Guys and gals

Since the weather has been a trifle worse over the last few weeks, I am in constant frustration as the windscrens and all door windows mist up as soon as I get in the vehicle every morning. The heater / blower is totally useless at clearing them and I have wiped and wiped with a dry cloth until my arm aches without any success as the condesation reforms. It is better if the fan is on cold but then I freeze to death in a gale force wind for 40 minutes.

My next try is silica gell unless you have any tips.

Cheers

Sadly, the down side of having a high efficiency diesel engine. My petrol car warms up in about 2 miles, the wife's Doblo takes 5 or 6.

Could your pollen filter be dirty, restricting air flow? A colleague of mine once had a similar problem in his Mondeo and his pollen filter had become soaked which stopped all airflow through it - not a lot of fun as he couldn't keep his screen clear or stay warm - once a new filter was fitted all was well.

As far as temperature goes, I think you should be using warm air as it can carry away the moisture better than cold air - even better if you also put the air conditioning on as that dehumidifies the air before it enters the cabin allowing it to take even more moisture off the screen.

.

Check that nothing is leaking inside the cabin, and that the carpets aren't wet including the underlay under them (once wet this never dries out).

I had the same problem when my heater matrix was leaking, now that's sorted it hardly ever steams up at all

Many thanks all. Will check out your suggestions and see how we go.

Ozzie1989 said:

Check that nothing is leaking inside the cabin, and that the carpets aren't wet including the underlay under them (once wet this never dries out).

Click to expand...

Good point - Last year Mrs_G's drain pipe from the air con unit became clogged. This led to a huge amount of water accumulating in the passenger footwell - I could press down on the carpet and completely submerge my hand!! Luckily this occured during the summer heat wave and it soon dried out after the drain pipe was cleared and I soaked up the pond using and old chamois leather.

Heater`s not on recirculation?

Also worth noting that the way out for the air at the back of the car is at floor level. make sure you haven't covered them up!

Have tried heater on both recirculation and from the outside source. Interesting fact is that when I turn up the heat there is a smell akin to cat pee that comes through so maybe the pollen filter suggestion could be a winner.

Of course I suppose there could actually be a cat trapped under the bonnet !
Never thought of that before - lol

klingon2me said:

Of course I suppose there could actually be a cat trapped under the bonnet !
Never thought of that before - lol

Click to expand...

I saw this once in Spain, a cat trapped behind an engine in a very crowded engine bay, the car had been driven before the owner found out. I think short of stripping the engine out it would stay there too as it was beyond being able to work its way out. It could not be seen but could be heard faintly somewhere in there. Probably went there for the warmth... the car owner in desperation had put some cat food below the car but needed to shortly go on another journey......

Re the problem, Slight heater radiator leak possibly, not enough to wet the carpet but enough to put a film of damp on the matrix. ( hope its the pollen filter though)
Regards

very strange this is discussed , as all dobbins are fitted with an undertray.. preventing entry of any animal the size of a cat....... or am i wrong...

Yes unless the undertray is removed it would be very hard for a cat to enter then engine bay

Ozzie1989 said:

it hardly ever steams up at all

Click to expand...

Sex life on ration now, or to cold for Caerphilly mountain

Steve

Guys and Gals

With all due respect to the obviously heated entries as to whether I really have managed to warm up a tabby, I have to tell you that Ozzie is the main man with his speedy diagnosis of a leaking heater matrix.

As a follow on, I called my local Arnold Clarke dealership who eventually informed me that despite the warranty being valid until May of this year they would be delighted to charge me a £70 diagnostic fee before fixing things. I very politely told the man where to put his £70 diagnostic fee and took super dobbin to my local man who diagnosed things for free and is putting things right on Monday for not much more than Arnold wanted to charge me.

So much for the third year warranty...... Beware

Once again my thanks to all of you. Should you wish to continue the moggy debate don't let this post stop you.

klingon2me stop! Your local Fiat garage should not charge you a thing! I had mine done under warranty, they also replaced all the carpet and underlay in the front half of the cabin.

The garage can charge all costs to Fiat Warranty, just as mine did. The matrix is clearly stated as covered in the book that tells you what is and isn't included in the 3rd year warranty. If I were you I would contact the garage, and if they still won't do it, I'll give you the details of my garage for them to call.

Assuming service schedule is correct and up to date

Of course

Thanks all. The service history is uptodate although the last service was not done with this dealer. That did not come into the conversation. They insist that the first two years are Fiat covered but the third year is a dealer warranty which does cover the matrix but not the diagnostics.

To be honest I just refuse to give them any chance to claim any money back from Fiat. Whether they are correct or not I reckon a warranty is a warranty and if they can't honour it then stuff em.

I know it is caving in to this bunch but to be honest I would just love to meet businesses in all walks of life who conduct themselves with honour and some pride and decent customer service and the way I reward those that don't is not to have anything to do with them.

My local guy "down the road" is brilliant, honest and a credit so he gets my business even if it costs me in the end.

Well at the end of the day, you'd like to give your money to your local guy to keep him going! It's becoming a once in a million chance to find a good local garage nowadays so it's good that you have one

Had mine not been covered under warranty I would have done it myself, although it would have taken me a few days instead of the 6 hours it took the Fiat Mechanics.