Car in for service next week.
Unlike other cars I've had, in wet weather use of a/c is usually necessary to keep screen clear of fog.
Next time car started (that day say) screen fogs up massively until air con turned on....
Diagnosis anyone please? and how best to successfully "explain" to (main) dealer?
Jim K
Air con filters need renewing?
Try switching (whichever way) to `air re circulating from within car` to `drawing air from outside` it made a difference in my wifes car.
this is in summer....
Jim K
it's set to "fresh air" not recirc...
Jim K
On Sunday 18 August 2013 11:38 Jim K wrote in uk.d-i-y:
You've got AC condensate in your air system. Most drains out but some remains. Mine does the same.
After the car's been for a run, turn the blower on full, max heat, no AC and leave the doors open and that all running for a short while.
In message , Jim K writes
If it's a Skoda Octavia, it seems to happen whichever way it is set and whether the aircon is on or off. On a forum pertaining to these, it became obvious that I wasn't alone. Also, the angles of blow for the demist or defrost are set to LHD. I did some pics of the Disco demist versus the Octo demist that clearly demonstrated this
It's fairly easy to check the Octo filter after a service, and they are date-stamped, so you can check up whether that has probably been part of the service. Mine was.
Summer in Yorkshire?
Check the pollen filter.
hence fogging up appen...
ta
Jim K
I usually rip the pollen filter out as soon as I get a new van/car.
a lot of cars are just like that.
Yes as you breath inside the car, the windscreen is going to be where yor breathed out water vapour condenses in any case. Heated windscreens are a good invention if a little expensive as m one of my minicab drivers was moaning about the other day. Brian
Good idea if you want dirt and dust clagging up your condenser.
Tim
As others have said, check your pollen filters. You could also well have a blocked drain somewhere causing rainwater to pool in the inlet system. Have a good root around for leaves and other detritus that may have got in between the bonnet & windscreen and make sure that the drains from the fresh air inlet plenum are clear.
Could also be a partially blocked condenser drain. You should be able to see water dripping out from underneath your car if you leave the AC running for a while.
Tim
con turned on....
Every car I've had does that. It generally clears in a few seconds. But I k eep my air conditioning running all the time so don't get that unless someo ne has turned it off. So it costs a bit of fuel so what. Its worth it and o nly costs fuel when cooling the air so use in winter time doesn't cost anyt hing worth talking about.
I understand it is recommended to keep it alwya srunning. Something to do w ith keeping the innards lubricated apparently/
An absolute wonder, light frost, start up wait a few seconds wipers on away it goes. If it's a harder frost say -5 C or lower a squirt then same procedure, no scraping. B-)
Heated windscreen and electronic dipping rear view mirror are very high up on the required features list of any car I might buy.
As for the OP's steaming up, check all the drains are clear and also that there isn't a leak around winscreen/doors etc. To get misting up at this time of year indicates very high internal humidty, that mositure must be coming from somewhere.
Completely agree. When I first got a Mondeo with heated screen (second hand and standard fitment), I was rather amused that my boss's company Jaguar still had to be scraped. :-)
Chris
They used to do them by embedding fine wire in the screen, but it is a crash hazard as in fog most people focus on the wires rather than the distance where the hazards are. Do they use a thin film heating layer now?
Some cars have an electric boost for the hot air that clears ice and mist quite quickly. Mine has some sort of fast warm up for the engine and blows warm air after about a minute anyway.
Yes off the air con evaporator. All cars I have driven with air-con exhibit behaviour described by OP. When in air con cooling mode evaporator is dripping with water (to such an extent that excess drips off underneath). Switch off car engine and the evaporator is still covered with water droplets. The may disperse slowly over a few hours but the small volume of air in the system is still very humid - this is what causes the bacterial growth that can cause a "nasty" smell in some air con systems.
Start car up with air directed at windscreen and that first flush of very humid air will condense on windscreen - only lasts few seconds or so though.
Only real way to stop it is to turn off air con five minutes or so before the end of your journey. (So the evaporator has had time to warm up and dry off).
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