Windscreen Misting Up

[Seatdriver]

My 1.9 Tdi 2003 Sharan windscreen has started to mist up pretty bad first thing in the morning and it is taking an age to clear. I have recently changed the pollen filter (old one was perfectly dry but filthy).

 

Current scenario;

 

Car is parked at night pointing downhill.

Car doesn't really warm up for most of its journeys.

The air con has stopped working (doesn't blow cold).

 

has anyone had the same problem, I was thinking that maybe water has pooled inside the heater ducts somewhere and is causing the problem. Can anyone tell me where and how to check if the air con drain is clear.

 

 

Many Thanks

 

I have tried to search for a thread but I keep getting flood control enabled!

[Smilge]

I reckon the air con not working is your problem as moisture from the interior of the car isn't being removed by the moisture separator. A lot of peeps think that the air con is just for blowing cold air but during winter it is used even more for the purpose previously mentioned. You mention that the car never really warms up ..... is your booster heater working as that could be the cause of lack of heat due to the engine being very efficient and not producing enough waste heat to warm the interior up?

[sanjsanj]

does the heated windscreen help at all?

[mumof4]

heated screen is for outside..mind...saying that it clears my rear screen if misted up..as Bleeno says, its because of moisture in the car.My gal did it for a while till the carpets were dry when i washed them...Hmm...must admit though thinking back..my booster heater didnt work and on very cold mornings it would mist up.Then id just stick climate control on full blast till it did clear

[Seatdriver]

Thanks for your replies,

 

Heated windscreen! this is a VW so no toys such as heated windscreen, car is perfectly dry inside, perhaps ill get the ir con re-gassed see if it sorts it out!

 

Rear aux heater works fine, fires up below 10oC but the run is so short (under 2 miles) it never gets chance to warm up.

[whitty]

if i was you id check round the car for leaks into the cabin especially passenger footwell cabins dont usually mist up that bad unless they are damp inside in the first place

 

 

p.s yes im back long time no speak to you all

[Seatdriver]

Hi,

 

Thanks again for your replies, however I have checked under all front seats and they are bone dry but let me elaborate on my problem.

 

The car in the morning points down our drive, which is sloped downhill.

 

The windscreen is misted up but all other windows are clear, not a trace of mist/condensation etc.

 

Turn on fan to No 4 and wait about 10 minutes to clear!

 

Just how much air should be felt blowing up to the windscreen on fan pos 4, I can feel airflow but its not exactly blow you away force?

[mumof4]

are you sure it doesnt? a 2003 i would have thought that it would have..hmmmm..

[adrianf.]

Before i bought the Ally i looked at a 20004 Sharan and that didnt have one fitted either.

 

Adrian.

[mumof4]

didnt it?? blimey.

[Ex-Galaxy person]

So is the heated windscreen a Ford "patented" feature? I don't ever remember seeing it on any other car, but I do remember that Ford has had them for a number of years. I assume that if it is a patent it will run out soon and they will be more common.

 

Anyone know anything else about this? Just idle curiosity really!

 

As to the original post - 2 miles isn't enough for the car to get warm even with a working booster heater (IMHO).

 

Phillip

[insider]

The heated windscreen is a Ford patented technology but has been fitted to other brands both belonging to Ford (Jaguar, Land Rover, etc.) and with whom they have had joint ventures (VW). So, many Sharans and Alhambras will have them.

It depends more on how highly specced the cars are - Galaxy LXs didn't have them as standard but Zetecs and Ghias did. I assume they were not fitted as standard to the lower spec Sharans and Alhambras.

[big_kev]

Heated windscreens are part of the optional "winter pack" which includes heated front seats for the Sharan.

 

Back to the windscreen.....causing of misting up are

 

Excess moisture and possibly dirty windscreen.

 

Your windscreen will always get more misty than the side windows as it is on a slant not vertical....ditto for ice on outside of windows......and additional factor is the dashboard underneath it.

[marinabrid]

try some holts anti mist or rain x anti fog both are glass treatments for this problem and they actually do work. its a clear liquid, just apply on the inside with a cloth and polish off.

[Smilge]

The heated windscreen is a Ford patented technology but has been fitted to other brands both belonging to Ford (Jaguar, Land Rover, etc.) and with whom they have had joint ventures (VW). So, many Sharans and Alhambras will have them.

It depends more on how highly specced the cars are - Galaxy LXs didn't have them as standard but Zetecs and Ghias did. I assume they were not fitted as standard to the lower spec Sharans and Alhambras.

 

Yep agree with you there matey ...... just noticed they've started to fit them to Kia's as a mate of mine has just bought a Sorento with one fitted ... that'll double it's value! ....lol

[Rusty Nail]

Hi all

I too have a misting screen, but then I always have.

