Why do the insides of my

[Deelow]

I'm talking about my car BTW.
I have owned several cars and never had this problem, it doesn't really even have to get that cold and I'll have pull out the ice scraper and use it inside my car. It's not fun and makes a huge wet mess, it's either that or wait the extra 20 minutes it takes the defrost to melt it off..then it gets all streaky
It's already dropping to -37 where I am and this extra 10 or more minutes of "outside time" is something I could live without. Does anyone else have this problem? It p*sses me off.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Run the A/C and make sure it's not on recirculate, but on outside air. Not sure if you have the car in a parkade or not, but I do and the air there is moist and warm from all the runoff, which means the air in the car is too. Going outside it condenses against the now cold windshield and ices over. YMMV.

What kind of car is it? And stop making out in it!

[MrMastodonFarm]

PM Captain Sensible, his car is a peice of crap and used to do this all the time.

[RougeUnderoos]

I am no help at all but I have kind of a funny story.

A friend of mine drives an absolute beater and nothing works in this car. The frost in this thing is unbelievable and he's got nothing to stop it. One morning last winter he's driving along and the frost is so bad inside he's got his head out the window in -25 trying to see where he is going. The only other option he had was pretty much blind guesswork like driving along with duct tape on the windshield so he had to do it.

Unfortunately he drove past a cop who flipped on the lights immediately after seeing this. Gave him a $67 ticket and said "get that fixed" and then let him go, driving in exactly the same fashion. Even worse -- this guy wears glasses and they were fogged up as well and the real kicker is that he only has one eye. He didn't tell the cop that part though.

[Deelow]

Originally posted by I-Hate-Hulse@Dec 7 2004, 05:17 AM
Run the A/C and make sure it's not on recirculate, but on outside air. Not sure if you have the car in a parkade or not, but I do and the air there is moist and warm from all the runoff, which means the air in the car is too. Going outside it condenses against the now cold windshield and ices over. YMMV.

What kind of car is it? And stop making out in it!

nah it's outside all the time, I don't think it's the AC either. It's a 2001 Civic.
I've also never been able to locate a block heater on the thing. I am convinced it doesn't exist. Damn Japanese.

[Draug]

It is possible that the car was sold without a block heater. BUT, get one installed as soon as possible.

The purpose of a block heater is not to ensure that the car starts when it is cold (as most people believe). Any car in reasonable condition will almost always start, even when it is as cold as -35.

The real purpose of a block heater is to prolong the life of your engine. When the engine is cold, so is the oil inside it. That cold oil is thick, moves slow, and therefor be pumped by the oil pump to the top of the engine to perform the lubrication it must. The block heater keeps the oil warm, so it moves quickly, and lubricates the top end of the engine as soon as possible.

[Table 5]

Originally posted by RougeUnderoos@Dec 7 2004, 01:25 AM
I am no help at all but I have kind of a funny story.

A friend of mine drives an absolute beater and nothing works in this car. The frost in this thing is unbelievable and he's got nothing to stop it. One morning last winter he's driving along and the frost is so bad inside he's got his head out the window in -25 trying to see where he is going. The only other option he had was pretty much blind guesswork like driving along with duct tape on the windshield so he had to do it.

Unfortunately he drove past a cop who flipped on the lights immediately after seeing this. Gave him a $67 ticket and said "get that fixed" and then let him go, driving in exactly the same fashion. Even worse -- this guy wears glasses and they were fogged up as well and the real kicker is that he only has one eye. He didn't tell the cop that part though.

haha, nice.

I had a friend with an equally horrible car that wouldnt defrost either. One time during a particularly frosty evening my friend came in to pick me up for some event, and wanted a bottle of hot water so he could pour it on to his windshield and "melt" the ice. Not being the quickest of fellows at that moment, I actually gave it to him. So we poured the water on the windshield and melted all the ice. Presto! off we went....and not surprisingly it took less than 2 minutes for the water to freeze and completely engulf the windshield in ice. We had no scraper, so we poured some MORE water on, and repeated the entire process. And so on and so on....needless to say, it was pretty stupid.

good times.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally posted by Table 5@Dec 7 2004, 09:13 AM
came in to pick me up for some event, and wanted a bottle of hot water so he could pour it on to his windshield and "melt" the ice. Not being the quickest of fellows at that moment, I actually gave it to him. So we poured the water on the windshield and melted all the ice. Presto! off we went....and not surprisingly it took less than 2 minutes for the water to freeze and completely engulf the windshield in ice. We had no scraper, so we poured some MORE water on, and repeated the entire process. And so on and so on....

