Just picked up my new (to me) car a week or so ago now. Anyway, it's in great nick, FSH, every receipt, old MOT and everything with it...
Only problem... For some reason, and I don't know why, and I don't know how to solve it, but it has the world's worst condensation problem in the mornings! OK, I know it's January, but we're talking a need for windscreen wipers inside the car here!
Any ideas to fix it?
Got a leak somewhere?
Try leaving a bunch of old newspaper in the boot etc to soak some of the moisture out of the air. A couple of sheets on the mats will soak up some of the moisture from your shoes to help keep it dry. If it has air-con, run that, as the air in the car will then be drier.
My wife's company car is like that (new shape civic). At the last service the main dealer said it was probably clogged pollen filter, but unhelpfully didnt bother changing it 
Either that or you have a leak somewhere?
Stop tekkin fat lasses out for chips.
its leaking or maybe it had been valeted before you got it and carpets are stil damp
drive everywhere with heater on and maybe leave windows open a crack if we get a sunny day
I go with moisture left over from valeting.
Really dull answer - turn the air re-circulation off?
The main problem we find in the motor trade that cause this problem is a water ingress to the interior. What make and model car do you have, check under all the carpets and in the boot around the spare wheel for signs of water. Also if you purchased the car from a garage, it may of just had a full valet including washing the carpets, so they may still be damp causing this. With out inspecting the car it's hard to say why. Using the air-con will clear the screen quicker than normal.
Crikey- 
Had the same problem recently.
Problem was a leaking seal in one of the rear doors. Not always easy to track down but check for damp carpets after rainy conditions and inspect all the door and window seals.
All sorted now.
remove damp riding kit from it?
Need to get it to a dry state to see if it reoccurs. Heaters flat out, don't recirculate air, open windows a touch. A few journeys of this seem to have sorted the GF's corsa recently, so must have just been snowy feet at Christmas soaking the carpet under the mats.
Plenty of newspapers on the floor, and under the seats to soak up the moisture,look in the rear wheel well under the rear wheel for a puddle of water, also it may have been in a flood, lots of cars affected and then sold on quick.
Look for mud under carpets,and in rear wheel well.
Check the rubber's around the rear lights,had the same problem, changed rubber seals around one light, prob solved. Also the water channels outside the car get block, just blow them out with air.
I used to get this in my Espace, and now in a Multipla. I suspect it's because I have removed the excess seats which absorb any spare moisture.
spraying down two bikes in cwm carn last weekend, and slinging them straight in the back of the car will do that 
on your commute, get the car hot hot hot (35 degrees hot) and once your cooking your uncoockables off, open the window a crack to get some of the humid air out.
do it for a week or so and it will have dried out 
Mine has a cracker - totally random (well, obviously not but not a pattern I can identify) inches of water in the drivers footwell, after rain, and independant of parking inclination. Here's my thoughts and process...
Normally I'd blame either the sunroof or assume I'd got a blown heater matrix (two major likely events) but I've not lost any coolant and I've no sunroof.
Door seals seem to be intact and carpets dry above.
Windows and scuttle panel take water away without dripping it inside.
Door drains are clear and water isn't backing up inside the door skin.
Antenna seal fine.
Cheers for the responses guys. The car in question is a 1999 VW Passat Estate.
Will check the pollen filter tomorrow, didn't think to do that actually! Fortunately it's bloody easy to change on my car so will only take 5 minutes.
So far, I have been getting the car toasty hot on every journey, then opening the windows a smidge to let the humid air out. Obviously leaving some wet riding kit in for a day didn't help! But that's out now, and it was like it before...
No signs of water ingress into the car, or flood damage etc. Bought the car from a guy who lived out in the sticks, in a hilly area, so not likely to have been in any floods.
Cheers again, will see if the above will get me anywhere...
Cheers for the responses guys. The car in question is a 1999 VW Passat Estate
Uh oh. The most likely cause on the Passat is blocked drains in the battery tray. It'll collect about 5cm of water, then start depositing it into the bulkhead past the brake servo seals, from where it will collect under the driver's seat and in the bulkhead insulation. Even if it's not the worst-case scenario - and I hope it isn't - the water in the battery tray can be enough to cause some terrible condensation.
