Help! Why does my car fog up so badly?

[dudley]

My Hilux fogs up shockingly in the mornings.
Doesn't matter if it's parked undercover or not.
The A/C struggles to clear it up - even when on flat out.

I've never had a vehicle that does this so badly. I'm worried that the lack of visibilty will cause an accident.
It's like there is water inside the cabin or something.

I'm after some ideas that will help clear it up.

I always warm the engine up for 5 mins or so. It seems to make no difference if the windscreen is spotless or is dirty.
The weird thing is that the lowest temp here is about 1.5-2 degrees so not what you would call arctic lows.

Can someone recommend a product that will help stopping it from fogging up? (like Rain-X but for the inside of the window)
Can you get a dessicent or similar to dry the air inside the cabin (like those 'do not eat' sachets you get with a new pair of joggers)? I know that sounds ridiculous but you never know...

Has anyone got any ideas that will help?
I realise this seems like a trivial issue in the scheme of things, but it's driving me mad.

Help me out!

Cheers in advance

[mike_nofx]

Fog-x... made by the rain-x people!

[dudley]

Thanks for the reply so quick! Does it work in the real world?

EDIT: I saw fog-x when researching ...linky here... but want to know if it actually works?

[Harb]

sorry if this is stupid, but you are running the heater control half way between hot and cold, with the fan flat out and the aircon button pushed to the on position ?
A lot of folk forget to turn the Aircon button on.....

[grimbo]

as you said it's like there is water or something inside. More than likely you have a damp interior. Try and give the interior a thorough cleaning and then a thorough drying out. In the past I had this problem in my GQ. I parked it over a weekend in the driveway with a large worklamp on inside the car so it was gently heating the interior of the car and drying it out.

[macca81]

heater on hottest setting, A/C on, make sure its not set to recirculate, open windows an inch.


clears up my surf in a minute or 2

[berad]

A bucket of water over the windscreen in the cold mornings will fix it.

[dudley]

A bucket of water over the windscreen in the cold mornings will fix it.

Tap water? Room temp? Tried that with no success.

It seems not to matter what I try. Yes the A/C is on too.
It's got me buggered, hence posting it on here...

[dudley]

as you said it's like there is water or something inside. More than likely you have a damp interior. Try and give the interior a thorough cleaning and then a thorough drying out. In the past I had this problem in my GQ. I parked it over a weekend in the driveway with a large worklamp on inside the car so it was gently heating the interior of the car and drying it out.

It did the same in summer too Grimbo, just not as bad.

[mike_nofx]

A bucket of water over the windscreen in the cold mornings will fix it.

Not unless you throw the bucket INSIDE your cabin!

My Sierra has the same problem as the OP. I usually have a rag on hand to wipe screen tho. Its only on extremely cold mornings i experience this.

No water inside my cabin (no carpet. and vinyl seats) but i dont usually have floor plugs in, wether this makes the problem worse or not, i dont know.

Fog-x does work by the way.

[berad]

I think there is a bigger problem than a fogged windscreen then, a few litres of tap water in a bucket works for me haha.

[cmarico]

Sure your a/c works?

It could just be excess moisture.

I had a similar experience driving up to Coffs Harbour (from Mel). After about 8 hours of driving at about 5am the window fogged up shockingly - had the a/c on at the time pointed at the window. I turned the a/c off for a few minutes, turned it back on and it was good as new. Who knows what happened!

[SIMMO84]

X2 on the wet interior and if its dry inside make sure windows are all the way up. but my bet is wet interior. Minee was the same until i removed the floor coverings and vinel will stay wetter for ALOT longer than carpet will.

[mike_nofx]

^^ come to think of it, maybe its when i DO have floor plugs in that it fogs up?

Ive had floor plugs out for about 2 weeks, and have had no fog.

[mike_nofx]

I think there is a bigger problem than a fogged windscreen then, a few litres of tap water in a bucket works for me haha.

You're not talking about condensation on the outside of the window?

[dudley]

X2 on the wet interior and if its dry inside make sure windows are all the way up. but my bet is wet interior. Minee was the same until i removed the floor coverings and vinel will stay wetter for ALOT longer than carpet will.

K. What's the best way to dry it out other than removing and drying the floor covering/seats/dash etc? That's why I was wondering if there was some sort of chemical that would dry it out if you know what I mean.
And still keep the thing on the road?

A/C works very well! It's a toyota! It is definately condensation on the inside.


Man you blokes type quick!!

[mike_nofx]

X2 on the wet interior and if its dry inside make sure windows are all the way up. but my bet is wet interior. Minee was the same until i removed the floor coverings and vinel will stay wetter for ALOT longer than carpet will.

K. What's the best way to dry it out other than removing and drying the floor covering/seats/dash etc? That's why I was wondering if there was some sort of chemical that would dry it out if you know what I mean.
And still keep the thing on the road?