You're lucky the windshield didn't crack! I was bowled over watching some Aussie in the hotel parking lot do that and turn a little stone chip into a huge crack across the width of the windshield of their rental car. Going from -25 to +100 or so can't be good for anyone or anything!

Deelow - can you feel air coming from the dash top vents and blowing on the windshield? Might be time for a dealer visit, most service writers (that actually know about cars) might be able to help you for free if it's minor.

[Table 5]

Originally posted by I-Hate-Hulse+Dec 7 2004, 10:40 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (I-Hate-Hulse @ Dec 7 2004, 10:40 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Table 5@Dec 7 2004, 09:13 AM
came in to pick me up for some event, and wanted a bottle of hot water so he could pour it on to his windshield and "melt" the ice. Not being the quickest of fellows at that moment, I actually gave it to him. So we poured the water on the windshield and melted all the ice. Presto! off we went....and not surprisingly it took less than 2 minutes for the water to freeze and completely engulf the windshield in ice. We had no scraper, so we poured some MORE water on, and repeated the entire process. And so on and so on....

You're lucky the windshield didn't crack! I was bowled over watching some Aussie in the hotel parking lot do that and turn a little stone chip into a huge crack across the width of the windshield of their rental car. Going from -25 to +100 or so can't be good for anyone or anything!

Deelow - can you feel air coming from the dash top vents and blowing on the windshield? Might be time for a dealer visit, most service writers (that actually know about cars) might be able to help you for free if it's minor. [/b][/quote]
bah, that would have probably helped the overall look of this car. it was completely junk.
just to create a picture of how good this car was, whenever you turned the signal lights on, the horn would go off.

[Claeren]

The air conditioner should make a huge difference because it condenses the moist air leaving nothing to freeze to the window, leave it on hot but turn it on near-full/full, leave it on all the time for a few days of driving to really dry out the inside of your car. If your air conditioner works in the summer it WILL work now, in the very least it should reduce the problem 50% or else something is seriously wrong.

Also, do you have rubber floor mats? If you do take them out and feel underneath ALL of them (When the car is warmed up), it may well be moist. You will have to draw the moisture out, likely if you park outside you will need to put a towel under the floor mats and replace it each day until it no longer gets wet. If you have cloth(?) mats take them inside your house over night and make sure they are totally dry and then do the same as you would with the rubber matts and towels...

Related to that, check along the lower edge of the doors of your car, making sure no large amount of snow/water has been absorbed into the carpet there. Again look at finding a garage and/or using towels over time to draw out the moisture.

Lastly, only if the other couple things never worked, check your trunk, under the tire especially, to make sure it is not damp. Water can get in through various methods and cause high moisture levels that can surprisingly even affect the interior conditions.

Never hurts to take it in but likely they will check/tell you what i just did...

Cheers,
Claeren.

[JohnnyO]

My Honda does the same thing. I-Hate-Hulse is right run the AC. Best thing to do is let the car warm up. And get some good floor mats to remove the water when the snow on your shoes melt. Spend the $150 and by a remote starter, best investment you can make.

[Deelow]

Thanks Claeren. I'll give some of that a try...that's a lot of work, but this problem annoys me.

Remote starter is on the Xmas list...for sure.

[Vulcan]

A frosted windshield and a wet floor under the heater can be the signs of a leaking heater in which case you have to replace the heater core.

[Superfraggle]

If you open the window a little bit until the defroster gets it's job done, it helps prevent fogging. May make the ride a little colder to start with, but at least you can see

[Claeren]

The reason i hesitate to think it is anything else is because it is a new'ish car.