A couple cold-weather car questions - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

octothorp · 12-22-2008, 09:13 AM

I went out to start my car this morning, and the windows were coated with ice. Not the outside of the windows, but the inside. And because of the concave surfaces, they're hellish to scrape. I've been getting this sort of frosting for the last week, but it was worse today than any other day. The car was parked in a car parkade yesterday afternoon, so I assume what happened was that all of the ice and moisture in the car melted, then when the car was out overnight, it all froze again. So what should I do? Leave the windows cracked overnight so that the moisture and outside air will mix? Also, it might be a coincidence but it seems like this started to occur around the same time that I began plugging in my block heater.

You Need a Thneed · 12-22-2008, 09:17 AM

Often the moisture from you breathing in the car the night before freezes to the inside of the windows. That's what I assume causes it anyway. shouldn't really be a problem.

BlackArcher101 · 12-22-2008, 09:17 AM

Hopefully it's just a coincidence that it started when you plugged the block heater in, otherwise it could mean moisture is getting into the cab via a leak somewhere, but that's a stretch.

Keeping your windows cracked will work. The key though is to get the air inside the car as dry as possible before you park it. Driving with your climate control on defrost will help and usually a vehicle will turn on the A/C compressor at the same time to get drier air. Also don't recirculate air, always draw it in from the outside.

Failing that, you can put a coating on the inside of the windows to prevent frost from forming. I haven't done that myself so I can't really give advice on that route.

Ford Prefect · 12-22-2008, 10:45 AM

Frost on the inside of a vehicle usually means a cracked heater core. They can be a bit expensive to replace unfortunately, and aren't the easiest DIY job.

ken0042 · 12-22-2008, 10:53 AM

Just to combine a couple of thoughts in this thread; what I would do is roll down all the way two of the windows for either the last block of your drive, or after you park leave them down for a few minutes. Then roll them back up.

If it's just random moisture in your car it should be removed by cooling the air and getting the moist air out. However if it is the heater core, the moisture escaping from that would still ice up the windows even with changinf the air in the car.

And if you are lucky there may just be a small leak in the core. I say lucky because it's easier to replace a heater core than to also have to clean up coolant from all over under the dashboard.

burn_this_city · 12-22-2008, 10:55 AM

You'd notice a funny condensation on the windows if the heatercore is leaking.. It would be greasy to the touch. Also you tend to taste the glycol in the back of your throat after driving with it for a while.

BlackArcher101 · 12-22-2008, 10:57 AM

I've been there with the heater core cracking during my christmas holidays. Oh the fun times of tearing apart a dash in -30 weather, with breaks every 5 minutes to defrost the hands. Not to scare you though as usually there is advanced warning of a heater core leak. You'll usually smell something fishy and there would be a greasy film on the windows above the defrost vents. If you don't see either of those, I'd just say it's melting snow within the car.

octothorp · 12-22-2008, 11:02 AM

Thanks for the advice, there's a number of good suggestions to explore here. The car is about 16 years old, and honestly we've already decided that we've taken it in for major repairs for the last time, and will likely get a new car in the spring. So if it does turn out to be the cracked core, I'll likely just suffer through it and hope this cold snap doesn't last too much longer. But I'll try rolling the windows down for a bit tonight and see what happens.

Jayems · 12-22-2008, 02:53 PM

When I was in residence in medicine hat, i went to start my car, and not thinking, turned the heat to blast full. Well, since the engine wasn't warm, it sucked in and spit out all the snow that was on the intake vents on the top of my hood. That took quite some time to get rid of, all at ice inside. Lesson learned.

Bean · 12-22-2008, 04:28 PM

This is somewhat veering off topic but may be of use to the above posters. Last winter I bought anti-fog wipes made by Rain-X for the car. All you have to do is wipe the stuff on and only one application lasted all of last winter! It was great because I enjoyed the vents pushing heat to the feet and face and rarely had to switch over to any other of the modes to include defrosting the windows.

