Car condensation

[bobski1]

Managed to bumble through the last few years but now the condensation in the car is getting to the point something needs to be fixed.

It's an 04 seat Ibiza 130PD, everything works & air con works albeit a slight leak from somewhere. Everyday the car is caked in condensation on all of the windows.

I've never worked out where it's coming from & why it's so bad but mostly in the autumn/winter months.

Looking for suggestions on possible causes & how I can get by until I can fix?

Possible cause so far
Leak water via seals - checked all around car & no water ingress evident. All carpets dry

Blocked scuttle - not checked, very brittle & prone to breakage so will need to do it as it warms up a little

Broken heater matrix?

Air con bringing in cold damp air during use?

Should also mention the thermostat has recently gone but given the issue has been ongoing since before then I'll assume it isn't that but it could be if it's taken this long for the stat to give up?

Edited by bobski1 on Wednesday 10th February 17:56

[Brian_996TT]

sometimes the carpets can feel dry but it’s the foam under the carpet that can absorb the water. if the door cards have every been off the waterproof membrane in the door might be damaged and letting water in.

[JonChalk]

We discovered a couple of weeks ago whilst wiping the copious, consistent condensation off the inside of my wife's Audi A1 again (so basically a Polo, like the Ibiza), that the windscreen was only held staying in place by gravity. Could push three sides of it out with one finger!

Local windscreens guys came out removed it, removed the old seal, refitted it. No condensation now at all!

[AW10]

To help dry the car - on sunny days park the car in a sunny spot and crack all of the windows a few mm.

[Evoluzione]

It's normal, are you new to the UK or just life in general?

[bobski1]

I'll try checking the carpets again, see if I can remove the seats and see if there's any weak seals.
I had the passenger door card off recently to replace the window regulator but inside the door was bone dry when I took the metal panel off.- didn't check drivers side though


Will check the windscreen, although an 04 plate do the seals in Windows deteriorate in that time?



I've tried the sunny trick, although not really too sunny I did do it on the weekend and it helped clear it a little. Rarely an issue in the summer but in autumn/Spring when I've done it, it'll clear for the time the windows are open but next time it's all closed, condensation.



Not sure how normal it is, the other cars in the house don't suffer from it. And this is serious wetness, wiped with a kitchen towel & beads form and drop into the dash. Takes about 10 or more wipes to get all the water & that's just the windscreen!

[CoolHands]

Mines like that but bizarrely it varies. Sometimes I go out and it’s soaking. The other day it had frozen on the inside of the windscreen. A different morning I’ll go out and it will be bone dry.

[Belle427]

On my old 2002 Passat if you lifted the carpet up on the passenger side there was a pool of water in the large void underneath where the convenience module lived.
As said once it’s there it won’t dry out and soaks the sound deadening foam, it needs to be removed or you will forever get condensation.
Not saying it’s the issue in yours but you never know, you couldn’t feel the moisture on the top of the carpet on mine.

[cuprabob]

It's also worth checking that the cabin filter is not soaking. On some VAG cars the housing is in the scuttle and if the seals have deteriated or not fitted properly, water ingress can occur.

Also worth checking that the recirculation setting on the heater is not enabled and that fresh air is entering the cabin.

At ambient temps below 5 degrees, VAG cars disable the air con meaning the cabin air is not being dried and you get more condensation.

You could buy some of those Silica bags and locate them around the car to dry it out.

[Captain Answer]

As others have said you got a leak somewhere... but If you have a drive then pick a dry day(s), run a power cable out to the car and stick a convection heater in there with one window down a little or a door slightly ajar to help dry out the car in the meantime

[steveo3002]

get the carpets up ..bet its damp in one of the footwells , check spare wheel well

once its damp it wont dry itself out ...if carpets wet they need taking out , if its just a massive amount of condensation built up from lack of use get the windows /tailgate open on a nice day

use aircon all the time that helps dry them out

[zedx19]

It's a leak, you have water getting inside somewhere, dunno why some people are being arsey with, "It's the UK, it's normal blah blah", it's not normal, its an indication of a problem.

Carpets can feel dry on the outside, the foam underneath will be saturated though somewhere. Just had it on my Focus, ice on inside, all carpets felt dry. Removed seats, pulled up carpets, foam underneath soaking on drivers side. Dried it all out, sat inside with a hose running over car outside, waited for water to come in. Mine was a combination of blocked drainage holes under scuttle panel and rubber gasket around steering rack where it passes through the bulkhead. Cleared drainage holes, put some sealant around gasket, problem solved.

Any old car will likely be blocked drainage holes, forcing water were it shouldn't go, which then causes a seal to fail.

[RizzoTheRat]

If it's the heater matrix you'd smell it, and notice the coolant going down. I got rid of a 306 with a leaky heater matrix some years ago after I realised it must be the first component they put in and build the rest of the car around it as you basically have to dismantle the entire car to get at it.

Temporary measure until you can find the problem is big bag of dehumidifier crystals, a lot of places sell them to keep caravans dry. Parking in the sun with the windows cracked open as suggest above can shift a lot of moisture too.

Evoluzione said:

It's normal, are you new to the UK or just life in general?

<checks Evoluuzione's profile>
Lancias, Fiats... yes I see why you think water ingress is normal

I have an Octavia, they're renown for leaking door seals and the crap design of the boot hatch means water runs in off the rear window when you open the boot. Not all cars leak though.

[JonChalk]

bobski1 said:

Will check the windscreen, although an 04 plate do the seals in Windows deteriorate in that time?

10-plate A1 - we’ve had it 9 years - the windscreen guys thought it had had a windscreen replacement before we owned & was very shoddily done.

[tejr]

Potentially a leak as others have said, but I've found leaving a moisture trap in the car helps dry it out when its standing https://www.towsure.com/moisture-mate-moisture-tra...

Try to get the interior as warm as possible for as long as possible to help evaporate any water making it easier for the moisture trap to do its thing..

[bobski1]

the severity of mine is intermittent, happens all the time however. The air con is on (recirculate off) permanently at 24deg as that seems to be the best way to get it clear. It does take about 10-15mins of driving to clear so I can see out, moisture is always there.

Sounds like, seats out and carpets up is the best option first. being a 2 door is good as there are less openings for where it can get in.

Will also remove the scuttle and check, might need to heat gun to warm it up

Got to change the cabin filter anyway so will check the dampness of it, last time I checked it was bone dry butthat was about 18+months ago.

Can't check the heater matrix without taking out the full dash, unfortunately the update to split the dash came later.

If I lift and find some of the carpet or sound deadening is damp, what's the best way to dry it out? Solution to stop will of course depend on the cause.

Sticking a heater in isn't too bad a shout, however without stopping the water coming in, it'll just repeat.

Appreciate all the help

[steveo3002]

carpets will dry out if hung up somewhere warm ...if its got that fluffy underlay rip it off and replace

[Belle427]

Just used a sponge in mine with carpets lifted, got most of it out and luckily was able to put it in the garage and put a fan heater on it.

[Brian_996TT]

i’ve had cars in the past and the floors were wet so i removed the seats and trim so i could get the carpet out and refitted the seats so i could still use the car. Once the weather warms up soak the car with a hose and have someone in the car to locate the leak.

[mattyc69]

I had 1.9 fabia vrs that leaked via the inner rear door card, had to take it off and silicone them up all sorted. Maybe worth a look.