Hello.

I'm not sure if this is a common problem or not. I did a search of the forums and didn't find any posts about it, so here goes:

I live in Washington and we had an unusually raininy winter this year. Starting about three weeks into it I noticed that condensation was forming on the windhield, inside, if it was chilly out and the car was off for more than 30 - 90 minutes. In the morning the windshield was fine, but after a 10 minutes drive to the gym, (in the gym for 90 - 120 minutes), the windshield was so badly fogged up that I had to wait for the defrost to work it's magic. Occasionally it was so bad that condensation turned from dew to water drops going down the window. The problem got pregressively worse the more time went on.

I took it to the dealership and while they seemed to really try to find a problem, they coudn't. The it wasn't raining much that day and it wasn't very cold, so it didn't happen for them. I did try turning off the air before I turned off the car and that slightly lessend the fog when I came back, but when I turned the car of for the drive home the windows fogged up hard and fast.... couldn't leave the parking lot for 10 minutes that day. It's not raining nearly so much now but if it rains for a single day I'll fog up after the car's been off for a while. If it's humid and drizzly (today), when I turn the car on the windows instantly fog for a couple seconds when the air comes on with the car, then it clears up.


Has anyone else here had a similiar experience? This nearly made the car undrivable at certain times this winter and (far worse), was quite embarrassing. There's a certain pride of ownership that's pretty hard to maintain when it's either take your friends '95 honda civic or wait ten minutes for the condensation on the winodw to dry out before you can drive your $35K car. Arg.

Anyone got any ideas? I'm not overly car literate, but if I can tell the dealership where to look it might help.

Just for everyone's info, I usually keep the AC off, but I do keep the defrost on at the first setting. I adjust the temp throughout the day but it does stay on and I usually do not turn it way from defrost. Of course duiring the winter I always had it on the warmer side.

thanks,
--jesse

 

First run the AC. It dehumdifies.
Second Clean the windows. Dirty windows provide the particles for the water droplets to form.
Third if that doesn't do enough apply the Rain-X anti-fog product.

 

I apologize if you've already checked, but just to make sure, you do have the Air Intake Selector set to "fresh air"—not "Recirculated"—right?

From the Owner's Manual:

WARNING (page 6-6):
Using the Recirculated Air Position position in cold or rainy weather will cause the windows to fog up. Your vision will be hampered, which could lead to a serious accident. Do not use this position in cold or rainy weather."

Also, in Windshield Defroster mode, make sure the temp control isn't set to "cold":

WARNING/Foggy Windshield (page 6-8):
Using the Windshield Defroster Switch with the temperature control set to the cold position will cause the outside of the windshield to fog up. Your vision will be hampered, which could lead to a serious accident. Set the temperature control to the hot or warm position when using the position.

 

Happens all the time to me - just turn on the AC, point the airflow at the windshield, make sure you're not on Recirc mode, and turn up the blower. Clears it in a few seconds. Agree with the clean windsheild issue too - clean windshields always fog less.

 

Also make sure the A/C drain pan hose is clear and draining the pan. I don't know where it comes out on the car, usually on the firewall on the right side under the hood, but the condensation from the A/C needs to drain. If it was completely plugged you would probably have water from it running onto the floorboard inside the car. Had that happen periodically to one of my cars. It adds moisture to the air and can cause excessive fogging.

 

also you are tracking in h20 on your shoes which end up in the mats... that moisture has to go somewhere..

beers

 

^ if the problem continues for the next few days as moisture is still trapped in your car. Try leaving the tilt function open while u sleep at night and let the water out.

Only do that if u park in a garage and its not a very humid day lol

 

Search?

 

Or maybe you could actually contribute to this forum instead of repeating the same thing over an over again.

 

ya,

13 posts search is not in your options...

beers

 

i think it is because inside of your car is too wet, buy something that absorb the wet air inside your car!

 

The silica gel stuff that comes as packing material in shoes can be useful, except that too much of a good thing can apparently cause cracking in some leather upholstery applications - and it's hard to know if the RX-8 is one of them. Warmer atmospheric moisture on a cold surface will condense - you have warmer, moister air inside your car. Most likely from your description your mats, upholstery, or other places in your interior are somewhat wet - dry them out and try it again. You should probably also continue to run the de-fogger option throughout the winter/spring until you have a problem with keeping the interior cool.

 

Thanks for all your replies. To answer a few:

o I'm not tracking in water with my shoes, at least, not nearly enough to casue the amount of fog that forms. I also know that this is not the case since, if I redirect the air flow to the floor for instance, the fog is much reduced but now on all windows, not just the windshield. It's definately coming from the vent.

o I tried the AC thing once. It does work to clear it up a bit but The fact that this is occuring at all is what's killing me. Once it actually made things worse (briefly), so it's not a good option for me.

o The intake is definately set on fresh and not recirc... I learne dthat lesson with a different car long ago.

o I've never tried levaing the sun roof open/tilted, but I'm sure the fog would not form or would be greatly reduced due to the added escape. I don't consider it a solution, just a work around, because the inside of the car really isn't wet, aside from maybe some _very_ minor rub off from my shoes.

o I'll see about checking this AC drain thing. I hadn't thought of that.

Thanks for your help all. I was really interest in seeing if other people were experiencing this, especially htose in the Seattle/Olympia area. It doesn't look like it's a common problem so that really answered the question.


--implse

 

My Seattle area 8 has never had any issues with condensation, but it sits in a garage overnight. I haven't seen this problem discussed much on the forum so I would agree that it doesn't appear to be a common problem. Your car is special.

Good luck with your investigation.

 

Jesse, did you ever find a fix for your condensation problem?

It's been raining like crazy in Massachusetts and I have recently experienced the same problem:

1. Drive in rain with Defog on (fresh air intake).
2. Park car for 2 hours
3. Get back in car and there is heavy condensation just above the defog vents?

Last week when it wasn't raining, the car smelled kind on mildewy. AC drain may be blocked. Hope I can find it.

 

HEY bud..

Rain-X

Use it. It's cheap and it works wonders. It even comes in conveinient little whipes, so you don't have to worry about having a clean cloth on hand.

I have the Cleaner/Anti-fog whipes and the "normal" Rain-X whipes.

 

poob