What can I do about damp in my car?
Discussion
This stuff will assist, if not with the route of the problem - https://www.lttleathercare.com/product/em-clean/
Condensation is actually a pretty big problem in Physics/Engineering, especially in compressed air systems - see here: https://www.pneumatictips.com/what-are-air-dryers/
It's reasonably safe to assume you don't have a leak....Cars are not air tight, if they were we'd all suffocate whilst driving them. The issue is definitely moisture/humidity in the air, coupled with temperature dropping below dew point (3 degC) and atmospheric pressure. All 3 of these factors create condensation.
since you have no control over the environmental conditions, your choices are either to absorb the moisture via a desiccant material (such as silica bags), ensure the temperature inside the car doesn't drop below 3 degC (it will probably need to be more like 5 degC) or use a dehumidifier - which basically draws the air in purposely refrigerates it to extract the moisture and drains it away.
If you look at storage conditions for a lot of DIY stuff you'll see it says to store above 5 degC - this is to eliminate condensation within the packaging.
It's reasonably safe to assume you don't have a leak....Cars are not air tight, if they were we'd all suffocate whilst driving them. The issue is definitely moisture/humidity in the air, coupled with temperature dropping below dew point (3 degC) and atmospheric pressure. All 3 of these factors create condensation.
since you have no control over the environmental conditions, your choices are either to absorb the moisture via a desiccant material (such as silica bags), ensure the temperature inside the car doesn't drop below 3 degC (it will probably need to be more like 5 degC) or use a dehumidifier - which basically draws the air in purposely refrigerates it to extract the moisture and drains it away.
If you look at storage conditions for a lot of DIY stuff you'll see it says to store above 5 degC - this is to eliminate condensation within the packaging.
Low usage is important. I had an old Mk1 Mondeo which I drove week-daily for fifty miles a day and it never steamed up no matter how many people were aboard in whatever conditions. Now my main car gets used once a week at most and hardly gets thoroughly warm inside and it mists up badly unless the a/c is running all the time.
My son, who lives abroad, leaves a car here and it has a dozen Tesco grape trays inside half filled with cheap clumping cat litter and when he was here in January he said it seemed to be much drier than before the litter was put in. The condensation being always on the pondward side is probably due to that end of the car being away from the house, not towards the pond. Obviously the pond doesn't help but my money is on lack of use first and foremost.
My son, who lives abroad, leaves a car here and it has a dozen Tesco grape trays inside half filled with cheap clumping cat litter and when he was here in January he said it seemed to be much drier than before the litter was put in. The condensation being always on the pondward side is probably due to that end of the car being away from the house, not towards the pond. Obviously the pond doesn't help but my money is on lack of use first and foremost.
As others have said, you have a leak allowing rain into the car. Every car where it suddenly started misting up and got lots of condensation inside I have owned has eventually turned out to be a leak.
I assume if you are driving the car on a cold and rainy day the whole of the inside suddenly mists up and the blowers struggle to keep even the front window clear? If you park up after driving the car in the rain I bet the windows are covered in condensation when you next drive it.
Check the boot first to see if the spare wheel under the boot carpet is full of water. I would even go as far as getting a cheap damp meter and trying the carpet as it may well be soaking into the sound deadening underneath.
If it is the boot it will most likely be the rear light seals. If the carpet is wet I bet there are some drain holes under the front scuttle that are blocked with leaves and dirt and causing the rain to come into the car under the windscreen.
Surely it even smells damp inside?
I assume if you are driving the car on a cold and rainy day the whole of the inside suddenly mists up and the blowers struggle to keep even the front window clear? If you park up after driving the car in the rain I bet the windows are covered in condensation when you next drive it.
Check the boot first to see if the spare wheel under the boot carpet is full of water. I would even go as far as getting a cheap damp meter and trying the carpet as it may well be soaking into the sound deadening underneath.
If it is the boot it will most likely be the rear light seals. If the carpet is wet I bet there are some drain holes under the front scuttle that are blocked with leaves and dirt and causing the rain to come into the car under the windscreen.
Surely it even smells damp inside?
Both interesting points. I'm almost positive there is no leak as this only happens when parked here but I will do a bit of digging and make absolutely sure. I'm getting fed up of having to squeegee the inside of the window though.
I don't drive the car much, this is true. It barely does 2,000 miles a year and I probably use it a couple of times a week, sometimes not even that and when I do then it's short journeys which are probably worse.
Probably a two pronged attack featuring kitty litter and actually being sociable and getting out in the car.
I don't drive the car much, this is true. It barely does 2,000 miles a year and I probably use it a couple of times a week, sometimes not even that and when I do then it's short journeys which are probably worse.
