Condensation problems
Discussion
Our Skoda Fabia 1.9tdi is otherwise a good daily driver, but, when the car is parked up in this cold weather condensation on the glass is terrible. This combined with an extra long warm up time of 7 miles makes winter driving on short trips an nightmare. Of course we chamois off the worst before setting off but this still leaves smdears on the screen. Is this par for the course or do we have seal problems? I don't really want to swap the car in just because of this problem.
I have just done this a few weeks ago.....
Pop up to B&Q buy a bag of silica gel and leave it in the car. This should "soak" up all the moisture in the car over a couple of days. If the problem persists then it might be the seals. In my expirence cars do store moisture over the warmer months and if you have a lot of stuff in your car it can be doubly bad.
If you can't be arsed buying the stuff just get everyone to keep it when they present open at Xmas.
Gwiz
Pop up to B&Q buy a bag of silica gel and leave it in the car. This should "soak" up all the moisture in the car over a couple of days. If the problem persists then it might be the seals. In my expirence cars do store moisture over the warmer months and if you have a lot of stuff in your car it can be doubly bad.
If you can't be arsed buying the stuff just get everyone to keep it when they present open at Xmas.
Gwiz
You need to ventilate the car in this weather more. Drive with the windows down more often and keep the demister running. All that moisture you create has to get out somehow. I had this with my old Aerodeck and would drive with the sunroof open to stop this happening. If it rained, I'd just drop the rear windows a bit...
GingerWizard said:
I have just done this a few weeks ago.....
Pop up to B&Q buy a bag of silica gel and leave it in the car. This should "soak" up all the moisture in the car over a couple of days. If the problem persists then it might be the seals. In my expirence cars do store moisture over the warmer months and if you have a lot of stuff in your car it can be doubly bad.
If you can't be arsed buying the stuff just get everyone to keep it when they present open at Xmas.
Gwiz
Good tip!Pop up to B&Q buy a bag of silica gel and leave it in the car. This should "soak" up all the moisture in the car over a couple of days. If the problem persists then it might be the seals. In my expirence cars do store moisture over the warmer months and if you have a lot of stuff in your car it can be doubly bad.
If you can't be arsed buying the stuff just get everyone to keep it when they present open at Xmas.
Gwiz
A couple of our vans suffer this problem, mainly because of wet gear in them and we cant leave windows open for obvious reasons.
RemaL said:
crankedup said:
We will now have the blower on fulltime and the silica bags in place. Why don't manufacturers fit the electrical heated windscreens I wonder?
ford still do and when I had one is was very handyHumans, as seen in our OR, create a HUGE amount of moisture in their ventilator breathing circuits which we drain off via taps and catch in water traps.
All you have to do is open the windows a bit in the car on your way to work to let this moisture get sucked out. Do this routinely, and your car should not mist up inside.
I drive an '87 vette which leaks badly throught the seals etc. so much so that I had to bore holes in the floor to let the water out (4" in the footwells) when it was parked up for a few days in the rain, so dampness inside is a cross I have to bear for now, but even so it doesn't mist up as long as the windows are down a wee bit of a morning... never had to use the rear window heater once in four years of ownership.
(..big thanks to my old Dad here for his pearls of wisdom over the years!)
All you have to do is open the windows a bit in the car on your way to work to let this moisture get sucked out. Do this routinely, and your car should not mist up inside.
I drive an '87 vette which leaks badly throught the seals etc. so much so that I had to bore holes in the floor to let the water out (4" in the footwells) when it was parked up for a few days in the rain, so dampness inside is a cross I have to bear for now, but even so it doesn't mist up as long as the windows are down a wee bit of a morning... never had to use the rear window heater once in four years of ownership.
(..big thanks to my old Dad here for his pearls of wisdom over the years!)
woolly7 said:
with a warm up time of 7 miles you need to have a look at the thermostat also if you have ACon use that as well.
Its a question I put on here last winter, apparently its about normal for the 1.9TDI taking this long to warm up. In the warmer weather its about half this. A/C bust 
crankedup said:
RemaL said:
crankedup said:
We will now have the blower on fulltime and the silica bags in place. Why don't manufacturers fit the electrical heated windscreens I wonder?
ford still do and when I had one is was very handylordlee said:
You should also make sure your screen is properly cleaned with a good glass cleaner and don't wipe it when you get in!
Yup, I've been doing it the wrong things, no wonder I had water running down the interior windows!!
Problem now resolved having put all the tips here into practice. Clear vision is an wonderful thing 
crankedup said:
do we have seal problems?
Could be, it's a known fault. At my last service all the door seals were replaced by the dealer, although I wasn't actually having a problem with mine.And yes, the TDi takes an age to warm up doesn't it? My wifes Panda is chucking out lots of lovely heat by the end of our road, but the Fabia takes several miles.
Mate of mine had the same issue in his van......his fix was a tupperware pot with some new cat litter in it. Drill some holes in top and leave in car under seat....no condensation since.
I guess if you fill a couple of old socks with cat litter too and place them in strategic hidden spots it would have the same result.
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