I did some searches, but didn't come up with much on this particular issue...

It's getting (very) cold now and my windows are starting to fog up to the point I have to keep defrost/AC on full blast to clear up. It did this today on a 45-minute commute. They windows stayed 'frozen' the entire commute.

Has anyone else had this issue? Any tips or is this something to get checked out? Is a remote start worth it in this case?

The wife has a Honda Element and it doesn't have this issue. It clears itself up really quickly and is fine with the heat running.

Thanks!

 

Do you have the air circulation to be internal or taking air from the outside? I've found that if you have recirculation on then that helps fog it up pretty damn good...

 

I have it set to external (not recirculation)...

 

hmmm then as of now I can't help you. It's going to get colder starting this week so I'll get back to here after a few days of cold weather to confirm if i have the same problem or not.

 

Lemonkey,

The problem is definitely recirc....you must have it set on that. Any time you see people driving around with all their windows fogged up.....that is the problem.

Recirc is designed for only short term use....to alleviate a specific problem, like a car is too hot, or too cold. But bring in the fresh air for general driving.

 

It's the other way around.......recirculating the inside air makes the fogging worse.....if I understand correctly.

Anyway I noticed the exact same thing this week as our weather in STL went into the 30's etc. The only solution I have is to have the car in fresh air mode, and have defrost on the whole drive. If I turn defrost off at any point in my 40 mile commute, within seconds everything begins fogging up. I believe there are anti-fogging products out there you can put inside your windows which may help. (Rain-X anti-fog, Fog Clear by Glass Science)

 

Care to explain how that makes sense for his case? Recirculation makes sense coupled with AC because you want to remove any humidity in the air caused by breathing in the car, which for a long period of time can cause the car to fog up. And it's supposed to help warm up or cool down the car faster...but if anything, recirculation on makes it worse, unless you have the AC turned on.

 

The problem that I have noticed is that if you want the AC compressor to stay off then you can't have any airflow to the front windshield. It fogs up right away without airflow.

I want to find a way to keep the air selector to the heat/defrost mode without the compressor coming on.

 

there is nothing to get checked unless your a/c isn't working. it is physics/science that the windshield fogs up. you should select outside air, select the windshield (or windshield and feet) vents, and put the air on anything from warm to hot. a cold windshield fogs up.

 

With defrost on and the heat cranked up, are you getting a strong flow of warm air coming out of the defrost vents? If not, you might feel around under the dash for air flow in case any ducts are loose, or even pull the cabin air filter from behind the glove box to make sure it's seated correctly and is not clogged. Of course, as other suggested be sure that recirc is OFF.


You do understand correctly, and so does nmfit2008 (you're saying the same thing).

For effective defogging/defrosting, the compressor needs to be on to dry the outside air before being blown onto the glass, that's how these systems work. Why disable the compressor for defrost? Power? Mileage?

 

This is exactly what I get, too...and I leave the fresh air + defrost on. Interesting thing was, it was this way on the morning commute. No problems on the evening commute. Do you have the problem on both commutes, or just in the AM?

 

I'm headed home now 9pm(CST)...I'll let ya know, it's possible the humidity levels in the air decreased a bit throughout the day as well. (I'm no meteorologist so I'll tread lightly here, I think I've seen a FitFreak on here that actually is one...maybe he can chime in!

 

Update: No window fog on the way home. (didn't use defrost or recirculate)

 

Is it possible that you were the factor? Maybe your jacket was rained on and wet? Maybe your hair was wet from your morning shower?

 

I know that's not the case for me. My coat stayed in the car all night, it's parked in the garage, and my hair was not wet, but really great thought!! Any access moisture within such a small volume of air could really impact the fog issue.

 

Obviously you guys are breathing too heavily and fogging up the windows! J/k. I haven't had many problems with the windows fogging up but I have had the windshield defogger on and recirculation off. Now that I know the windshield defogger runs the A/C compressor I might try it without.

 

Well, at least we had the same experience.

And yes, I was dry. No wet coat/wet hair/etc. Far too cold to venture out damp!

 

I have the same thing happening here in Sudbury as we're getting below -5 Celcius (daytime high). It only happens in the morning, I ALWAYS have the air on fresh air (never recirculate) and though I do bring moisture in (after cleaning snow off car), why wouldn't this happen at night after I also bring in a bit of snow?

This morning was our coldest to date (-15) and there was frost covering the INSIDE of all my windows. It did defrost pretty fast (dial set to window defrost for the duration of my 45 min commute) but surely there must be some way to avoid having the inside surface of the windows frost up so badly???

 

Stop breathing when you're in the car ;p

 

...men.