General Scary 'problem'

[Rumble6059]

Hi Guys and girls,

ive got a SCARY problem that i noticed the other night...

i was driving back from town with the heater on full [and air con switched on] and somewhere along the journey the outside temperature dropped by 8 degrees [dont know at what point it dropped], anyway all of a sudden my windows [including windscreen] started to steam up, it got to the point where i couldn't see anything at all!!!! and i had to pull over, open all the windows, switch the heating to cold and wait for it to clear.

anyone got any ideas what could cause this? cuz it scared the crap out of me, i just kept thinking "what if this had happened on the motorway!".

any help greatly appreciated,

thanks Matt

 

[RobW]

very strange

do you have full auto climate?

did you have the demist function selected, ac on?

 

[Glynnux]

Was the recirculation on? That used to be a problem with my Octavia, even with ac on.
Did you wash the car at the weekend?

Can you reach the screen with the back of your hand? That's how we used to clear the inside of the screen (back when the tax disc was carved on slate).

 

[Rumble6059]

yeah i have the full climate control, both sides were set to 30 degrees, both set to full auto.

didnt have the de-mist function switched on when it occurred as the window wasn't steamed up at that point, but switched that on when i pulled over [thats terribly slow at de-misting anyway!]

 

[Rumble6059]

Was the recirculation on? That used to be a problem with my Octavia, even with ac on.
Did you wash the car at the weekend?

Can you reach the screen with the back of your hand? That's how we used to clear the inside of the screen (back when the tax disc was carved on slate).

internal recirculation was switched off [external supply].

yeah i washed the car at the weekend, could that have anything to do with it?

yeah i can reach the screen with the back of my hand, to clean it with a cloth you mean? just hate doing that to be honest, leaves 'lovely' smear marks all across the screen :-(

 

[Tad-bravo]

next time you want to put your heater on max, make sure to direct the air to the windscreen so that it has the same temperature as your interior.

 

[Glynnux]

Yeah, sometimes water can accumulate. It's a good idea to find where the drain points are and check that they're clear of things like leaves.

Smears are preferable to some alternatives. i.e. what if it happened on the motorway... another good reason to leave room ahead and check mirrors frequently to update your 'map' of your surroundings.

I also never like to touch the inside of the windscreen but in the scenario you described, skip the cloth and go straight for the quick wipe. The back of the hand is not only easier to use but less greasy (why, mine are like old parchment).

I'd try to recreate it on the drive, heater set the same etc. Pour cold water down the screen. I'd try it with the demist set to on and ac on. If you have climate control the demist usually self selects max heat.
Compare recirculate on and off to see which works quickest. With the ac on there is a dehumidifying effect inside the car.

I hope there's a blockage in one of the drains ... only as that's an easy fix.

 

[Rumble6059]

Thanks for all the advice

Yeah, sometimes water can accumulate. It's a good idea to find where the drain points are and check that they're clear of things like leaves.
I hope there's a blockage in one of the drains ... only as that's an easy fix.

not sure by what you mean with this...what drains?

I'd try to recreate it on the drive, heater set the same etc. Pour cold water down the screen. I'd try it with the demist set to on and ac on. If you have climate control the demist usually self selects max heat.
Compare recirculate on and off to see which works quickest. With the ac on there is a dehumidifying effect inside the car.

yeah i'll try this on the drive, see if i can recreate it and if so, which solution works the best to rectify!

thanks again

Rumble

 

[Glynnux]

I'm not familiar with the Fiats yet. I intended having a look at mine today but it rained...
In front of the windscreen below the wipers there is usually a channel which would simply fill with water if it didn't have a method of draining. This is usually referred to as the scuttle and the scuttle drains.
If you search for "Bravo scuttle drains" you will find:
http://boardreader.com/thread/fiat_bravo_steaming_up_acbuX4n6p.html

Which shows there is already a thread on FiatForums discussing your exact problem. I didn't read as far as the scuttle drains part.. It did suggest the pollen filter can hold moisture!
To find out where the scuttle drain exits, pour a cupful of water down the dry screen then squint underneath and see where it comes out.. not highly technical but shows that water is getting through and where.

If that link doesn't help you find the FF thread you could type "bravo steaming up" or "bravo scuttle drains" into the search tool above and see if that brings it up.

It's always good manners to add SOLVED to the title of this thread or the top of the first post to help others know you may have a fix for them when they search.. Also type in how you fixed it in this thread or at least add a link to the post that helped you to solve yours. (helps to make you a star with Bravo owners) (all cars have these little foibles)

 

[JTD_Liam]

Hi Guys and girls,

ive got a SCARY problem that i noticed the other night...

i was driving back from town with the heater on full [and air con switched on] and somewhere along the journey the outside temperature dropped by 8 degrees [dont know at what point it dropped], anyway all of a sudden my windows [including windscreen] started to steam up

The clue for me is 'aircon switched on' and 'outside temperature dropped by 8 degrees'.

My bet would be that the aircon was running with the heater & when you got out of town into a less built-up area, the temp dropped below the level at which the aircon will work (aircon systems automatically don't come on below a certain temp). When this happened the dry air from the aircon became more moist (love that word) as the aircon was no longer extracting the moisture from the incoming air & upon making contact with the windows, it steamed them up.

Alot of cars will do that if you have the aircon on & then switch it off.

The cure - if you select FULL AUTO and the aircon symbol comes on, switch off the aircon so its just the heater. You really only need aircon in the summer otherwise you'd have to leave it on all the time to keep a car de-misted, which is wasteful.

By all means run it periodically to keep it in working order, but aircon isn't needed to de-mist a car, as tempting as it is with the Bravo's slow heaters.