Probably a two pronged attack featuring kitty litter and actually being sociable and getting out in the car.
Joey Deacon said:
Surely it even smells damp inside?
Nope, no smell. Nothing wet to the touch (just been out and double checked everywhere), carpets, seats, headlining dry. Boot dry. The only damp bit is the ridiculously tiny rear parcel shelf where the water runs down the back window.SistersofPercy said:
andyxxx said:
I too have tried the microwavable bags and wasn’t impressed with them.
If it is really bad – run an extension cable for a dehumidifier – that should sort it - It did for me, but is hassle unless you don’t use the car regularly.
I think adding to the issue is I don't use it regularly.If it is really bad – run an extension cable for a dehumidifier – that should sort it - It did for me, but is hassle unless you don’t use the car regularly.
I've just found a rechargeable dehumidifier on Amazon for £40, wondering whether to give that a try.
You may be surprised how much an electric one will extract and I would be very surprised if you didn’t see an immediate virtual elimination of the problem (but not the cause)
My vehicle has the problem largely through very low usage (similar to you) – but it’s a Defender which are notorious for leaks (though nothing is apparent at the moment)
SistersofPercy said:
Both interesting points. I'm almost positive there is no leak as this only happens when parked here but I will do a bit of digging and make absolutely sure. I'm getting fed up of having to squeegee the inside of the window though.
I don't drive the car much, this is true. It barely does 2,000 miles a year and I probably use it a couple of times a week, sometimes not even that and when I do then it's short journeys which are probably worse.
Probably a two pronged attack featuring kitty litter and actually being sociable and getting out in the car.
It could be a combination of leak you haven’t spotted yet, and parking closer to the pond so the air coming in to the car is too damp for it to dry out.I don't drive the car much, this is true. It barely does 2,000 miles a year and I probably use it a couple of times a week, sometimes not even that and when I do then it's short journeys which are probably worse.
Probably a two pronged attack featuring kitty litter and actually being sociable and getting out in the car.
My dads Passat (know for leaks in the door skins) had the same issue for a long while. We almost tore the car apart trying to find the leak, sure it wasn’t coming in through the doors after feeling the carpets.
It was the doors.
Water ran in through them, down the carpet that’s up the inside of the sill and then in to the sound deadening where it remained and built up. The top layer of carpet felt the same as everywhere else, especially after long damp periods as the whole car started to go damp which is why it was so hard to pinpoint.
Talc on the possible ingress points, or paper with blocks of water soluble ink from an inkjet printer on them can help with finding where it might be coming in.
As far as driving the car is concerned, whenever possible, have the windows cracked open to let moisture out, heaters on full, air con on.
10 minutes before the end of your journey, turn the air con off and leave it off. The moisture sat on the condenser tends to evaporate due to latent engine heat and comes in through the car. Running the car with it off before parking up gives you a fighting chance. As you pull in to park up, if it’s not raining, wind the windows completely down to vent the moisture you’re breathing out.
One method seems to work for drying out the car fairly quickly (but not necessarily for finding, and fixing the leak), is to drive with the heater full on, with the air conditioning on as well so that the excess moisture can be removed by the aircons condenser.
After a few trips, this normally dries out the car but is not particularly comfortable for its occupant/s.
After a few trips, this normally dries out the car but is not particularly comfortable for its occupant/s.
An update, and an opportunity for lots of 'I told you so!'
Got the car out today for a good clean and discovered when I took the mat out of the front driver footwell it was sodden underneath. Did a bit of googling and a drain channel under the windscreen scuttle can get clogged. Stripped everything back and the drivers drain channel was completely clogged with leaves from the big trees around the pond.
Cleaned everything up and put it all back together. Car currently on the drive with all the doors open whilst I attempt to get it dried out.
Fingers crossed thats the end of it.
Got the car out today for a good clean and discovered when I took the mat out of the front driver footwell it was sodden underneath. Did a bit of googling and a drain channel under the windscreen scuttle can get clogged. Stripped everything back and the drivers drain channel was completely clogged with leaves from the big trees around the pond.
Cleaned everything up and put it all back together. Car currently on the drive with all the doors open whilst I attempt to get it dried out.
Fingers crossed thats the end of it.
SistersofPercy said:
An update, and an opportunity for lots of 'I told you so!'
Got the car out today for a good clean and discovered when I took the mat out of the front driver footwell it was sodden underneath. Did a bit of googling and a drain channel under the windscreen scuttle can get clogged. Stripped everything back and the drivers drain channel was completely clogged with leaves from the big trees around the pond.
Cleaned everything up and put it all back together. Car currently on the drive with all the doors open whilst I attempt to get it dried out.
Fingers crossed thats the end of it.
