Dales944

Does anyone else have to scrape both the outside and the inside of their front glass in the cold weather??? Last year I thought it was due to the moisture from the gaping hole in the battery tray (neglected by the P.O.) but I fixed that last summer and I still get frost on the inside. Once I scrape it it's all over the dash and the seats and the console and the wheel, etc... Is this just the woes of owning a 20-year-old car?

Annoyed in Ohio...

MadMax

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it sounds like you have a leak in your heater core. You could always try some stop leak but it proabably won't work. Replacement of this item is NOT a fun job.

Good luck

Max

jim968

As Max said, it could be the heater core. If it's only the windshield, that's likely.

But if it's all glass, it could also be rain or snowmelt leakage past weatehrstripping / seals around windows, hatch, sunroof, etc. You may also want to check that your cowl drains & sunroof drains are clear. What I'm guessing at here is that you have wet carpet somewhere, and the evaporation from it is causing condensation as the glass cools off.. which then freezes. Either that, or you're breathing too heavily when you first get into the car....<g>

Jim, "It's true that women gain weight after marriage. Single women come home, look at what's in the 'fridge, and go to bed. Married women come home, take a look at what's in the bed, and go to the 'fridge."

Gerald Allgire

Definitely not normal.

User 462021

My car does it too...and it really pisses me off. It doesn't do it every morning though. Only certain days. I guess it has to be the perfect temperature for it.

My passenger carpet is wet, mostly from the battery tray. When it really rains my hatch leaks as well. The sunroof doesn't though.

My car sucks! Oh well, I, um...like driving with the windows open in the morning... hmmm

Chris_924s

Not Normal. heater core definetely. that is exactly wht my old POS ford did when the heater core went. You should have heat (I do in 20 degrees) within 5 minutes.

Mark Parker

Have you been recycling the air when you use the defroster? You need to use fresh air when defrosting, or the moisture from you being in the car will condense on the inside of the glass. It will usually show up on all the glass, but it starts on the windshield.

User 462021

I can live with it...

Dales944

Thanks for all the thoughts, guys. My carpet has been dry since I fixed the tray. Every once in a while a drop or two comes in around the S/R, but not enough to make it damp inside. The frost is pretty much just on the windshield.

Is there any test I can do (or other symptoms to look for) to diagnose the heater core further???

Thanks again!

jim968

Dale, If it's a leaking heater core, you should get a bit of smell of hot coolant when the engine is warm & heater on. If you're not getting that, I'd still suspect a leak from the outside. It won't take much to raise the humidity inside the car, when combined with your breathing. If your carpets aren't _totally_ dry from previous leaks, that could be the cause.

Note also that some window cleaning solutions are worse to attract / not repel condensation.

Jim, heading out into the nasty cold rain...

Dales944

Thanks Jim, and everyone else, too.

SoCal Driver

I got to putting a 55 watt incadecent drop light in the car over night with one of the widows open a crack. Watch out where you put it as it can melt things including the carpet. I made a wire hanger between the sun shades to hang it on.

Fixed the battery tray leak and replaced the door seals and most of the moisture now stays out of the interior.

Chris_924s

Dale- are you getting any heat? or a white mist from the defroster? No heat (or very little) and white not-hot "smoke" from the defrosters is a classic sign of a bad heater core-

User 462021

I looked up the labor on AllData for replacing it and it is almost 10 hours if you have AC!!!

I think I will pass...

Dales944

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Chris_924s:
<strong>Dale- are you getting any heat? or a white mist from the defroster? No heat (or very little) and white not-hot "smoke" from the defrosters is a classic sign of a bad heater core-</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Actually, no, but thanks for furthering the tips. I get excellent heat and the defroster works great. Could I be in the early stages of heater core failure?

If it's a 10 hour job, I'll just keep on scraping. The car is no concourse example to start with.