Do a Google for 'passat water ingress' and check out this article.
Three Fish
Brilliant mate, cheers for that one! Will whip the battery out after work tomorrow
Assuming you have it (and along similar lines to tankslapper):
Do you turn off air con/climate control before turning off ignition, and can you hear the vents close?
Parent's Octavia suffered from really heavy misting, turns out they had the air con on all the time and the vents didn't close when the ignition turned off. Once problem was found turning off air con before ignition sorted it.
Maybe post a pic of the control panel if you're not sure.
Really dull answer - turn the air re-circulation off?
They automatically turn off when you set the fan to demist the windscreen.
Check there is no holes under the carpets that meant to have though's rubber gromites in.
Also check leaves have not got into the vented grill bit on the bonnet sometimes that can cause a problem.
Lifer - that sounds like my octavia - I am going to give that a go and see if it improves things
When you open the doors after it's been raining does a load of water get released ?
To dry it out go to wilkos and get a chemical dehumidifier that is meant for bathrooms. You might need a couple of packs. Put them in the car for a few days or until they are full.
I had a leaking sun roof on my old XR3i and this really helped to dry the car out. If you put one by the back window and one on the dash at night the windows will be much better in the morning.
New air filter would be the first port of call.
Which would say to me - when was it last properly serviced.
Another cause (in my cars) are soggy towel/gym kit left in car.
My Astra does this, it takes longer to clear the inside than the outside when it's frozen as no-one makes a scraper to suit the inside profile of a windscreen!
I just have to leave the house a few minutes earlier...
Door drains are clear and water isn't backing up inside the door skin
Can be a real problem if your bought a Passat. My MX5 did this and you have to keep ontop of it as it can lead to rotting out the rear quarter from inside out 
As threefish said ^^ this is a known issue on Passats. I learnt the expensive way with a new brake servo as water had built up to such a level I could have put a couple of goldfish in there.
You've probably found out about the drain holes, but also check with your VW dealer if the vehicle qualifies for the recall they did on the model, which would be gratis to check it.
The car in question is a 1999 VW Passat Estate
Ah just read this bit after seeing rich_tee's post above.
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/volkswagen/passat-1997/?section=bad
Plenum chamber drains block (especially the hard to clear one one under the battery) and seals fail allowing water ingress which can lead to electrical and electronic failures and eventually collects in rear footwell. Check very carefully for signs of water leaks (feel footwell carpets for damp). May be a structural leak, may be a blocked ventilation plenum chamber drain, or may be because the a/c condenser drain pipe is blocked leading to water being dumped into the footwell. Very important to clear plenum chamber drains of leaves as water damage to the ECU can wreck the engine. Apparently this water can be drawn into the brake servo and causes corrosion to the servo housing and brake master cylinder that can result in reduced brake force or failure altogether. Class action about this at http://www.volkswagen-classaction.com/
hora - MemberNew air filter would be the first port of call.
If a car has had oil changes every year at indie etc sometimes the other essentials are skipped. My Forester was like this- when I pulled the air filter out it was minging and full of grit/odd leaf etc and trapped moisture.
After it was changed another benefit was the heater/vents felt almost hurricane-like compared.
Possibility of it being condensation from the aircon circuit itself, independent of the state of the pollen filter?
The chemical dehumidifiers will help, but will need removing before each journey as the crystals eventually turn to a corrosive liquid, not too good in a moving car.
As soon as I saw this thread I thought Passat. The B4 and 5's all do this(search VWAUDIforum). As posted above the Plenum chamber drains block and allow water to build up and get in the cabin via the air filter. But also road grime can build up around the bonet hinges and do the same thing. Basically the filter cartridge is a poor design. Its just under the passanger side of the windscreen under the Plenum chamber cover, check it out if the filter is damp you need to remove the cartridge and re-seal it to the car. The water shows itself in the rear passanger footwell. You need to lift the carpets to dry under there this time of year if you leave it the car will start to smell, or better still get the garage how sold you it to do it. Speaks the man with, bitter experience! Binned it off in the end and got the new B6 which doesn't leak but has its own set of common problems.... Bloody VW's!
Do golf's have the same problem as the passat? Mine really suffers from misting.
This topic has been closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