We told you so! Got the car out today for a good clean and discovered when I took the mat out of the front driver footwell it was sodden underneath. Did a bit of googling and a drain channel under the windscreen scuttle can get clogged. Stripped everything back and the drivers drain channel was completely clogged with leaves from the big trees around the pond.
Cleaned everything up and put it all back together. Car currently on the drive with all the doors open whilst I attempt to get it dried out.
Fingers crossed thats the end of it.
Glad you got to the bottom of it.
If you can, lift the edge of the carpet up closest to the damp area and prop it up with something underneath it.
The sound deadening is practically the most absorbent material known to mankind and can take a good while to clear out.
Draping a black bag over the front seat headrests so the sun hits it can heat the car up in short order of the upholstery is a light colour. Combined with a window cracked a little bit you can leave it drying out when you have to finally shut the doors.
Demelitia said:
We told you so!
Glad you got to the bottom of it.
If you can, lift the edge of the carpet up closest to the damp area and prop it up with something underneath it.
The sound deadening is practically the most absorbent material known to mankind and can take a good while to clear out.
Draping a black bag over the front seat headrests so the sun hits it can heat the car up in short order of the upholstery is a light colour. Combined with a window cracked a little bit you can leave it drying out when you have to finally shut the doors.
I've got it in the sun on the drive, all doors open. Will nip out in a min and try and lift the carpet. I'm going to become that person for a week or two who moves the car in a morning and opens all the doors 😂Glad you got to the bottom of it.
If you can, lift the edge of the carpet up closest to the damp area and prop it up with something underneath it.
The sound deadening is practically the most absorbent material known to mankind and can take a good while to clear out.
Draping a black bag over the front seat headrests so the sun hits it can heat the car up in short order of the upholstery is a light colour. Combined with a window cracked a little bit you can leave it drying out when you have to finally shut the doors.
Just a wee mention, having got to this Thread after its been resolved (hopefully), that the cheap Damp Traps you can get from Poundland really do work, on our home Window cills at least.
Also, I can't speak for the 'Carpet Underlay' (can't think of the proper phase) in your Fiat, but in my Peugeot its really thick and holds an enormous amount of moisture.
If this has got soaked there's a good chance you're gonna have to:-
remove it (on my car this requires quite a bit of removal of interior items such as seats & trims)
squeeze out the water (marvel at how much there is)
dry the floorpan (so its not constantly wet causing rust and ultimately a 'Flintstone Car')
and put everything back together after the carpet has also dried (this can stay put)
You can tell I've had to do this more than once can't you !!
Hopefully you'll actually find that it does dry out, and this won't be necessary, but if it is... it is.
A giveaway will be whether the windows 'mist up' inside when the car's parked. If they do, you haven't successfully dried it out.
If you're not at least a competent Home Mechanic, it could involve a trip to the Garage, once we're able to. There's things like safely reconnecting the Battery and not triggering the Air Bags to think about before taking your interior to bits.
Also, I can't speak for the 'Carpet Underlay' (can't think of the proper phase) in your Fiat, but in my Peugeot its really thick and holds an enormous amount of moisture.
If this has got soaked there's a good chance you're gonna have to:-
remove it (on my car this requires quite a bit of removal of interior items such as seats & trims)
squeeze out the water (marvel at how much there is)
dry the floorpan (so its not constantly wet causing rust and ultimately a 'Flintstone Car')
and put everything back together after the carpet has also dried (this can stay put)
You can tell I've had to do this more than once can't you !!
Hopefully you'll actually find that it does dry out, and this won't be necessary, but if it is... it is.
A giveaway will be whether the windows 'mist up' inside when the car's parked. If they do, you haven't successfully dried it out.
If you're not at least a competent Home Mechanic, it could involve a trip to the Garage, once we're able to. There's things like safely reconnecting the Battery and not triggering the Air Bags to think about before taking your interior to bits.
Joey Deacon said:
If the carpet is wet I bet there are some drain holes under the front scuttle that are blocked with leaves and dirt and causing the rain to come into the car under the windscreen.
SistersofPercy said:
An update, and an opportunity for lots of 'I told you so!'
Got the car out today for a good clean and discovered when I took the mat out of the front driver footwell it was sodden underneath. Did a bit of googling and a drain channel under the windscreen scuttle can get clogged. Stripped everything back and the drivers drain channel was completely clogged with leaves from the big trees around the pond.
What do I win? Got the car out today for a good clean and discovered when I took the mat out of the front driver footwell it was sodden underneath. Did a bit of googling and a drain channel under the windscreen scuttle can get clogged. Stripped everything back and the drivers drain channel was completely clogged with leaves from the big trees around the pond.
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