Misting Up

[gruffalo]

Do they all do this?

Mine does not appear to have any leaks, carpets always dry and so on but as soon as I turn the heater on it mists up.

I am guessing that there is a load of moisture near the heater matrix, a blocked drain hole or something similar or on the other hand this could just be another feature to enjoy

[Jackal83]

Mines always does this to!!!! but i got a leak somewhere on drivers side... Going to have another look for it tomorrow i think!!!

[Dave_M]

I think it's more common to have leaks on the passenger side.

Mine mists if not used for a few days. Mist ex might be worth trying

[dean_ratpac]

Jackal83 said:

Mines always does this to!!!! but i got a leak somewhere on drivers side... Going to have another look for it tomorrow i think!!!

i've spent the last 2 days trying to find the leak on mine! i pretty much took everything off replaced with new bolts and sealed them up too. Still it defies me! Dam it!

I'm thinking somehow its coming through where the heat shield is...

[exwinegtrr33]

Its not a cure but if you buy some of the Interior Dehumidifiers for a caravan/car etc it sure does stop it, Ever since I left one in mine!!!! Mist free windows all the time

Stu

[Tanguero]

dean_ratpac said:

Jackal83 said:

Mines always does this to!!!! but i got a leak somewhere on drivers side... Going to have another look for it tomorrow i think!!!

i've spent the last 2 days trying to find the leak on mine! i pretty much took everything off replaced with new bolts and sealed them up too. Still it defies me! Dam it!

I'm thinking somehow its coming through where the heat shield is...

On the drivers side my really persistent hard to track down leak was from around the brake reservoir. Only found it with a snakey camera up inside the wing. Resealed it and bingo - no more leak.

[gruffalo]

Mine seems a strange one here though as I do not appear to have a leak (it pobably will now I said that). All carpets are bone dry and it only mists up when the heater is on. This makes me conclude that there is wet air being drawn through the heater matrix which then condenses on the cold glass.

I will have to dig around to see it I can find this one, makes the car really hard drive on cold damp days, can't see a thing most of the time.

[Tanguero]

gruffalo said:

Mine seems a strange one here though as I do not appear to have a leak (it pobably will now I said that). All carpets are bone dry and it only mists up when the heater is on. This makes me conclude that there is wet air being drawn through the heater matrix which then condenses on the cold glass.

I will have to dig around to see it I can find this one, makes the car really hard drive on cold damp days, can't see a thing most of the time.

Possibly a pinhole leak in the matrix its self?

[JensenA]

Originally Cerbs drew fresh air for the Heater from the 'outside' - through the passenger side inner wing. Later Cerb's - I think from round about '99 onwards - had the Heater 'modification'. This involved blocking off the inner wing with expanding foam, and cutting a hole in the panel that hides the ECU in the passenger footwell. So air for the Heater would be drawn in through the Cabin. Look up in the passenger footwell, if you can see a round black plastic vent thing, then your car has had the heater modification done. If you have ever driven a car with the Heater 'Re-circ' button pressed, then you'll know how soon the car mists up. This is what is probably happening if your car has this heater 'mod'. I'm working on a solution to this on my car, I'll post details if it works! On second thoughts if anyone else fancies doing it first to test it, it will save me butchering my car

[Milky400]

exwinegtrr33 said:

Its not a cure but if you buy some of the Interior Dehumidifiers for a caravan/car etc it sure does stop it, Ever since I left one in mine!!!! Mist free windows all the time

Stu

same here in mychim

[Jackal83]

Tanguero said:

dean_ratpac said:

Jackal83 said:

Mines always does this to!!!! but i got a leak somewhere on drivers side... Going to have another look for it tomorrow i think!!!

i've spent the last 2 days trying to find the leak on mine! i pretty much took everything off replaced with new bolts and sealed them up too. Still it defies me! Dam it!

I'm thinking somehow its coming through where the heat shield is...

