Moisture problem inside car

cherryblossomzel

Strider590 wrote: »

If the door seal tear isn't causing water to flood in, then it's probably not an issue..

Ta muchly. I didn't think it was big enough to cause a problem. I shall definitely look at the pollen filter.

I don't tend to overheat the car, I don't like it too hot, but I've been opening the windows at the start of my journey and then closing them once I get too cold. Thinking about it, this is obviously the wrong way round (oops, turns out I was doing something stupid), and I will now either open them or turn the fans to cold air at the end to cool the inside down before parking (as another poster has also pointed out).

jimjames

Does the car have a sunroof?

After the heavy rain yesterday mine had water flowing down on the rear quarter panel inside. Sunroof drain was blocked, once I cleared the front ones a lot of crud came out. I still need to sort the rear ones next weekend

WestonDave

Not entirely convinced about the heating thing. Yes it will draw moisture out of the carpets and seats etc, but so will ambient temperatures to a degree. My system which works for me is to run the car with the heating and the windows open a crack. The principle is precisely to dry out all the soft furnishings etc that have got damp due to wet coats, and just plain breathing - get that moisture into the air and then swap that air for the inevitably "drier" air from outside the car. That way by mid way into the journey you can drop the heating down so the air cools again and you've got the best of both - cooler air not condensing on cold windscreens but also less residual moisture in the car.

getmore4less

Check boot wells especially under spare wheels or whatever is in there.

Crank the heat up on a crisp cold dry day to draw moisture out of the interior structure(think about removing mats first and drying separately, open a window to circulate get the warm moist air replaced with dry outside air into the car.

Having the heat into the foot well and a rear window cranked a bit will help dry out the carpets.

Rubber mats in the winter stops wet from feet going into carpets.

vikingaero

As others have said:

(1) Remove the floor mats and check the carpet underneath is dry

(2) Remove the boot carpet and check it is dry and there is no water in the spare wheel wheel

(3) Ensure the air recirculation button/lever is set to allow fresh air into the cabin

Sometimes it's just that time of year when the warmer rain and cold nights creates this problem.

wongataa

Wipe up the condensation and then remove the items you wiped the condensation with from the car. This is important or the water will stay in the car and cause problems tomorrow. Keep doing this and hopefully the condensation levels will drop as you will be removing water from the car.

Still check for leaks etc.

NeededToChooseAUsername

I get this problem a lot, if you don't have air con make sure you get the heaters on at a reasonable temp and open your windows to let the car dry out fully.

As mentioned previously it's to do with the diff in air temp between outside and inside the car. Although I personally have found closing my air vents overnight once the car is cooled before I switch the engine off helps.

You're not the only one with cold weather probs tho this morning thought i'd totally knackered my windscreen wipers as moved them when frozen by mistake :mad: (i've done this before!) but just been out to check them and they seem OK. (Not making any weird noises but they were squeaking when I tried them after i'd moved them when frozen, logically they must have been frozen hard!)

Iceweasel

If you have air-con, or better still Climate Control - use it all the time, don't switch it off - ever.

Warm dry air will soon fix any condensation problem.

NWOIHTS

I drive older cars and generally at one time or another there is a pending water leak needing fixed; it's almost always a water leak causing excess condensation. It can be your heater matrix as well leaking coolant, if you need to top up your coolant now and again it could be seeping out into your carpets.

I can also tell you - from being a mechanic at one time - that most cars even new ones have some sort of water leak somewhere,older cars due to dried out seals, rust and blocked drains and new cars from design flaws, production fault, damage from incomplete repairs like not replacing a door weather seal properly (the plastic sheet inside the door trim not the outside rubber seal) or having a bonded windscreen installed on the cheap.

At the moment I have a leak into my driver footwell, from a rusty bulkhead and water drain, and currently I do not have the time to fix this so have to keep newspapers under the carpet to soak up the water. I did put some grease along the blower seal as I am sure it's leaking in there too.

If you can get hold of a small dehumidifer fling it in your car with all the blower vents shut, windows up, and back seats down (if your boot is wet) and run it for a good few hours. this will dry your car out quite good for a while but obviously not permanently - especially if you have a leak.

Another little trick is keep your windows open a few millimeters overnight, this helps flowthrough and equalises the temp inside with outside, and blast cold air blowers for about 5 mins of the last leg of your journey, agian to cool the inside down a bit.

finally another little trick I found is make sure your windows, especially inside, are clean and free from grease, use hot water+vinegar and newspaper, but wear gloves to stop ink going on hands.

Not only does this stop the glare and dirt streak blindness you get in winter from low sun and headlights, it minimises the ability of water to pool into little droplets on your screen. Grease and dirt makes it easier for moisture to cling on to.

DominicH

NWOIHTS wrote: »

I drive older cars and generally at one time or another there is a pending water leak needing fixed; it's almost always a water leak causing excess condensation.

I would go along with that. I'm not sure things like wet clothes in the boot or a spillage on the carpet can cause the sort of persistent condensation problems people are mostly talking about. It's more likely substantial amounts of water continually collecting somewhere.

My last two cars have both developed condensation problems in winter as they got to about the eight-year mark, having been OK before that. With my current car, upon investigation last winter I found enough water in the spare-wheel well to keep a goldfish in! I think I have mostly eliminated the leaks back there, but now that it's getting cold the condensation has returned with a vengeance, so time to look at water ingress at the front of the car, although I have not noticed any damp carpets or anything.