I have discovered an amazing quirk to 169 ownership, this winter.

After scraping frost of the windscreen externally, I get into the car (once I have prized the doors open; by opening the boot first, to punch open a back door and then in turn the front door) to find I have to scrape the INSIDE of the windscreen also.

I don't think I've ever had a car where I needed to do this.

Is this something all Panda owners enjoy, or do I have a cabin heater matrix leak...?

Its obviously damp.. but so was the weather

Check your coolant levels..
Hope you dont need my GUIDE to
'theMATRIX'

Stick one of those dehumidifier pots in the car and try and get the damp out.

If you have wet car mats, take them indoors in the evening and dry them out overnight.

I have the same problem lol.

Constant misting of the windows in the mornings and cool weather with ice in the winter.

No apparent damp on the inside but coolant needs a top up every 9 months or so and the dehumidifier gels don't touch the issues.

Be interesting to see if you find a cure.

Kronkron said:

I have the same

No apparent damp on the inside but coolant needs a top up every 9 months or so and the dehumidifier gels don't touch the issues.

Be interesting to see if you find a cure.

Click to expand...

Spare tyre bone dry?


How much coolant are you adding? 0.5 litre is enough to make LOTS of steam

I'm conscious not to steel the OP's thread so I will start a new one later.

However the spare tyre/boot seal issue is definitely a point worth bearing in mind give the recent threads on water ingress to the boot and Jocks efforts to work out how to seal them all.

Another consideration the OP should look at as well as those previously mentioned.

for future readers:

Check scuttle drains are not blocked.. search 'duckbill' on here

Check coolant level .. totch: light down the side of the opaque plastic works well

Any doubts about the matrix..
https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-guides/

On cold mornings I often have a lot of condensation on the inside of the windscreen, duckbills ain't blocked and no coolant leaks...

Usually I just crank the demist and heater to full blast until it evaporates!

I'd suggest cleaning all the door seals and applying some rubber restorer to em, need to do it to mine once lockdown is over and I can give the Panda a good clean!

The doors can be SO hard to open if they're frozen up, if I can get the handle to move, I try to push and pull the door firmly to break the seal.

Both of my Panda 169s are dry inside and neither have had any frost inside the windows. You need to confirm the heater air intake is draining correctly. And of course that door seals are not leaking.

Heater matrix leaking is a possibility but coolant has a distinctive smell which most folk would immediately notice.

DaveMcT said:

Heater matrix leaking is a possibility but coolant has a distinctive smell which most folk would immediately notice.

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We certainly didnt..
But that was only like it for a month..

THANKYOU team,

For your extremely kind replies

That al sounds remarkably sensible and there's a few things there, I really hadn't thought of.

Reassuringly, I've never felt the door handle was going to 'come off' and as such it DOES invoke a kind of confidence to repeat-compress the doors towards breaking contact with the seal when frozen- great technique, Rayovac..

And I just watched The Matrix last night with my lad, Varese, so that's quite amusing.

Actually, I do take my car mats indoors (on another car) but I've never considered it on the Panda actually, dac69- good call.

Thanks Kronkon- I'll look in the spare wheel well tomorrow.


I think one of the reasons I find it particularly bizarre; is that the car is just SO SENSIBLE and good at everything; that this seems an incredulous feature- but there's obviously a few common sense things I hadn't considered.

Cheers lads (and lad-ess's ?)

varesecrazy said:

We certainly didnt..
But that was only like it for a month..

Click to expand...

It does help to have some coolant on the water.

DaveMcT said:

It does help to have some coolant on the water.

Click to expand...

Lousy as Oxfordshire water was..
It didnt come out of the tap BLUE..
(Or PINK on the 2nd failure)

dante giacosa said:

I have discovered an amazing quirk to 169 ownership, this winter.

After scraping frost of the windscreen externally, I get into the car (once I have prized the doors open; by opening the boot first, to punch open a back door and then in turn the front door) to find I have to scrape the INSIDE of the windscreen also.

I don't think I've ever had a car where I needed to do this.

Is this something all Panda owners enjoy, or do I have a cabin heater matrix leak...?

Click to expand...

Our 169 does it and our 312 has done it since new. On the 312 I can switch on the heated screen which melts the ice on the outside but I then still have to squeegee the inside, soaking the dash in the process. I've never had a car that doesn't do it to be honest.

There is no need to be going in the tail gate and punching doors open.. that is crazy, it's the door rubber seals that freeze, warm water poured around and on the drivers door will melt the ice enough to get the door open, , then wipe the door seals with a microfibre cloth to dry them, and I then spray de-icer on them, start the car and get the heater on to defrost the car, wet shoes getting in means wet mats and dampness, if you have aircon switch it on(yes in winter), it will dry the air which will remove the dampness that is causing freezing inside the car. short distances are a killer, run the car for longer wipe the damp off windows with microfibre cloths and don't leave damp cloths in the car take the in the house to dry them.
I never buy a car without aircon because it is the best way to have a dry interior in winter.

stop driving around with this button on

dave said:

stop driving around with this button on
View attachment 215218

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Nobody would be daft enough to do that, would they?

Jockcl500 said:

Nobody would be daft enough to do that, would they?

Click to expand...

i see loads of them all the time, driving around not being able to see out of side windows

Proper 'lock lube' works wonders to remove and prevent locks freezing. Liberally spray silicon spray on a rag and wipe the door seals round, generally prevents seals sticking at all.

Our Pandas with air con some times steam up if the air con is switched off for a while on a cold day. Generally I always run with it on above 5C as already said for the dehumidifier.

If the car is that wet inside you need to find the leak. Then put in a proper dehumidifier to dry it out.