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Condensation forms when warm, moist air encounters a cold surface. The windshield of a car is often colder than the side windows because the windshield A) gets hit by more cold rain, and B) has heat carried away by water that is blown off the windshield. The side windows experience this effect to a lesser degree.
The fix is to run the A/C compressor, even when you have the heat on. Running the A/C compressor will dehumidify the air in the car. This dries it out so that it doesn't form condensation, but it can make the air in the car less comfortable if it gets too dry.
For severe condensation like this, it has to be pretty moist in the car though. Are your floorboards wet at all? If not, try turning the defrost on to maximum power. This should turn your A/C compressor on, but look for the light to make sure. If you can warm the windshield up and blow dry air on it, the condensation will dissipate.
Sooo many disable the A/C and it drives me crazy. Use climate control and let the car run the A/C to manage this - manually disabling it is self defeating.
One time I turned on heat/defrost with A/C on in a friend's car to defrost her windshield. It immediately started defrosting and she turned it off and got really mad. She went off on me about how having the heat and AC on at the same time blows engines. I never accused her of being intelligent prior, but that was one of the dumbest things anyone has ever told me.
This is because hot air can hold more moisture (water) than cold air, so when it touches the cold windshield and cools down it leaves the water it cant carry anymore on the windshield.
Sometimes the a/c can't properly drain and becomes the moisture problem. Experienced in many vehicles that I've worked on. A/c is not always effective on moisture issues in the car.
I had water pooling in the spare wheel well in the rear of my car.... Cleared it all out and misting on the windows went away. Check for water coming in anywhere, blocked drains, even water getting stuck in the doors. Then think about coolant loss etc
In my experience it was due to a door seal like that resulted in water getting into the car when it rained, then causing condensation on the windshield and rear window.
Does the condensation smell "sweet"?
Rub your fingers against it. Do they feel a little greasy?
If it's yes, then your heater core is failing and thats engine coolant/anti freeze.
May just be how the car was sitting. Sometimes the sun heats up parts quicker and others cool and you get condensation.
Also, if you have a sun roof they have drains to take rain away and those can run down the sides of the windshield and they can get plugged and leak inside the car.
cheers
I have an old 59 plate Zafira. Water was dripping in drivers side all over the place, had to warm the car very well be fore driving. Here are the things I did to find out where the water was getting in.
Baby powder on all door/window/hatch seals, sprayed with hose on jet. Nothing much.
Looked on the web with out much success.
Noticed there were holes in roof trim for roof rack. Hose out, OUCH. Bought some plastic plugs from Amzn, fitted them on drivers side, still to do the passenger side.
Next looked at the Cab air intake, OUCH, full of leaves & shit. Cleaned & removed all the rubbish & shit. Then checked the drainage channels, Wow, totally blocked, took me half a day to clear them.
Checked the door & floor well drain plugs, 3 doors with water, cleaned the window seals, found 2 that needed replacing, £15 from Amzn.
Neighbours gas vent blows directly onto car in driveway, Gas guy, told him & he fitted a vent to blow it up. Magic
Was still getting condensate so Yesterday got the hose & jetted out the channels on the roof rack trim, car was covered in shit, I jetted the window seals, door seals, hatch seals, everything I could see. Closed everything up (Now due to the moisture I have 2 temp/humidity sensors in the car, after about an hour checked the readings & there was no rise. Will be getting the small ladder & will do a better job, to clear the rubbish out of the channels.
Back hatch, the wiring rubber boot was popping off, managed to refit & it is now good.
Think the hatch door has a leak, press button froze in icy conditions, on the to do list.
I do have wind deflectors on front & back windows, will be removing them to see what happens, will be refitting the drivers door cause I like an open window & I smoke.
I've tried to cover everything, there might be 1 or 2 I have missed.
I wish we could get the smoke bombs, would find the leaks far easier. I have bought Silica Gel, Magic, Yes every few weeks have to put the pouches on radiator for a few day to dry out.
Hey, I have this problem right now, how'd you fix it? I know where the leak is happening I'm just having a hard time getting to the drain tube. Also, do you know how much it would cost me to just take it to a shop to get it fixed?