A/C works very well! It's a toyota! It is definately condensation on the inside.


Man you blokes type quick!!

Dont think you will find a chemical that will do a better job than removing the carpet yourself and hanging it on the line. Its not as big a job as you might think.

Remove it early on a sunny day, hang up on line, Leave seats in the sun, refit in the arvo. Provided its not toooo wet it might dry in the day. You will probably end up a few dollars richer too.

I had to do this with my landcruiser twice (plastic floor). It looked dry on top, but when i removed the flooring it weighed an absolute tonne. completely drenched. It took about 3 sunny days on the line to dry it.

One of my problems was a leaking firewall grommet, it leaked water in behind the plastic flooring. So it might be a good idea to check where the water is coming in from too.

The other leak, was being stuck in water about 2" deeper than the bottom of the door!

I used the opportunity to fish oil everything too.

[dudley]

Thanks Mike! I had my suspicions but now I think I'll go with that (when the weather clears up).

at being a few dollars richer too!!
Cheers!

[80's_delirious]

Putting the AC on its coldest setting blowing onto the windscreen is the quickest way to clear a fogged windscreen in cold wether. Sounds crazy, but I did this all the time when I worked in the ski-fields. (also in rainy conditions)
Warm air holds onto moisture, and your heater blows this against a peice of glass that in Dudley's case is at best 1.5-2 degrees (colder with wind chill while driving) any moisture from in the cab or your breath is going to condense on the cold glass straight away.

I used to start with it on cold, then as the heater warms up, alternate the settings to blow some warm air into the cab so you dont freeze, then back to blowing cold air onto the windscreen to keep it clear.

try this before pulling your carpets out

x2 on the fast typing

[mike_nofx]

Thanks Mike! I had my suspicions but now I think I'll go with that (when the weather clears up).

at being a few dollars richer too!!
Cheers!

I made easy $5. Heres mine stripped out if you're interested! http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo29 ... 030039.jpg

[macca81]

if its wet carpets, pour bi-carb all over your floors, not just a sprinkle, give it a good covering, make it white! you will go thru a cpl boxs at least. leave it in a few days, it will draw out any moisture. if the carpets are damp, then the bi-carb will be damp within 6-12 hours. when the bi-carb is dry, vacuum it out.

i had a 20l water container leak in the back of mine, and after soaking as much water out with towels as i could, i used about 4 boxes of bi-carb and it was totaly dry in about 3 or 4 days

[Beefcake]

Comes standard with all Toyota's It pissed my old man off that much he rang toyota about it and they told him it was because their cars seal so well, and the way to fix it is A/C on and heat, this dehumidifies the air.

[its aford not a nissan]

stop having hot showers before you hop in the car


i get this in the work van after a hot shower , but the a/c clears it up quick

[dudley]

Putting the AC on its coldest setting blowing onto the windscreen is the quickest way to clear a fogged windscreen in cold wether. Sounds crazy, but I did this all the time when I worked in the ski-fields. (also in rainy conditions)
x2 on the fast typing

Yeah that's my getting to work technique. I end up freezing cold when getting to work. And it still fogs up all the time.
I get to the point where I look forward to getting out of the car in the lovely Mt Lofty/Cleland weather because the A/C works very well in the cold and barely defogs the screen.

Maybe I should just HTFU, but it's not a good way to start the day when it's 1 degree at work with a howling gale and you work outside...

Might have to try the BiCarb soda....

[dumbdunce]

closet camel/damp rid.

[crankycruiser]

do u have the air control on fresh? takes heaps longer if u have it on recirc!

[Wambat]

shouldnt matter if the air con is on i wouldnt think, as i get fogged out where i live, and my vs commodore dont have air con (lines are busted) and it clears up in 5 mins when i am on my way to work.

[chikoroll_]

wipe over all fabrics and carpets with white spirits, and crack the windows, the moisture will escape

[KiwiBacon]

Do you usually run the heater on recirculate or fresh?

Is it usually more or less humid outside than in the cab?

I've been living in a humid rust haven for the last 3 years, the only way to dry out a damp car interior (besides a heated garage) is to leave it running with the AC on recirculate for half an hour or so. Take it for a good drive if you can, otherwise parked up and idling works.

The AC dries out the air inside the car, the excess moisture condenses on the AC radiator and runs out the drain tube.

The worst cars I've been in for condensation are ones where people have left the heater on recirculate, the moisture from people breathing can't get out.

Otherwise, you may have a water leak.

[alien]

my zuk fogs up on REALLLLY cold mornings inside and out (really cold in perth is about 2 degrees). heater blasting usually clears the inside in a few mins... outside i just wipe over with whatever receipts or paper i have on the passengers floor =P