On the drivers side my really persistent hard to track down leak was from around the brake reservoir. Only found it with a snakey camera up inside the wing. Resealed it and bingo - no more leak.

hehe.. i found that the two bolts that hold the scuttle plate infront of the windscreen let alot of water in if they ar'nt sealed correctly.
i resealed the brake resvour and where the throttle cable comes through... vast improvements have been been made!!! i think the clutch resivour has something to do with the remaining leak.

passenger side is solved... it was the battery box plate... so i tock it out got all the rusty crap off and resealed it back on... And also the heater hoses next to the exhaust manifold had perrised so i did them to!!!

[Tanguero]

This sounds very familiar! Glad you are making progress. You can get them all eventually as my now bone dry Cerb proves. The other sneaky one I found were the self-tappers that hold the ends of the plate that the wipers go through. They were seeping water in behind the dashboard. A dab of silicone for the cure.

ETA - It still tends to mist up though....

Edited by Tanguero on Monday 4th January 23:16

[gruffalo]

Yup, this sounds more like it. I will take a look when I get to dig the old girl out from under her blank of snow and ice.

Another cure would be to move to a warmer dryer climate, right now that is most appealing;)

JensenA said:

Originally Cerbs drew fresh air for the Heater from the 'outside' - through the passenger side inner wing. Later Cerb's - I think from round about '99 onwards - had the Heater 'modification'. This involved blocking off the inner wing with expanding foam, and cutting a hole in the panel that hides the ECU in the passenger footwell. So air for the Heater would be drawn in through the Cabin. Look up in the passenger footwell, if you can see a round black plastic vent thing, then your car has had the heater modification done. If you have ever driven a car with the Heater 'Re-circ' button pressed, then you'll know how soon the car mists up. This is what is probably happening if your car has this heater 'mod'. I'm working on a solution to this on my car, I'll post details if it works! On second thoughts if anyone else fancies doing it first to test it, it will save me butchering my car

[VPower]

When I got my Cerb, they all said drilling hole in the boot floor cured the windows popping out and also this problem.

I did put the holes in the boot floor, I have the heater re-circ mod and still have to crack the window a bit.

But I mostly cured the misting by blocking up the COLD air vent!
It's very low and get all the spray.
All I can think is this stopped cold damp air getting in??


One thing I've not noticed mentioned, is the holes in the wing behind the wheel to let out the water.
Make sure these are not blocked.

[gruffalo]

Will check those holes when I next get to see her, currently just a bump in the snow on my drive.

Where exactly are the holes?

[dean_ratpac]

my current Cerb doesn't have the heater mod, last one did and the misting was terrible. this one seems to draw in moisture from outside, and thanks to this thread there's a few more places I need to check regarding the small leak. I'm thinking the brake reservoir is one, and the small rivets that hold the plate on over the wiper mech is another.

I'm almost tempted to remove the whole dash and screen and start again!

just to add I bought one of these last year
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SILICA-GEL-DESICCANT-600g-BA...

very good, although need to put in the oven to dry out, as its not very effective now.

so... bought some of these today to try in the car:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/INTERIOR-DEHUMIDIFIER-MOISTU...

although I paid a pound more - just to try out cannot be bad.

I think once you've had a leak, at some point it never really dries out, and you'll get misting despite fixing the leak. The carpets retain so much water and all that cheap sound deadener and foil is like a huge sponge.

Edited by dean_ratpac on Wednesday 6th January 19:36

[jesfirth]

if you have a garage just leave the windows open an inch or so and it will never mist up

[VPower]

gruffalo said:

Will check those holes when I next get to see her, currently just a bump in the snow on my drive.

Where exactly are the holes?

At the bottom of the wing on the drivers side just in front of the door.
Although mine has aircon, so might only have them on air con models?

[dean_ratpac]

jesfirth said:

if you have a garage just leave the windows open an inch or so and it will never mist up

misses has a lovely garage :-P but its on a serious hill and no chance getting in there now to do some work on the car.

Here - attempting to find all these little points to find the leaks


but you're right - I do open up the windows and its heavenly... very jealous of those that have lovely heated garages... I must move!

Edited by dean_ratpac on Wednesday 6th January 21:56

[jesfirth]

also check the mastic seal to the clutch fluid reservoir. Mine leaked there after a clutch replacement