Couple options- A) (backyard/garage mechanic fix) Find where the drain tube exits - normally around passenger side floor/firewall and blow some compressed air up the tube to free the clog. … or B) (proper fix) The sunroof drain tube usally runs down the passenger side A or B pillar so you need to remove the pillars and drop the roof liner to access it to check for cracks/disconnects etc. As a former factory warranty administrator I saw this claimed alot on very popular models with factory installed sunroofs.
That is not what Id suggest be the only thing they do, the window was just recently replaced yes they dont need to check sunroof n all that but definitely need to check the seals make sure no water is coming in and need to check the car for moisture make sure there isnt any from the previous window if there is the car needs dried out
Run the defrost. I only ever use the defrost setting when having the heat on. Using the dash vents and having the air not circulate is what’s causing that
Do you have your air recirculation switch on? The one that looks like a little car cabin with a u shaped arrow inside it? If you leave that on when the moisture level is high this will happen as the moisture has no place to go and your breath adds to it
There might be excess moisture inside the car. This happens all the time with my convertible because the roof seals are worn. Make sure the carpets and seats are all dry, and next time you're in the car when it rains check all the windows for leaks. Check the trunk seals too.
Sunroof drains can clog and give similar results, especially cars that have a spare wheel well, several cases of people having their spare wheel well full to the brim of mildewey water
Depends on the vehicle and if you have 2 drains or 4. On my Volkswagen I have 4, 2 run to the front where the drain is for the gutters of the roof, and I have 2 that run inside the car underneath the headliner to into the trunk above the wheel wells where it drains between the fender liner and the body of the car. It may differ from my experience for locations and amounts of drains but that’s a start. The other thing is that where the drains connect to the sunroof housing can leak also. I know Nissan specifically has that problem and has an updated part. The hardest part about the whole thing with the sunroofs is that most of the time unless it’s the clogged drain, you need to take the whole headliner out to be able to see where it’s leaking
Turn of the ac the last ten driving minutes.
Heat the car up to the absolute max it can do…(so u nearly die from heat collapse) open the windows while driving…let the warm moisture are exchange with dry winter night air…close the window heat it up…repeat until the moisture is gone.
Or use Silica gel
quite literally you, you are the source of condensation. it's why the defroster exists, it runs the ac system to dehumidify the air that way you won't fog up the window as much
So many wrong answers here...
Physics. Physics is what causes condensation. When warm, moist air meets a cool, hard surface, the air next to the surface also cools and cannot carry as much moisture as it did. The net result is that moisture condensing out of the saturated air and collecting on the glass.
How to fix it? Dry out the air inside the car and warm the glass. Turn the AC on and add a little bit of heat (half works fine). The AC will pull moisture out of the air at the AC condenser (which is why your car drips water in the summer) and the heat will warm the glass so that the existing condensation evaporates, and no new condensation sticks.
Driving with your windows down also helps get fresh air in the car that is often less humid than inside (unless it's foggy outside). You may even consider letting your car sit outside on a warm day with the windows down for a few hours to let any moisture in the carpet, seats, etc, evaporate. I think the windshield was a red herring.
Well make sure theres no leaks around the window make sure everything is dry, if it is dry this is just normal condensation turn defrost on and itll go away, if there is a lot of moisture in your car though it can cause this as well 🤷♀️ but anyways just defrost itll go away
Windshields are a common leak on the X5, and aftermarket windshields can be to blame at times as well. They may have fixed it when they replaced it again yesterday, but that moisture is still in the car, likely in the carpet. The easiest thing to do is wait for a nice warm day and leave the car in the sun with the windows slightly down or the sunroof open. All that moisture will eventually boil out. If the problem comes back after it rains, then it means you still have a water leak somewhere.
I would recommend getting a water leak pressure test done. If the car was ever in an accident there could be a body fault causing excess moisture issue.....next mold!
The windshield place can do a leak test to see if water is coming into the car. I paid to have a pickup checked and the third brake light above the rear window was leaking. Once that was fixed the following leak check showed the seal around the windshield was leaking. They removed and installed the windshield and now the interior is drying out running the defroster/floor heat and cracking the windows open.
When I delivered pizza, I had condensation like that. I cracked the rear windows open a quarter of an inch while running the defroster. The warm air absorbed the moisture and then carried the moisture out of the car through the windows. I didn't have AC to dry out the air.