My aircon doesn't work which I know doesn't help ( I appreciate the drying function but can't justify repair costs at the mo), but there again the force of the fan onto the screen is pathetic. I'm sure if I blow hard when sat in the drivers seat it would double the airflow and efficiency!

 

Are all Galaxy's the same? Yes the heated screen does help but that isn't the answer.

 

Should the fan actually be able to clear the screen?

Thinking about it, the screen will mist on a damp day with just two passengers.... is this right? The car is bone dry inside.

 

Just as an additional point, I had a leak into the passenger footwell from the rear screen washer pipe last year. There is a push fit union just under the door side trim and it had been dislodged somehow. I cleaned the joints and pushed back together then taped it so as it wouldn't come apart so easily in the future. All seems OK since.

 

Any help / pointers would be appreciated

 

Russ

[raymac]

while driving the other day the windows started to mist up on mine , 4 adults in car and climate working, so took it of auto and placed fan on full hammer for a few mins and it cleared all the mist, with the galaxy being such a large car it will have a build up of mist at times especially if the weather is cold/wet and aircon is not working.

[saintscott]

mine does exactly the same,no matter what i do,it never seems to clear fully.i have noticed that it seems a little greasy when i try and wipe it off so i used some strong gass cleaner and this worked fine for a couple of days but it has come back again and seems to be worse.even in the summer after i had turned the engine off there seemed to be a couple of small patches of condensation on the windscreen but i just put this down to the aircon winding down and expellinga little condensation.

[Bigjeeze]

Why not check the drain scuttles - It may help. Do a search - But basically you need to remove the inner mudguards on the front to access the drain points. If this is a recent phenomenon then it does point to something other than a design fault.

 

The Air Con will assist greatly in removing condensation - but if there is a source - then that has to be eliminated first.

 

If there is no obvious soruce of damp such as a washer hose etc then go for the scuttle drains.

[RAL]

Hello

 

I totally agree with Bigjeeze. My Galaxy has been misting up badly when using the fresh air vents. The aircon clears it but I did not want to use the air con all the time. I hoovered the leaves and debris out from under the scuttle panels, cleared the drain holes(left and right wheel arches) and changed the pollen filter. The pollen filter was manky.Guess what? it has made a hell of a difference. My complaint with ford would be, why make a service item a bugger to change? Never bored with a ford.

[Rallim]

At this time of year turning the air-con on makes no difference as it does not work under 6 degrees... ;) in fact turning the a/c on causes the radiator fans to come on which in turn causes the car to take longer to warm up... something only a couple of days ago I found out when I had problems with the radiator fans running with the ignition off... ;)

 

Gordon.

[Beyond Help?]

The air-con does work under 6 degrees, you can hear the clutch on mine engage in even the coldest weather. Perhaps this is different on models with climate control, but I feel sure that when I had a previous look, the wiring diagrams told me air-con/climate control does not even have a connector to a temperature sender.

 

As for misting up, one of the best ways to deal with this is simply to open a window for the last minute of your journey to blow all the moist air out!

 

And the 25 year patent on heated screens ran out about five years ago IIRC.

Edited December 17, 2007 by Beyond Help?

[Rallim]

I wish mine did work at less then 6 degrees as its often when you most want it! :blink: Such as yesterday on my 2 hour trip back from Bristol with all the family in the car and only the front windows being clear of condensation. (Looking at the manual one of its 'reasons' for the aircon not working for both the climatronic and manual aircon is when the ambient temperature is less than about 5 degrees..). The ambient sensor on mine is mounted in the front bumper near the fog light, and was the reason when I first got the car the air-con didn't work as it had failed. :blink:

 

Gordon.

[mumof4]

Hmm...had my air con on this eve to lower the temp of the engine as the temp was creeping up.had climate on at the same time.Maybe its diff in a veccy

[sanjsanj]

At this time of year turning the air-con on makes no difference as it does not work under 6 degrees... :blink: in fact turning the a/c on causes the radiator fans to come on which in turn causes the car to take longer to warm up... something only a couple of days ago I found out when I had problems with the radiator fans running with the ignition off... :blink:

 

Gordon.

I thought there's a thermostat which stops water circulating around the radiator if the coolant temperature is too low, stopping that from happening?

 

Hmm...had my air con on this eve to lower the temp of the engine as the temp was creeping up.had climate on at the same time.Maybe its diff in a veccy

the fan cuts in quite late on the veccy.... i remember this because when i was 7/8 i saw the temp needle extremely close to red and got really frightened because i thought it would blow up!

you should better off sticking the heater on full blast.

lincolnshire? have you moved?

Edited December 17, 2007 by sanjsanj