Ice on the inside of windscreen

[Matt UK]

The wife's VW Sharan is waking up in these cold mornings with more ice on the inside of the windscreen than on the outside!

I've spent a bit of time clearing the gutters and making sure the outer trim is secure, but to no use.

I also removed all of the rubber car mats it came with. If felt damp underneath them.

What to do reckon is causing it and what to do next?

[Twin Turbo]

Mrs TT's Galaxy had the hose to the rear wash/wipe come loose in the passenger footwell (front). This soaked the carpets but it was during the summer, so no icing problem!

Check that first.

[s m]

I'd do as above, check the rear screen wash works well and if you've cleaned out the scuttle drains and confident they're not the problem just get a heater in and dry it out. Will take a while to get rid of all the damp out the interior though

[DrDeAtH]

Clearly the OP has never owned an original vw beetle.... 'they all do that sir....'

[Bear Phils]

You should be able to dry the interior with a de-humidifier. I've used one for the same reason and it worked great but takes a bit of time to dry it out completely.

Edit: Also check the pollen filter's not letting any water in. If it hasn't been changed in a while might be worth doing anyway

Edited by Bear Phils on Friday 7th December 08:47

[Matt UK]

Thanks all. The wife mentioned a while back that the rear washer wasn't working. I'll make that my first port of call.

[Disco You]

It has a leak.

Socks full of rice / silica drying stuff.

[B17NNS]

DrDeAtH said:

Clearly the OP has never owned an original vw beetle.... 'they all do that sir....'

Very true.

[Condi]

Mine seems to do it all the time, tried drying it out as much as possible but comes back in a day or 2. Not sure why, but for the price of the car its not worth fixing.

[aw51 121565]

Open the windows "slightly" - a couple of millimetres at the widest bit of the gap - to let passing air take the moisture out and reduce (minimise, he says kidding himself ) condensation on the inside of the windows. Leave it like this 24/7/365 ...

Even if the car leaks like a sieve (and one of mine does ), this tip makes it much easier to cope with .

[chongwong]

Silica Jell may help, just pop a couple of bags around the car, and they'll soak up a lot of the moisture in the air.If the car is currently drenched inside, try stuffing the foot-wells with towels or such like to get the worst of it soaked up. A hair Dryer may work afterwards. I always put rubber foot mats in my car over winter, so that i can just take them out and dry them when i get to my destination so it doesn't soak in to the carpety floor stuff

[Baryonyx]

Use warm water to de-ice out the outside of the windscreen. This will have the added effect of warming the glass and melting the ice on the inside. The benefit of this will be that the sooner the ice turns to water, the quicker you can get rid of it. Once you've melted the ice, wipe the windows down and put the heaters on full whack (with the A/C on, if you have it) and direct them to the window. That'll get the water evaporating. Now, just wind a window down and let the cold, fresh air blow into the car.

For long term drying, chase up the source of the water ingress. It could be something as simple as using the car on a rainy day and bringing water into the cabin on wet coats and shoes (which can soak seats and carpets). A tray of cat litter will do wonders for sucking up excess moisture.

[pthelazyjourno]

I had ice on the fooking dashboard!!!

[martin mrt]

Bear Phils said:

You should be able to dry the interior with a de-humidifier. I've used one for the same reason and it worked great but takes a bit of time to dry it out completely.

Edit: Also check the pollen filter's not letting any water in. I fit hasn't been changed in a while might be worth doing anyway

Good luck changing the pollen filter, absolute swine of a job on a galaxy/sharan

[real4star]

If you have a sunroof, check for damaged seals and blocked drains for that aswell.

Neal

[s m]

Disco You said:

It has a leak.

Socks full of rice

That'll just make it painful to use the pedals?

[HustleRussell]

The water is getting in somewhere. Rear light membranes? Door membranes? Boot seal? Leaking windscreen? Leaking heater matrix?

[GreigM]

Disco You said:

It has a leak.

Socks full of rice / silica drying stuff.

This. You need some sort of dehumidifier and to find the source of the moisture - rusty?

[mk1matt]

martin mrt said:

Good luck changing the pollen filter, absolute swine of a job on a galaxy/sharan

Agreed. I need to do ours again. I got the filter out ok, but couldn't get the new one back in without removing the wiper mech.

It's worth the hassle though. I just changed the pollen filter (a 30 second job on this car!) on my e46 and it has definitely made a difference to the level on condensation on the inside of the screen.

[DonkeyApple]

Matt UK said:

Thanks all. The wife mentioned a while back that the rear washer wasn't working. I'll make that my first port of call.

True PHer.

Bet if it was your car you'd have fixed it the dy you noticed.