Moisture in Car- Please Help!

[Fabia_19]

Hi everybody.

Starting to get very disheartened with my fabia. A few weeks ago I re-sealed the rear doors to stop the leaking in the back. Problem solved and no more water is leaking in the back.

I dried the rear carpets and also replaced the pollen filter however my car continues to steam up. This problem is getting really annoying now.

Please help!!!

[Jon_woo]

Check your boot and front doors for leaks

[Fabia_19]

Hi- thanks for the reply. I've already done this and there appears to be nothing leaking in the front or the boot.

[haribo(felicia)]

you might have to put a dehumidifier in to totaly dry the interior.

[mattievrs]

As above, my doors and boot are sealed and the carpets are dry.i suspect the sound proofing is still damp though.

[Dudeoli]

Could also be scuttle drains. I think that is the cause of my windscreen getting absolutely saturated inside :/

I'm gonna have a go at clearing them next week

[SECCY]

Have you checked the padding underneath the carpets? The carpets can be dry and still hiding litres of water underneath.

[Dave1953]

It could be nothing to do with leaks or trapped water, just the incessant wet weather, high humidity and cold mornings we've been having for the last few weeks. Both my Fabia and MX5 have been bone dry inside throughout last year, despite the record rainfall, but since the frosty spell we had at the start of December both have been fogged up nearly every morning. I noticed today that the MX5 has even got moisture inside the headlights and high level brake light!

Every time you open a door you are letting in moisture-laden air, and the moisture condenses every night on the front and rear windscreens, both of which appear to be getting an extra chilling every night from rain or mist standing on the outside of the glass. I've tried silica gel dehumidifiers to dry the air inside, but they are having no effect at all. I was going to apply some anti-fogging gel to the inside of the front w/s to see if that helps, but I haven't got around to it yet ..... If you are sure that everything is dry inside the car, then I'm pretty sure it's just down to exceptional weather conditions, and something we'll just have to live with for a few more weeks.

[nikcut]

I have the same problem and I have no idea where to start, its like a river running down the windows in the mornings and evenings . I have checked the carpets inside and they all feel dry but I did notice a tiny bit of water on the back door seal this morning and the boot feels a bit damp today.

I am very new to this and would value any advise as long as its simple for me to follow please

[stuart vrs]

i had condensation yesterday morning, took me 6 mins to clear, car is dry, pollen filter changed recently, must just be the air is so cold, 3 degrees too. this morning 4 degrees straight in away to go, mad.

i did have a leaking rear door driverside, took out sound proofing (cut it out) also changed the plastic seal and rubber some grease around the join, put some rags where soundproofing meant to be and then turned heater on and turn direction under the seat position when i drove the car to dry the carpet. gave it a couple of weeks after sealing the door card also bought another door card as it was buzzing of damp, sealed it first waited for a couple of weeks then fitted door card.

[vRSwhore]

similar to me stu, apart from the old door card, that happened to me a while back and i recified the problem, all was good, i could say hand on heart inside of car was bone dry, then literally, a few days ago everyday sinse has been sodding wet condensation on my windscreen that takes at least 4-5 mins to clear up, like Dave1953 said i very much agree with weather mate!

[nikcut]

mine takes more like 20 mins to clear

[Dave1953]

I forgot to mention last night that I put a half cover over the MX5 hood yesterday evening to keep off the expected frost. This morning the Fabia was completely frosted up outside and fogged up inside, whereas the MX5 was completely clear inside, and just had a couple of condensation streaks on the outside of the windscreen where the cover had been in contact with the glass. Maybe all it needs, if you haven't got a cover, is just an old towel spread over the windscreen at night, covered with a plastic sheet to keep it dry, and the condensation will be stopped?

As an experiment, I've now dried out the inside of the Fabia windscreen and treated half of it with Fog Clear gel, just to see how well it works tonight. I'll let you know tomorrow.

[Jon_woo]

If you have two keys to your car, jump in and turn it on, turn all the heaters on full heat and full power into the cabin.

Bang the aircon and circulation on (if you have it) and leave a slight opening in both the front windows.

Jump out and lock the car using the door lock and spare key, car will get very hot inside and the air will be dried out etc.

Left mine for a couple of hours and its been pretty dry since

[Dean-]

If you have two keys to your car, jump in and turn it on, turn all the heaters on full heat and full power into the cabin.

Bang the aircon and circulation on (if you have it) and leave a slight opening in both the front windows.

Jump out and lock the car using the door lock and spare key, car will get very hot inside and the air will be dried out etc.

Left mine for a couple of hours and its been pretty dry since

Not keen on this method oO - Means leaving my car alone with a key in and also leaving it running for hours lol.

[Dave1953]

mine takes more like 20 mins to clear

Yes, the heater/blower on the Fabia is rubbish, and it can take a long time to dry out a heavy layer of condensation - it's better just to use a few sheets of kitchen paper to soak it up first, then let the blower finish it off.

If you are seeing water on the rear door seal and the car is a few years old, you've probably got a failing door carrier seal (a very common problem), about which there are endless threads on here. The problem isn't difficult to cure yourself, if it's done right, but my advice is to stay away from sealant gun "solutions", as they are messy and very often don't work. I used soft rubber draught excluder in place of the old crumbling foam strip to make a proper mechanical seal and it's been fine for the two years since I did it. You'll know the old seal has given up when you see puddles of water on the rubber mat in the rear footwell, or the carpet is distinctly damp below the wet patch on the door seal after it's been raining.

Edited 10 January, 2013 by Dave1953

[Jon_woo]

Not keen on this method oO - Means leaving my car alone with a key in and also leaving it running for hours lol.

I did mine on the drive with a car parked behind mine, leaving it running for an hour is no different from driving it for an hour

[vRSwhore]

mine takes more like 20 mins to clear

well yea i did use a rag and wipped up the lot first had windows cracked open and the heater smashing out too!! lol

[stuart vrs]

maybe help dry the carpet run the mrs's hairdryer for a couple of minutes same as using the blowers but you can aim it at the area that is damp, don't get embarrassed boys. nobody will ask what are your doing, you'll tell them first. lol :peek:

[Dave1953]

leaving it running for an hour is no different from driving it for an hour

Except that ten polar bears and a snow leopard will suffer an early death because of it (or so they say )

[Dave1953]

As an experiment, I've now dried out the inside of the Fabia windscreen and treated half of it with Fog Clear gel, just to see how well it works tonight. I'll let you know tomorrow.

Well, after two days without fogging, the snow this morning caused a very thin condensation on the front windscreen. The only difference the Fog Clear gel made was that some of the moisture formed into little beads which ran down the glass, rather than building up into big beads which clung to the surface. Roll on the Spring!