'ello all,

Whenever it rains the inside of the windows mist up. Turning on the a/c gets rid of it but what's causing it and more importantly how can I fix it? I've already had one Subaru dealer look at it, clearly without success.

I wonder if the air recycle button is not functioning, are you getting fresh air through with arrows pointing forward on the air director when temp is set to cold, poss internal heater rad has a slight leak??, have to say my STi V is pretty much air tight & steams up quite easily especially in slow traffic

'they all do that sir'

mines mists up inside when i am washing the car, especially if the suns out

make sure the cabin filter is replaced as thewse get clogged easily and also damp. If the get damp then misting can occur. Had on my car the other day...popped in anew cabin filter and hey presto...all cured.

Is it just the rear window or all of them??

mine does it to !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it's called water, or more precisely condensate, caused by high humidity in the cabin and cold windows.

Wet coats and stuff will make it worse. A/C drys the air by condensing the water out of the air when it cools it. Air can't hold as much water when cold, so when the warmish humid air hits the cold windows, bingo.

You could try holding your breath, that would help.

paul

A possible problem is if you're turning the a/c on and off. Turn it on, it dries the air, great. The water then builds up in the system. Turn the a/c off, the incoming air is blowing over this built up water, which evaporates and causes humid air - misting the window up again. This will also happen to a lesser extent when you stop at the end of a journey where you have had the a/c on.

When it's raining, the humidity is higher, so you're blowing damp air in, making problems more likely.

FWIW, condensation does not tend to happen so readily on clean, polished windows, and you can get various anti-mist type polishes which do help a bit. This will probably just move the condensation on to the side windows or something, but hey - you can't win 'em all!

A trick I found is to drive with the heater on the hottest setting and the fans on max. When the inside of the car is nice and hot, open the windows for a bit (5 mins). After this close them and set the heating and fans back to norm. This tends to get rid of all the humid air in the car and your 'steamy windows' problem.

A/C is a quick solution to the problem, but I managed to make a foot long crack in my screen last week using it. Probably the ice, or it could be a combination of ice/ AC / Hot Air. Don't know.

Chris

we get a surprising number of jap / far eastern cars in with bad steaming of windows.

it almost always is either due to or not helped by the fact that people leave the heater on reciculate rather than allowing fresh air in, consequently the condensation builds up the best we had was a celica that had the water literally dripping off all windows and the driver was wiping a letter box size slot to drive through ias the windows were completly opaque

Had a similar problem. The screen has been replaced at some time and whoever did it didn't seal it well at the bottom or refit the trim correctly. This then let water drip into the car, and misting problem.

Took it back to dealers who sorted it out, not sure exactly what they did though.

One of the biggest advantages of garaging your car overnight is that you don't get these misting-up problems, caused by the temperature difference inside and out. Not helped by having the heating control set to re-circ, increasing interior humidity.

Best trick I know is to pour warm water (not hot) over the windscreen and side windows before you drive off. The more the better. Then set the heater to screen only and whack the fan up full.

Richard.

Andy - Got it on external air, not recirc.
Mark - can you check if the cabin filter needs replacement or is it a case of change and hope for the best?
eddiebeef - front window is the worst, then the rear window.
Pavlo - thanks, I like breathing now and again though. :) Odd that another car under similar circumstances doesn't mist up...
hades - tried a few makes already of tha nti mist stuff, without success.
Felix - bit of a problem to drive around with the windows open when it's raining.
Hoppy - car is garaged, problem is with a hint of rain...

where is this cabin filter?

mark, where is the cabin filter you speak of?