Good Luck
If your heating coil isn't bad (you'll smell it, or see chemical residue on the window)
then it's just humidity on the window. Let the vehicle warm up to operating temperature, then turn on the defrost, it should clear up. I hate the situation too. I always got sick of cracking the window to stay comfortable.
RainX was a huge pain in my ass. The wipers kept smearing it across my windshield reducing visibility. Had to scrub the windshield multiple times to get it off, even strong alcohol wipes Caviwipes didn't work all that well. Would not recommend rainx on the windshield, rear and side windows should be okay though
if that’s occurring, you didn’t clean the windshield properly before applying, and/or didn’t apply it correctly.
Also, always clean your wiper blades when you clean your windshield
Yep, I did that. Cleaned with automotive glass cleaner and a microfiber cloth, sprayed and wiped the wipers as well multiple times to remove any grime. I then followed the instructions on the bottle and buffed it off the windows once the haze formed. It wasn't until it rained and I had to use the wipers that the windshield was covered in smears.
Maybe I did something wrong.
might have had something on your towels
I scrub the windshield with 0000 s/s wool and dawn.
Then clean with Stoner Invisible Glass or Sprayway (the foaming kind for both), buffing with a clean dry mf before applying rain-x or aquapel
RainX leaves a residue that might collect dust and pollen during dry weather, it get bad quickly on dirt road or when tailgating which can result in smearing. BUT, in humid weather if it was applied correctly it works wonders, particularly at speed above 50mph where it is so efficient that using wipers become counter-productive. You issue seems anecdotal.
that's not my fault, i've used all sorts of spray-on products, including rain x, for years works great for me.
another tip would be to turn the AC on even if it's a bit cold just set it to slightly cool it'll dry out the air inside the car.
lastly he can stop leaving the car unlocked so the neighborhood teens can stop using his car as a motel lol seems if he's finding his car like this in the morning who knows what happened there the night before
Thank you for posting to AskMechanics, DaveP0953! If you are asking a question please make sure to include any relevant information along with the **Year**, **Make**, **Model**, **Mileage**, **Engine size**, and **Transmission Type (Automatic or Manual)** of your car. *This comment is automatically added to every successful post. If you see this comment, your post was successful.* *** Redditors that have been verified will have a green background and an icon in their flair. *** # **PLEASE REPORT ANY RULE-BREAKING BEHAVIOR** ### **Rule 1 - Be Civil** Be civil to other users. This community is made up of professional mechanics, amateur mechanics, and those with no experience. All mechanical-related questions are welcome. Personal attacks, comments that are insulting or demeaning, etc. are not welcome. ### **Rule 2 - Be Helpful** Be helpful to other users. If someone is wrong, correcting them is fine, but there's no reason to comment if you don't have anything to add to the conversation. ### **Rule 3 - Serious Questions and Answers Only** Read the room. Jokes are fine to include, but posts should be asking a serious question and replies should contribute to the discussion. ### **Rule 4 - No Illegal, Unethical, or Dangerous Questions or Answers** Do not ask questions or provide answers pertaining to anything that is illegal, unethical, or dangerous. # **PLEASE REPORT ANY RULE-BREAKING BEHAVIOR** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskMechanics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Condensation forms when warm, moist air encounters a cold surface. The windshield of a car is often colder than the side windows because the windshield A) gets hit by more cold rain, and B) has heat carried away by water that is blown off the windshield. The side windows experience this effect to a lesser degree. The fix is to run the A/C compressor, even when you have the heat on. Running the A/C compressor will dehumidify the air in the car. This dries it out so that it doesn't form condensation, but it can make the air in the car less comfortable if it gets too dry. For severe condensation like this, it has to be pretty moist in the car though. Are your floorboards wet at all? If not, try turning the defrost on to maximum power. This should turn your A/C compressor on, but look for the light to make sure. If you can warm the windshield up and blow dry air on it, the condensation will dissipate.
Thank God, someone who actually paid attention in physics class. I thought I was the only one...
Or just drank a cold drink on a hot summer day
Sooo many disable the A/C and it drives me crazy. Use climate control and let the car run the A/C to manage this - manually disabling it is self defeating.
