richard

[adamr8965]

This is strange had the steaming up problem, and its just gone!!! Problem seems to be no longer.
Its all very spooky!!

[Gary406]

i had a steaming up problem few months back, turned out it was the air recirculation flap was jammed shut

remove the cabin filter , power the car on and press the air recirculation button to off so the flap should be open,

then press the switch on and see if it moves, when its off (open) you should see the fan

you can see the flap under the cabin filter, mine was jammed closed and wouldnt open causing the whole car to steam up when windows shut,

i never used the air con so it wasnt that

[azazel]

I have water in the rear of my 406hdi estate

My car was having windscreen misting up problems to such a point that I was having to open the windows to see, and have the windscreen demister on full blast. My aircon stopped working long ago. I thought the flap was stuck for resirculating air but that was fine. Replaced pollen filter (where flap is clearly visable with filter removed) also but the problem remained. Next I checked the outgoing vents at the rear and thats when I discovered large amounts of water in the boot area.

Im pretty sure that it comes in through the seals of the vents behind the panels either side where you gain access to the rear light clusters. The water gets in through spray from the rear wheels and then fills up and runs through part of the chassis at the rear of the car contaminating both sides. The high humidity causes condensation problems which forms between the roof and the lining and then water runs down around the light cluster wiring on the other side. This was misleading me into thinking that the roof bars were leaking or the light cluster but on inspection they appear to be sealed.

The rear of my car got damaged on one side which may have damaged the area arround the vent seal. The metal there is very thin and easy to straighten or bend. I removed the vents and cleaned them, siliconed the seal in and then siliconed the fitting into the car. This seems to have done the trick.

I hope this helps others as the symptoms can be quite misleading of the cause!