All Steamed up!!!

[Markie]

it was sitting a wee while Jim wasnt it before you got it?, maybe a wee bit damp as Jamie says.... :-/

[ianrobbo]

Don't know if it's relevant, but we used to have an Astra estate which steamed up really badly in the rain. I found the the nuts holding the windcreen wiper spindles where they come through the body were loose, I took them off, used a bit of silicon sealer on the outside of the spindles, put the nuts back on and it cured it completely.

Obviously the rain was getting in through there, more so when it actually was raining as the wipers would be on and wobbling about as the nuts were loose.

Might be completely different on the Omega but  10 mins work for me fixed a winter full of dangerously misted screens.

[TheBoy]

Don't know if it's relevant, but we used to have an Astra estate which steamed up really badly in the rain. I found the the nuts holding the windcreen wiper spindles where they come through the body were loose, I took them off, used a bit of silicon sealer on the outside of the spindles, put the nuts back on and it cured it completely.

Obviously the rain was getting in through there, more so when it actually was raining as the wipers would be on and wobbling about as the nuts were loose.

Might be completely different on the Omega but  10 mins work for me fixed a winter full of dangerously misted screens.

If they did leak, water would only seep into engine bay....

[Chopsdad]

Ianrobbo got me thinking.... bottom of windscreen on passenger side the rubber appears to have shrunk and exposed a 5mm gap at the very corner of the glass.

This is full of wet black muck - could this be a source of water ingress or is it sealed below the glass??

[Matchless]

I suppose it could be just very damp carpets etc from sitting unused. Windscreen should be glued in all round so dont normally have a problem with leakage.
Is there any sign of a streaky film or rainbow effects on front or rear screens? This would indicate antifreeze leaking in heater and being blown ontp screen. I had an estate that did this, turned out to be leaking from the flange where pipes bolt to heater matrix and soaking into the foam etc around the heater. Bit fiddly to change the o rings but it fixed it.

[mijfife]

Hi, thanks for the suggestions so far. I dont think it's dampness as the carpets feel bone dry, I've also done a couple of thousand miles since it went back on the road and there's no musty smell in the car.

If it was a coolant leak into the air side, would it not steam up all the time? I don't have any problems on dry(ish) days when I've got the heater on to warm the car up. No loss of coolant either.

Maybe I should just take the windscreen out and put my crash helmet on  

Cheers Jim (only one post away from my next star  )

[STMO123]

Ianrobbo got me thinking.... bottom of windscreen on passenger side the rubber appears to have shrunk and exposed a 5mm gap at the very corner of the glass.

This is full of wet black muck - could this be a source of water ingress or is it sealed below the glass??

From your description of where the windsreen rubber has perished, it sounds as if this could be right above the pollen filter.

[bob.dent]

Am I alone in having real problems with my windscreen steaming up on the GLS estate? Today it was so bad in the rain that the car was verging on being dangerous to drive! There were only 2 of us in it, the climate control was set upwards to the 'screen only on full fan and irrespective of whether I had it hot or cold, the top half to 2/3rds of the window was steamed up constantly  
So far, I've cleaned the vent hole in the air intake chamber, replaced the pollen filter (tried running without too) and did the servo reset with the buttons on the climate control panel. I don't have the aircon regassed so running on eco. The carpets are bone dry and there's no smell of damp in the car so it's not a leak.
Surely it shouldn't be this bad? Hell, my 1960's Imp clears the screen better!!

Any ideas and is anyone else having the same sort of problem?

Cheers Jim

Have you got your air re-circulation button switched on when this happens? That would cause your windows to steam up eventually no matter what heater setting you're using.

[mijfife]

Hi Bob,
         I've tried with it on and off just to see if it makes any difference! Usually run with it off though.

Cheers Jim

[Boiler Man]

A daft question I know, but have you checked the air is actually coming out of the screen vents only, at full fan and the the heat is turned up and working?

Also have you checked there is no buld up of water in the scuttle area under the pollen filter?

[old cruiser]

What state is your pollen filter in, as it could be clogged up, restricting airflow from outside, hence windows steaming up.
Cheers Pete

[rpont]

And while the pollen filter is out check that the recirculation flap behind it does actually open and close. The lever came off the actuator on mine some years ago, it's not fallen off since. You might need a torch but if you can get someone to turn it off and on while the engine is running and you look it's obvious where it is.

[Chopsdad]

Ianrobbo got me thinking.... bottom of windscreen on passenger side the rubber appears to have shrunk and exposed a 5mm gap at the very corner of the glass.

This is full of wet black muck - could this be a source of water ingress or is it sealed below the glass??

From your description of where the windsreen rubber has perished, it sounds as if this could be right above the pollen filter.

Is that good or bad? :-?

[BILL0BLU]

Hi guys.
Ref steaming up, I suggest you all have a look in the bottom of the of the housing where the pollen filter lives. Make sure that the drain rubber is clear and you don't have a pool of water sat in the bottom. I was having the problem of misting up and I found I had about 4ins of water in the bottom of this housing, after unclogging the drain rubber and getting rid of the water my misting up problem has gone away.
A word of warning, if there is water in this housing and you're going to poke around with some thing like a long screw driver be aware there is a piece of wiring loom that may be under the water.
I hope this is of some help to some body
cheers  Bill

[Martin_1962]

Sorry but got to say this - air con will act as a dehumidifier and keep the car dry inside