Occaisionally in the cooler damper weather I find that i have a patch of quite wet condensation on the inside of the screen above the demist vent, more than just mist, nevertheless the aircon clears it quickly and the heated screen helps if required.
There is no sign of water ingress in the car, the carpets are dry as is the boot, no damp smells, the climate / heating etc works fine, no coolant loss etc.
I wonder if the aircon evap drain could be blocked, I guess this could cause such symtoms. Otherwise perhaps the polen filter is due a change, it was done about 18,000 miles ago.
2002 Mondeo TDCi Ghia X.
Any ideas?
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Blocked air-con drain is the obvious fault to check for but I do notice your symptoms on air-conditioned cars more than older cars.
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It might be a slight film on the glass from traffic fumes or similar - you could try cleaning the area in particular as this will help to clear condensation far quicker.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Blocked or semi-blocked pollen filter?
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My focus has suffered a fair bit of misting the last couple of weeks.
I have tried to find problems for the misting,like damp carpets because of the filter housing grille and blocked drain but have come to the conclusion(seems to be a lot suffering with the same) its down to the daft weather we are having.
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A while ago we had a G reg VW Golf and when the blowers were switched on it suffered condensation trouble, the f/l footwell had damp and when cornering there was a sloshing sound.
Popped up bonnet and found the air intake for the blowers was right where the water ran off the screen i could only surmise that it had been like this since new and for a quick fix i taped a polythene bag to divert the water.
Was that a known fault for VW Golfs ?.
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I used to have a G-reg Jetta and, usually, the main cause of water inside the cabin was deteriorating membranes on the doors.
I had it once when water was getting into the rear nearside footwell and it was the VW dealership where I bought the car who realised the cause. All four doors had new membranes at the same time and the problem didn't recur.
Apparently it was due to a supply of membranes to VW's factory that were not of the required quality and eventually their condition deteriorated.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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On a focus it will be the Pollen filter cover.
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If it was a blocked drain I'd guess it would cause misting when the system was working as opposed to the car being parked.
The pollen filter will be ready for changing - if you've never seen one before you may be surprised at how dirty they get. Check the filter isn't damp too - they can get water leaking on to them but this is a bigger problem on old Focus than the Mondeo.
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Aircon removes moisture from the incoming air and not all of this moisture will drain out ~ some will remain in the aircon/heater system. After you switch off the aircon, or the next time you drive the car, the residual moisture will start to come back into the car. When the ambient temperature is cool/cold I avoid using the aircon for this very reason. Eventually the moisture will dry out but the next time you use the aircon you are back to square one. Using the aircon to demist the screen in cool weather just leads to a vicious circle ~ well it does in my car anyway.
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L\'escargot.
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If you operate the A/C for a short period, even in winter, at the coldest setting with a fast fan speed and then turn it on to full heat, it helps to keep condensation at bay in the system.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Makes sense, good tip Stuart, thanks.
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I have seen both mondeos and focus's with this problem and the carpets felt dry until you got underneath the felt and the floors were soaking.
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I think I have the same symptoms as Cheddar, on an Accord diesel, but wanted to check - my car has heavy mist, but only directly above the main windscreen vents once the car has not been running for a few minutes, the rest of the car remains clear.
Have I understood the problem correctly? Has anyone heard of this being an issue on Accords?
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Makes sense, good tip Stuart, thanks.
Also mentioned in HJ's FAQ's
www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/faq.htm?id=14
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>>Makes sense, good tip>>
Can't claim the credit for the tip. See:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/faq.htm?id=14
which I studied some time ago..:-)
I also occasionally spray the interior of the car with Neutradol and then leave the engine running for about five minutes with the A/C and recirculating buttons switched on - this helps to kill off bacteria in the system and any smells.
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kill off bacteria in the system and any smells. - - - - - - - - - - -
No problem with smells, well not the car anyway ............
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If you operate the A/C for a short period, even in winter, at the coldest setting with a fast fan speed and then turn it on to full heat, it helps to keep condensation at bay in the system.
Regardless of the heater temperature setting there's only one direction in which residual moisture will travel and that's back into the car.
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L\'escargot.
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Regardless of the heater temperature setting there's only one direction in which residual moisture will travel and that's back into the car. -- L\'escargot.
I think the point is that warmer air will absorb the moisture and dry out the system.
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I think the point is that warmer air will absorb the moisture and dry out the system.
Perhaps so, but the moisture will still go back into the car.
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L\'escargot.
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I think the point is that if you run the A/C system 'hot' for a while and then vent that interior warm moist air out of the car (in my case, via the sunroof) then the ability to mist up the next time around is minimised, in all probability.
There again, I could be wrong!
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