Hi

I've read others have this problem. I've searched all over the car from rear lights to under mats for damp or wet spots and nothing.

I've also read about the drainage tubes under the scuttle panel below the windscreen but I can't see any tubes or holes. Can someone please tell me where these are located?
Also do you need to take off the wipers to remove the scuttle panel? I could seem to move it much at all to get behind it by just removing the plastic clips.

I did however clear the holes that are located at the top of the suspension struts as water had gathered here but those aren't connected to tubes, only fall into the wheel arches so I'm thinking there is something else to unblock.

Help it's driving me mad so much so that I want to trade it in for something else!

White Hawk said:

Also do you need to take off the wipers to remove the scuttle panel?

Click to expand...

Yes, you do. Remove the access panels in the scuttle trim to get at the retaining nuts. Just give the panels a firm pull directly upwards. Do not try to turn them as you remove them, or the locating tabs will break.

Thanks. Do you know where the tubes are located once I get the panel off?

How much condensation do you have? What do you have the heating controls set at and do they move from that setting?

To actually dry the car out, you probably need to leave it sitting for a few hours with the engine running and the heating on maximum. Or if you've got a dehumidifier for your house, stick that inside the car on an extension lead.


To stop the condensation coming back, the first things I'd check is that your cabin air (pollen) filter isn't over due replacing, and that your heating controls are set to Air Conditioning on (illuminated snowflake) and that the air source is set to drawing air in from the outside.

You should never need to run the car for hours tbh.

I have noticed the 500 does get quite bad condensation if not used very often, but it clears pretty quick with the air con on.

The only condensation we've ever had in ours, is a covering on the inside of the glass roof. Still happens occassionally.

It's quite bad as it runs down the inside windscreen and even frozen on the inside at times. It does have air con but it's always set to bring the fresh air into the car and as you can imagine at this time of year it's set to warm air.

Where is the pollen filter located?

That should say it doesn't have air con

White Hawk said:

It's quite bad as it runs down the inside windscreen and even frozen on the inside at times. It does have air con but it's always set to bring the fresh air into the car and as you can imagine at this time of year it's set to warm air.

Where is the pollen filter located?

Click to expand...

If you have the heater on all the time and the car gets cold then the hot moist air will condense on the inside of the screen.

Yeah I know but nothing like this. I've had other cars doing the same distance and in the same climate and it's nothing as bad as the 500.

Does anyone know where the tubes are that may need unblocked and the location of the pollen filter? I can then check these to rule them out.

How old is the car?

White Hawk said:

Yeah I know but nothing like this. I've had other cars doing the same distance and in the same climate and it's nothing as bad as the 500.

Does anyone know where the tubes are that may need unblocked and the location of the pollen filter? I can then check these to rule them out.

Click to expand...

If yours hasn't got A/C, then you can rule out a blocked or misplaced evaporator drain - one of the most common causes of dampness inside the car. The pollen filter (do 500's without A/C have one?) isn't relevant to the dampness issue.

All the scuttle drain pipework is outside the passenger compartment, so I doubt that's the cause either. Also if these drains get blocked, you'd likely hear water sloshing about inside the scuttle.

There's a known weakness with the sealing around the rear bumper hangers, and water from that source has been reported to affect the front footwells, so I'd have a good look around the rear of the car, and pull out the boot carpet & spare wheel. Another possibility is a leak around the windscreen area, particularly if the screen has ever been replaced; that too has been noted here a few times.

As has been mentioned in one of the posts, the most common reason for this is the 'air intake' control. This is a legal inclusion on all cars and my wife is the master at turning it, thinking it is the heater control
It 're-circulates' the air in the car, rather than letting fresh air in
It was put on cars originally to stop us all getting poisoned if stuck in a Jam in a tunnel!
Check this control is letting fresh air in, then investigate other things!
It is an independent know with a picture of a car and an arrow showing air coming from outside v air coming from inside
Always have it on the air from outside setting, or a steam up is guaranteed!