Unfortunately, I wanted to use it this year and the wipes dried out. (They came in one of those wet-nap type containers) I've forgotten where I bought the stuff and they don't have it at Canadian Tire, Walmart or Partsource, does anybody know where you can buy this product?

Gozer · 12-22-2008, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bean

Unfortunately, I wanted to use it this year and the wipes dried out. (They came in one of those wet-nap type containers) I've forgotten where I bought the stuff and they don't have it at Canadian Tire, Walmart or Partsource, does anybody know where you can buy this product?

Actually, I think I saw some RainX products at Safeway, don't think it was wipes though.

Doctordestiny · 12-22-2008, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jayems

When I was in residence in medicine hat, i went to start my car, and not thinking, turned the heat to blast full. Well, since the engine wasn't warm, it sucked in and spit out all the snow that was on the intake vents on the top of my hood. That took quite some time to get rid of, all at ice inside. Lesson learned.

Aren't you supposed to keep your heater on recirculating like almost all the time. That's what I do because that's what I've been advised to do and then it's heating air from within the car and this problem wouldn't happen. I only set my heater to heat outside air when I know the vents are plugged which, as I recall, has probably never happened in the last several years because I try to keep the outside vents clear. My car is garage parked, which also helps.

EVERLAST · 12-22-2008, 05:41 PM

if the car is 16 years old as you mentioned then your block heater is likely to be leaking allot or just enough to cause some freezing on the inside of the windows. Find a block heater leak repair kit and pour that into the rad and it will provide some help on and older car. BARS is the name of the product and any reputable parts disp should carry it......ie....UK tire and Napa.

jammies · 12-22-2008, 05:51 PM

Untie the hookers and let them out of the trunk.

Rathji · 12-22-2008, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctordestiny

Aren't you supposed to keep your heater on recirculating like almost all the time. That's what I do because that's what I've been advised to do and then it's heating air from within the car and this problem wouldn't happen. I only set my heater to heat outside air when I know the vents are plugged which, as I recall, has probably never happened in the last several years because I try to keep the outside vents clear. My car is garage parked, which also helps.

Always recirculate in the winter.

Titan · 12-22-2008, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rathji

Always recirculate in the winter.

I had actually heard that you should not recirc as it causes the windows to frost up? Why recirc?

I don't know and am just asking.

Locke · 12-22-2008, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Titan

I had actually heard that you should not recirc as it causes the windows to frost up? Why recirc?

I don't know and am just asking.

Recirc doesnt draw from outside air so it accesses less cold air.

chid · 12-23-2008, 01:43 AM

I thought I had frost on the inside of my windshield because of the massive crack in it.. My car is rather old and its a big pain every morning to scrape the inside..

BlackArcher101 · 12-23-2008, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctordestiny

Aren't you supposed to keep your heater on recirculating like almost all the time. That's what I do because that's what I've been advised to do and then it's heating air from within the car and this problem wouldn't happen. I only set my heater to heat outside air when I know the vents are plugged which, as I recall, has probably never happened in the last several years because I try to keep the outside vents clear. My car is garage parked, which also helps.

No, you should pull in outside air. When your windows start fogging up, it's because the inside air has become more humid. The outside air in winter is very dry, so replacing the inside air with outside air is key. If you recirculate then all your doing is letting the inside air getting more humid. Your car shouldn't have a noticeable difference between recirc and non-recirc in terms of heat output. I only use recirculation in the summer when driving on gravel roads to prevent dust from entering the vehicle.

You Need a Thneed · 12-23-2008, 10:08 AM

Any vehicle with any kind of electronics in the heating controls wont let you set it to recirculate air when it's on defrost, because it can't defrost using the same humid air thats already inside the car.

Plus, if the windows were already clear when you started out in the winter, setting the heater to recirculate would quickly fog your windows up. You'd notice very soon in this weather if you accidentally set your heater to recirculate while you are inside.