I have a 1994 vauxhall cavalier (1.7 TD). When I start it in the morning and put the blowers on the cold setting everything is ok. If I put them on hot the whole car steams up in seconds; I can feel the moisture in the air as it comes through the vents.
As the air heats up it gets even worse (probably because hot air can hold more moisture). After about ten minutes of driving the problem goes away and doesn't re-occur until the car has been left for a while.
It's also worse after rainy nights.
Any ideas?
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I used to have a 92 cavalier cdi. Mine always felt damp and humid inside and suffered from terrible steaming up of the wingows. Eventually I found that one of the drain pipes which lead from the sunroof to the rear wheelarches of the car was disconnected and had been from new. They are just a push fit on the back of the sunroof tray- acessed via the rooflining from the tailgate. Once I got my hand above the roof lining I found it saturated - its a brown felt material - but there were never any drips or obvious damp patches visible in the cabin or puddles on the floor.
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Are you losing any coolant from the header tank?
If so, then your heater matrix might have a leak.
If not, then check the drain hole isn't blocked under the bonnet. It's a rubber tube, approx 4" long, 2" girth - situated just above the steering rack in the middle of the bulkhead.
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I had a similar prob on a jetta,the drain holes in the wings (bulkhead) were blocked with leaves causing the hole area in front of the windscreen to fill up.When the fan was switched on it pulled loads of water into the car soaking the carpets and steaming the car up.
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As has been said recently on this forum, if the drain in the middle of the bulkhead in the engine bay gets blocked with muck from the windscreen over time, then it exits inside the car from the lower heater hot air vents on the lower dash above the driver's knees and below the glove box. The engine bay bulkhead drain is a black curved rubber spout (a squashed oval & about 5 inches wide in section) sticking out just above and pointing down to the steering rack. It pulls off and you can clean out the crud in the bulkhead just below the wipers and push it back on. I found this out when a garage changed my clutch cable and half knocked it out of its hole!
With regard to the other respondent who says the Cavalier sunroof drains go to the rear wheel arches, where do they actually exit the wheel arch? I thought they went out down the front screen pillars. This may help me with a weird very occasional boot leak.
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With regard to the other respondent who says the Cavalier sunroof drains go to the rear wheel arches, where do they actually exit the wheel arch? I thought they went out down the front screen pillars.
The sunroof has 4 drain holes, one in each corner.
The 2 pipes at the front of the sunroof go down the windscreen pillars, into the A frame and drain out the front sills, towards the rear of the front wings. If you pull off the front kick panel in either the drivers or passengers footwell and remove the soundproof pad, you\'ll find the pipes just hanging there loosely.
The 2 pipes at the rear of the sunroof go along the roof cavity and down the C pillars, into the boot. If you look where the rear light clusters are, you\'ll see the pipes, and they should be pressed into a rubber grommit attached to the boot floor - one in each corner, which then lets the water out underneath the rear of the car. These pipes can easily be pulled out of these rubber grommits and in turn fill the tyre well with water.
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As I remember the drain pipes go to the a pillars.And c pillars ie front and rear not sure where the rears come to but would assume under inner wheel arch.the way to find out assuming it`s electric or manual sunroof open it.there should be a runway or drainoff for sunroof easily seen run water into it and you will find out where it is going.Make sure you park it on a flat surface while doing it.
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The rear drain tubes do run down the c pillars, into the boot past the rear light clusters and exit immediatley behind each rear wheel- if you look at the underside of the bodywork behind the rear wheel you will see a crimped rubber hose which is the drain.
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By the way I remember that mine used to mist up worse as soon as I turned on the blower- If its not for the reason of a faulty matrix or leak below the bulkhead I assume its because you are blasting even more saturated air over an already misted and cold surface. I also remember how when parked up on a sunny winter day the sun on one side of the car would clear the windows on that side whilst the windows on the shaded side would be absolutely streaming with water more than ever. The heated rear window could not ever keep up and it used to drive me mad- especially when I needed to reverse into a parking space and couldnt see a thing. On the plus side I suppose it did teach me the art of reversing on mirrors.
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