Last night I was driving home, windows steaming up so I put on the air con, cleared the windcreen in seconds but the outside of the windscreen (bottom third) steamed up (looks like condensation). I cleared it with the wiper but the condensation/steam immediately reappears. I had to drive with the wipers on. After a while I turned the air con off and the windscreen was fine - no condensation on the outside so it must be the air con.

Is this normal? My car is is 2008 registered fully serviced but not had the air con regas yet (the dealer didn't say i needed it) even though it is recommended after 2 years.

Edited 22 August, 201015 yr by fabia55

I'd be looking for water leaks into the interior, condensation should not really be forming at this time of year.

As far as I can see I can't see any leaking, the car is completely dry inside, it's just the sometimes but not always condensation appears on the outside of the windscreen when I have the air con on.

It's outside not inside, so it's not going to be a leak, more the fact that yesterday was so humid that the cold air in the car made the windscreen very cold and caused the moisture to drop out of the warm air outside when it hit a cold surface.

I had exactly the same on a mini for a little bit, so turning the A/C power down or temp up should solve it.

That's sounds like what happened, yeah it was humid, I was driving in the countryside on mountaoinous roads, I think it was hot but also was raining in the morning/afternoon.

thanks for the explanation, so nothing wrong with my air con then.

I've just asked about the same problem ! Been on holiday & some nights I could hardly see out of the screen. Bottom third of the glass condensed ! Used the wipers to clear it, but we also had steam on inside at times & had to use the aircon on full blast. It was damp last week, & fairly humid, but still worried it's not right ? Our Fabia 2 is only a year old 1'9d

Yep, what cheezemonkhai says...the outside of the screen will collect condensation if you have the aircon active. It just cools down the glass and allows moisture outside to condense on it. Perfectly normal when the air is full of moisture at this time of the year in particular.

thanks all for clearing this up.

on a similar note, when should I be regassing/servicing the air con. I don't use the air con everyday

on a similar note, when should I be regassing/servicing the air con. I don't use the air con everyday

If it still works OK, don't touch it.

From bitter experience there is a high probability of damage by incompetent mechanics. For every guy that can follow instructions there are another two who will either f**k your a/c up or do something that ends up costing you hundreds of pounds.

If it still works OK, don't touch it.

From bitter experience there is a high probability of damage by incompetent mechanics. For every guy that can follow instructions there are another two who will either f**k your a/c up or do something that ends up costing you hundreds of pounds.

thanks, there is nothing wrong with my air con so i'll leave it for now