Yes, frost... on the inside of the windshield! A thick coating of frost. In all my life, with all my cars, I've never seen anything like this. It's totally opaque so I have to let it warm up for 10 mins or more. When it melts, there is a ton of water dripping on the dash, I mean a lot of water.

I got a oil change at the dealer last week & per usual, they always have some add on maintenance thing they insist needs to be done. This one was cabin filter that they wanted to change last time I got the oil changed. I believe the frost started after that although their might have been a minor amount before, I just don't remember.

Anyone see this before? Could the cabin filter change cause this?

Thanks.

 

After using the search function on this site I had not found others with this problem. However I just googled it & got this hit. No real solution there other than opening the windows. My car is parked outside so that won't work. I could leave the read windows cracked.

I just don't understand why I suddenly have this problem that I have never seen before.

 

You clearly have lots of moisture in your interior. Water leak or something.

Because even here in the NW where it rains constantly we don't have frost on the inside of our windows on cold mornings like today. Just frost on the outside.

I have never seen frost on the inside of any car interior unless the windows were left open.

 

Agreed with NWCH. For moisture to freeze on the inside of the windshield, (lots of) moisture has to be present in the vehicle.

 

A leak somewhere... hmmm... okay. In the winter I don't get around to cleaning the inside as much so I think I gotta clean it out a bit & look for wet areas.
I am scheduled to take it back to the dealer in the morning. I will report back what they say.

Thanks for the responses.

 

my 97 prelude leaks and it needs interior scraping....i think you may have a leak....check spare tire well

 

Make sure the HVAC control is not on recirc.

 

Yes the first thing I looked at when I saw the frost on the inside was the recirc lever. Thanks it's a good suggestion but that was not it.

 

Obviously, the mechanic was a heavy breather. 😂

We have K&N filters for the cabin. I wash them every so often.

 

I'm glad you didn't say "Pacific Northwest," like there are several northwests? Should I say that I live in the Atlantic Northeast? 😂

 

Okay, the dealer claims to have found the problem. They tell me that the seals on the two back doors are basically falling off & need to be replaced. Funny how that happened as the seals are fine on my 2013 Fit my daughter uses. I hope Honda saved a lot of money when they changed the adhesive or whatever cost out they did on those seals. Although the seals have likely been leaking for a while, the warrenty ran out in November.

The dealer wants nearly $400 to replace the seals.

edit: thanks everyone for your insight & suggestions.

 

Dealers charge at least double for everything. Ask around for a good private shop.

 

Are you talking about the door seals (seal the door to the side of the car when the door is closed) or the plastic vapor barrier underneath the inner door panels? If it's the former, buy the seals and replace them yourself. I've had mine on and off many times and it's literally just pushing a piece of rubber onto a piece of metal.

If it's the plastic vapor barrier inside the door (more likely), have you had the doors apart before? Once you mess with the vapor barriers they never really seal up again. As above, no way I would pay $400 for this. Pop off the inner door panels and reseal the vapor barrier yourself. Clean the old butyl (the black stuff) from the door and platic using rubbing alcohol and and replace with new buytl rope/tape, which you can find at Napa or similar retailers.

 

I have encountered this, on non-leaking cars, so I can confirm yes, this is due to having too much moisture. What happens is the interior air is warm and wet. When the windshield cools the moisture condenses there.

But you don't need to have a leak for this to happen. For example, if you tracked in enough snow that you can see it pooled or frozen on rubber floormats, that's water that can evaporate and then condense on the cold windshield. If you had the cabin air on heat/recirc and then took a long drive breathing with some friends, that could be enough. In fact, pacific northwest, if you have close to 100% humidity and then it happens to drop well below freezing, that could even be enough. Granted, those situations shouldn't leave enough moisture that you have "a lot of" water dripping off the windshield.

I hope the door seals fix your issue, and I would definitely check and make sure your carpets are not wet - you do need to get the moisture out of the car or it will be in a cycle of freezing/evaporating until spring comes, even if no extra water is getting in. Using your A/C to dry the car every drive will help remove moisture slowly, but of course, won't fix a leak.

 

It's the seal that goes around the frame on the car. It's basically falling off at the top. Funny that my old 2013 Fit does not have that problem. Honda cost out IMO.
It seems a bit difficult to find the correct seal online (for me) & I am hoping the tech will give me the part number. Genuine Honda parts (if I have the right one) put it at $77.18 & I need two. No, at this point I am not paying the dealer to fix this.

Just a few months out of warrenty & this shows up. I wish I had noticed it before November as I am sure they were already loose. The mechanic at the dealer was blaming everything he could on how it was my fault. My car top carrier (SUP taxi) damaged it. After which looking at it, there is no way that caused it. How I must have ran a strap through the door tying something on the rack, which didn't happen as the SUP taxi has it's own strap. It's quite clearly a manufacturing issue.