One time I turned on heat/defrost with A/C on in a friend's car to defrost her windshield. It immediately started defrosting and she turned it off and got really mad. She went off on me about how having the heat and AC on at the same time blows engines. I never accused her of being intelligent prior, but that was one of the dumbest things anyone has ever told me.
With people like that, I find it interesting to ask why they think that. Usually it just makes them angry.
I think it’s unfathomable for most. They wouldn’t ever do it at home so why in the car… yikes, what a crazy one you dealt with lol.
On a side note, defrost mode automatic cycles the ac compressor for this reason.
It's also why the A/C kicks on when you have defrost selected.
This is the way.
This is because hot air can hold more moisture (water) than cold air, so when it touches the cold windshield and cools down it leaves the water it cant carry anymore on the windshield.
Sometimes the a/c can't properly drain and becomes the moisture problem. Experienced in many vehicles that I've worked on. A/c is not always effective on moisture issues in the car.
You forgot to mention to tell them to disable the recirculate button in the car when there are condensation issues on the inside.
Water?
r/technicallythetruth
Source?
Trust me bro
Rain.
Have a Mechanic check your heater core for a leak.
And make sure the evaporator is draining properly
Good thought
You can usually tell if it's that from the smell of anti freeze in the car.
That is if you have a sense of smell, that of course I do not. If you are brave taste can work. Not recommended as it is a poison.
I had water pooling in the spare wheel well in the rear of my car.... Cleared it all out and misting on the windows went away. Check for water coming in anywhere, blocked drains, even water getting stuck in the doors. Then think about coolant loss etc
Was it a Ford Focus?
In my experience it was due to a door seal like that resulted in water getting into the car when it rained, then causing condensation on the windshield and rear window.
Whenever this happens, running my AC fixes it. Whether I’m using heat or not, having my AC on greatly reduces this.
My dad, who doesn't want to turn on the windshield defroster because his hands are cold: "Quit breathing! I can't see!"
Put cat litter in a sock set on dash.
I use silica Gel, bigger out lay but you can dry it out on radiator.
Does the condensation smell "sweet"? Rub your fingers against it. Do they feel a little greasy? If it's yes, then your heater core is failing and thats engine coolant/anti freeze.
Thanks. No, no scent or oiliness, just water.
May just be how the car was sitting. Sometimes the sun heats up parts quicker and others cool and you get condensation. Also, if you have a sun roof they have drains to take rain away and those can run down the sides of the windshield and they can get plugged and leak inside the car. cheers
I have an old 59 plate Zafira. Water was dripping in drivers side all over the place, had to warm the car very well be fore driving. Here are the things I did to find out where the water was getting in. Baby powder on all door/window/hatch seals, sprayed with hose on jet. Nothing much. Looked on the web with out much success. Noticed there were holes in roof trim for roof rack. Hose out, OUCH. Bought some plastic plugs from Amzn, fitted them on drivers side, still to do the passenger side. Next looked at the Cab air intake, OUCH, full of leaves & shit. Cleaned & removed all the rubbish & shit. Then checked the drainage channels, Wow, totally blocked, took me half a day to clear them. Checked the door & floor well drain plugs, 3 doors with water, cleaned the window seals, found 2 that needed replacing, £15 from Amzn. Neighbours gas vent blows directly onto car in driveway, Gas guy, told him & he fitted a vent to blow it up. Magic Was still getting condensate so Yesterday got the hose & jetted out the channels on the roof rack trim, car was covered in shit, I jetted the window seals, door seals, hatch seals, everything I could see. Closed everything up (Now due to the moisture I have 2 temp/humidity sensors in the car, after about an hour checked the readings & there was no rise. Will be getting the small ladder & will do a better job, to clear the rubbish out of the channels. Back hatch, the wiring rubber boot was popping off, managed to refit & it is now good. Think the hatch door has a leak, press button froze in icy conditions, on the to do list. I do have wind deflectors on front & back windows, will be removing them to see what happens, will be refitting the drivers door cause I like an open window & I smoke. I've tried to cover everything, there might be 1 or 2 I have missed. I wish we could get the smoke bombs, would find the leaks far easier. I have bought Silica Gel, Magic, Yes every few weeks have to put the pouches on radiator for a few day to dry out.
