Northern Auto Tech - ECU and Blue & Me Repairs

Technical Frozen Windcscreen

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Technical Frozen Windcscreen

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catherinej

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Has anyone else got a problem with their 500's windscreen freezing on the inside.

We have noticed that when we leave the car at the end of the day a patch of mist forms on the inside and that when we have a frost overnight, this leaves us with the inside of windscreen frozen in the morning.
 
as others have said its just condensation from damp floor mats or whatever, just get that heater on.
 
And if you've got aircon fitted turn it on too as well as the heater.
 
neh0 said:
And if you've got aircon fitted turn it on too as well as the heater.
Click to expand...

Air con won't help defrost the windscreen. Only the heater will.

The crux of the story is this. The warmer the air the more moisture it can absorb. So the warmer you keep the inside of your 500 then the higher the chances are of you getting the windows misting up and freezing

humidity%20versus%20temperature%20minus20%20to%20plus50.jpg


A great example is the fact that when it's cold and you breathe out the moisture in your breath immediately condenses.

As people say, make sure the inside of your car is as free of moisture as possible. I've mentioned ways of ensuring this doesn't happen and I'm not about to type them out again. Good use of the Search function will find you the answers.
 
And the aircon dries the air and helps remove the moisture.

Nice graph btw.
 
I had my Fiat 500 sport booked into the Fiat garage yesterday (June 1 2011) for a few reasons - one included the freezing of the windscreen caused by condensation inside the car. On a very cold day it freezes the windscreen, on a moderatly cold day it clouds up the windscreen so I have to sit there for 10 mins with the heaters on until I can see anything (wiping it doesn't help as it clouds straight back up). The Fiat garage told me it was a known fault with the 500's and Fiat are looking into it. They have not recalled cars yet as they have no way of fixing the problem.

No help to me, or you, but every cold day last winter I was de-icing the inside and the outside of my 500 which is ridiculous, especially as you end up with all the frosting all over your dash.

The garage said they'd get in touch if Fiat sorted out the issue.
 
DC123 said:
I had my Fiat 500 sport booked into the Fiat garage yesterday (June 1 2011) for a few reasons - one included the freezing of the windscreen caused by condensation inside the car. On a very cold day it freezes the windscreen, on a moderatly cold day it clouds up the windscreen so I have to sit there for 10 mins with the heaters on until I can see anything (wiping it doesn't help as it clouds straight back up). The Fiat garage told me it was a known fault with the 500's and Fiat are looking into it. They have not recalled cars yet as they have no way of fixing the problem.

No help to me, or you, but every cold day last winter I was de-icing the inside and the outside of my 500 which is ridiculous, especially as you end up with all the frosting all over your dash.

The garage said they'd get in touch if Fiat sorted out the issue.
Click to expand...

Could try coating the inside with Rainx, a quick wipe and you will be done.

Its worked on outside of screen and windows when frosty. Whilst neighbours are covering screens with papers we just left ours as is, in the morning a quick wipe slid of any frost - which was minimal to begin with.

On the outside you have to reapply Rainx every other week, also note there is smearing when using wipers at low travel speeds, at high speeds in rain you don’t need to use wipers. Anyway it’s a great option, read the label first before buying and using, I am not taking responsibility of any crashes.
 
DC123 said:
I had my Fiat 500 sport booked into the Fiat garage yesterday (June 1 2011) for a few reasons - one included the freezing of the windscreen caused by condensation inside the car. On a very cold day it freezes the windscreen, on a moderatly cold day it clouds up the windscreen so I have to sit there for 10 mins with the heaters on until I can see anything (wiping it doesn't help as it clouds straight back up). The Fiat garage told me it was a known fault with the 500's and Fiat are looking into it. They have not recalled cars yet as they have no way of fixing the problem.

No help to me, or you, but every cold day last winter I was de-icing the inside and the outside of my 500 which is ridiculous, especially as you end up with all the frosting all over your dash.

The garage said they'd get in touch if Fiat sorted out the issue.
Click to expand...

IMHO there is no problem with the car. The problem is that as above, the warmer the inside of the car, the more moisture the air will hold.

humidity%20versus%20temperature%20minus20%20to%20plus50.jpg


So the warmer your car is when you park it up, the more likely it will be to get condensation freezing on the inside of the screen. Fiat will not be able to fix this, it's the laws of phsyics.....
 
I think there's a balance to be struck here- misting and maybe a little freezing is to be expected but I've certainly never experienced such extensive frosting as DC123 described.

Can I vaguely remember someone having a leaky heater matrix on here a good while back that led to similar symptoms?
 
loveshandbags said:
I thought with all that golfing arorat that you would be 'throwing caution to the wind' :)
Click to expand...

Last thing you want to do is tell someone to apply the stuff and then get the blame, sadly we are mature and in the fabric of safety.

btw: I got told off for telling someone to take up biking (because they bought up the topic), I mean wtf can’t they decide if its dangerous or not ?
 
arorat said:
Last thing you want to do is tell someone to apply the stuff and then get the blame, sadly we are mature and in the fabric of safety.

btw: I got told off for telling someone to take up biking (because they bought up the topic), I mean wtf can’t they decide if its dangerous or not ?
Click to expand...
RainX do an anti-misting product as well btw :) Personally I didn't like it when I used it.
 
I was only kidding arorat. Again off topic but our local bicycle shop are no longer selling fixed wheel bicycles because someone was looking for compo after falling off because they thought it was 'safe' bicycle to cycle. Someone with a legal mindset would be better at this than me - but if you are giving advice and your not getting paid for it (& it's possibly not your profession ?) you cann't be 'taken to the cleaners'.
 
loveshandbags said:
I was only kidding arorat. Again off topic but our local bicycle shop are no longer selling fixed wheel bicycles because someone was looking for compo after falling off because they thought it was 'safe' bicycle to cycle. Someone with a legal mindset would be better at this than me - but if you are giving advice and your not getting paid for it (& it's possibly not your profession ?) you cann't be 'taken to the cleaners'.
Click to expand...

That is so funny "looking for compo..." Maybe the kids dad got pissed off with me after I told him to go get a fireblade after he qulified for it :devil:
 
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