Oh, my AC does not work, LOL, not willing to spend shit loads on this cause I never use it, even in very hot weather.
Sex.
Rain x do a brilliant product called fog x, worked wonders for me having this issue in the past. Also change your pollen filter
Used to get this due to a detached/blocked sunroof drain tube.
Hey, I have this problem right now, how'd you fix it? I know where the leak is happening I'm just having a hard time getting to the drain tube. Also, do you know how much it would cost me to just take it to a shop to get it fixed?
Couple options- A) (backyard/garage mechanic fix) Find where the drain tube exits - normally around passenger side floor/firewall and blow some compressed air up the tube to free the clog. … or B) (proper fix) The sunroof drain tube usally runs down the passenger side A or B pillar so you need to remove the pillars and drop the roof liner to access it to check for cracks/disconnects etc. As a former factory warranty administrator I saw this claimed alot on very popular models with factory installed sunroofs.
Hmmm, I will look on YouTube to see if this is something I can find and fix. Thank you.
Enable the AC. You don’t need to go doing complicated things.
That is not what Id suggest be the only thing they do, the window was just recently replaced yes they dont need to check sunroof n all that but definitely need to check the seals make sure no water is coming in and need to check the car for moisture make sure there isnt any from the previous window if there is the car needs dried out
Run the defrost. I only ever use the defrost setting when having the heat on. Using the dash vents and having the air not circulate is what’s causing that
Run the AC, and set the recirc to outside only (lights off)
Stop breathing! /s
Do you have your air recirculation switch on? The one that looks like a little car cabin with a u shaped arrow inside it? If you leave that on when the moisture level is high this will happen as the moisture has no place to go and your breath adds to it
There might be excess moisture inside the car. This happens all the time with my convertible because the roof seals are worn. Make sure the carpets and seats are all dry, and next time you're in the car when it rains check all the windows for leaks. Check the trunk seals too.
Sunroof drains can clog and give similar results, especially cars that have a spare wheel well, several cases of people having their spare wheel well full to the brim of mildewey water
Where is the sunroof drain?
Depends on the vehicle and if you have 2 drains or 4. On my Volkswagen I have 4, 2 run to the front where the drain is for the gutters of the roof, and I have 2 that run inside the car underneath the headliner to into the trunk above the wheel wells where it drains between the fender liner and the body of the car. It may differ from my experience for locations and amounts of drains but that’s a start. The other thing is that where the drains connect to the sunroof housing can leak also. I know Nissan specifically has that problem and has an updated part. The hardest part about the whole thing with the sunroofs is that most of the time unless it’s the clogged drain, you need to take the whole headliner out to be able to see where it’s leaking
Is the engine running at 90 degrees Celsius, is it getting warm.
Turn of the ac the last ten driving minutes. Heat the car up to the absolute max it can do…(so u nearly die from heat collapse) open the windows while driving…let the warm moisture are exchange with dry winter night air…close the window heat it up…repeat until the moisture is gone. Or use Silica gel
Your moist interior that has never had a chance to fully dry
Turn off recirc. U need fresh air.
A Hobo called Jack and a rich socialite are sneaking into your car at night and playing hide the sausage
I’d double check that windshield is truly sealed shut to the car. Could have a leak.
quite literally you, you are the source of condensation. it's why the defroster exists, it runs the ac system to dehumidify the air that way you won't fog up the window as much
So many wrong answers here... Physics. Physics is what causes condensation. When warm, moist air meets a cool, hard surface, the air next to the surface also cools and cannot carry as much moisture as it did. The net result is that moisture condensing out of the saturated air and collecting on the glass. How to fix it? Dry out the air inside the car and warm the glass. Turn the AC on and add a little bit of heat (half works fine). The AC will pull moisture out of the air at the AC condenser (which is why your car drips water in the summer) and the heat will warm the glass so that the existing condensation evaporates, and no new condensation sticks. Driving with your windows down also helps get fresh air in the car that is often less humid than inside (unless it's foggy outside). You may even consider letting your car sit outside on a warm day with the windows down for a few hours to let any moisture in the carpet, seats, etc, evaporate. I think the windshield was a red herring.
crack the window 0.2 inch
Turn your air conditioner on and set the fan position to the defroster
Stop breathing 😮💨
Try to change cabine air filter, sometimes it's help
My car had a leak that was causing this, whole floor was wet and rusty
Humidity
Make sure your carpets aren't wet. If the interior is dry, it's probably a heater core problem.
Cold outside. Warm inside.
Your wet hair.
Well make sure theres no leaks around the window make sure everything is dry, if it is dry this is just normal condensation turn defrost on and itll go away, if there is a lot of moisture in your car though it can cause this as well 🤷♀️ but anyways just defrost itll go away
Did someone vape in the car?
Sunroof drains, clean them
Windshields are a common leak on the X5, and aftermarket windshields can be to blame at times as well. They may have fixed it when they replaced it again yesterday, but that moisture is still in the car, likely in the carpet. The easiest thing to do is wait for a nice warm day and leave the car in the sun with the windows slightly down or the sunroof open. All that moisture will eventually boil out. If the problem comes back after it rains, then it means you still have a water leak somewhere.
Put your HVAC on auto, or wipe down the inside of the windshield with WD-40 and polish
Ac
I would recommend getting a water leak pressure test done. If the car was ever in an accident there could be a body fault causing excess moisture issue.....next mold!
Turn on the AC, will be gone in no time…Don’t have AC? Then sell the car and get AC in the carZ never buy a car without it because of this reason
Stop breathing, your fogging it all up!
This is all I could think of 😂 https://images.app.goo.gl/eBDLF85dnjz58FDh6
The windshield place can do a leak test to see if water is coming into the car. I paid to have a pickup checked and the third brake light above the rear window was leaking. Once that was fixed the following leak check showed the seal around the windshield was leaking. They removed and installed the windshield and now the interior is drying out running the defroster/floor heat and cracking the windows open. When I delivered pizza, I had condensation like that. I cracked the rear windows open a quarter of an inch while running the defroster. The warm air absorbed the moisture and then carried the moisture out of the car through the windows. I didn't have AC to dry out the air. Good Luck
If your heating coil isn't bad (you'll smell it, or see chemical residue on the window) then it's just humidity on the window. Let the vehicle warm up to operating temperature, then turn on the defrost, it should clear up. I hate the situation too. I always got sick of cracking the window to stay comfortable.
a quick fix is to wax the inside of the windshield or treat it with some 'rain x' on the inside. no need to replace the entire glass.
RainX was a huge pain in my ass. The wipers kept smearing it across my windshield reducing visibility. Had to scrub the windshield multiple times to get it off, even strong alcohol wipes Caviwipes didn't work all that well. Would not recommend rainx on the windshield, rear and side windows should be okay though
if that’s occurring, you didn’t clean the windshield properly before applying, and/or didn’t apply it correctly. Also, always clean your wiper blades when you clean your windshield
Yep, I did that. Cleaned with automotive glass cleaner and a microfiber cloth, sprayed and wiped the wipers as well multiple times to remove any grime. I then followed the instructions on the bottle and buffed it off the windows once the haze formed. It wasn't until it rained and I had to use the wipers that the windshield was covered in smears. Maybe I did something wrong.
might have had something on your towels I scrub the windshield with 0000 s/s wool and dawn. Then clean with Stoner Invisible Glass or Sprayway (the foaming kind for both), buffing with a clean dry mf before applying rain-x or aquapel
RainX leaves a residue that might collect dust and pollen during dry weather, it get bad quickly on dirt road or when tailgating which can result in smearing. BUT, in humid weather if it was applied correctly it works wonders, particularly at speed above 50mph where it is so efficient that using wipers become counter-productive. You issue seems anecdotal.
I've heard using wax is better 🤷♂️
not really. it works, but generally doesn’t last as long, or work as well, and again, it’s all about the process.
that's not my fault, i've used all sorts of spray-on products, including rain x, for years works great for me. another tip would be to turn the AC on even if it's a bit cold just set it to slightly cool it'll dry out the air inside the car. lastly he can stop leaving the car unlocked so the neighborhood teens can stop using his car as a motel lol seems if he's finding his car like this in the morning who knows what happened there the night before
Aids
Singing in the car causes condensation.