musty odors & foggy windshields - Car Seat.Org - Carseat, Vehicle & Child Passenger Safety Forums

02-15-2002, 05:41 PM

(This message was left blank)

02-15-2002, 05:55 PM

Since about 1990 I have experienced and noticed that a fairly large number of vehicles of Japanese origin have a much greater tendency to almost instantaneously fog over the windshield anjd most of these same vehicles also seem to emit a foul odor when the A/C is first used after a long period of disuse.

I have personal experience (92 LS400) that the windshield fogging quickly can be extremely hazardous and now I am beginning to see news of medical problems arising from mold and mildew spores "homegrown" in dense and complex air conditioning evaporators.

You can avoid both of these potential problems by disabling your A/C compressor in some manner during the winter months and during the summer months open a window or window at night so the moisture condensed and remaining "trapped" on the densely packed evaporator vanes can evaporate out into the wide world rather than forming a dense "cloud" trapped within the dark confines of the A/C evaporator plenum area.

Some vehilce manufacturers are now retrofitting their cars so the system blower is activated for some period to exhaust the moisture "cloud" from the A/C plenum, and hope from the interior of the vehicle altogether after the A/C system is turned off.

07-31-2003, 08:06 AM

/this is an old thread but I have experience for any one else who may encounter this...
I would bet the farm you have a bad/leaking heater core. My Corvette exhibited the same exact symptoms for years... including a damp floor on the carpeted passenger side. When you turned on the defogger in rain driving conditions, FOG billowed out of the dash, and created its own weather system in the car! Dangerous to say the least! In my case I didn't need the heater, plugged the engine side lines at the firewall, and with compressed air blew the remaining coolant out of the air exchanger box. It dried in about a week. The inner windows also soon stopped getting wet all the time, and my years old allergy problem magically went away..... alot of ramifications from ONE car problem. I will add with my stubborn opinion that the much maligned Corvette is actually one of the safest on the road- its handling on dry roads is so secure.... you can't get hurt in it (*crosses fingers) if you don't wreck it. ;-) 17 years w/nary a dent, 185,.000 miles.

joolsplus3 · 08-05-2003, 08:28 PM

My CR-V used to have a drip in the passeger footwell...I found turning my a/c fan to recirc stopped the water coming in when i went through the carwash and the car started smellling non-moldy eventually

02-15-2002, 05:41 PM	#1
wwest Guest Posts: n/a	musty odors & foggy windshields (This message was left blank)

02-15-2002, 05:55 PM	#2
wwest Guest Posts: n/a	musty odors & foggy windshields Since about 1990 I have experienced and noticed that a fairly large number of vehicles of Japanese origin have a much greater tendency to almost instantaneously fog over the windshield anjd most of these same vehicles also seem to emit a foul odor when the A/C is first used after a long period of disuse. I have personal experience (92 LS400) that the windshield fogging quickly can be extremely hazardous and now I am beginning to see news of medical problems arising from mold and mildew spores "homegrown" in dense and complex air conditioning evaporators. You can avoid both of these potential problems by disabling your A/C compressor in some manner during the winter months and during the summer months open a window or window at night so the moisture condensed and remaining "trapped" on the densely packed evaporator vanes can evaporate out into the wide world rather than forming a dense "cloud" trapped within the dark confines of the A/C evaporator plenum area. Some vehilce manufacturers are now retrofitting their cars so the system blower is activated for some period to exhaust the moisture "cloud" from the A/C plenum, and hope from the interior of the vehicle altogether after the A/C system is turned off.

08-05-2003, 08:28 PM	#4
joolsplus3 Admin - CPS Technician Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Virginia Posts: 15,445	My CR-V used to have a drip in the passeger footwell...I found turning my a/c fan to recirc stopped the water coming in when i went through the carwash and the car started smellling non-moldy eventually __________________ Julie DS, 12y2m, Frontier/Adult Seatbelt DD1, 10y1m Parkway/Adult Seatbelt DD2, 3y9m, Radian 65/Safeguard Go Have a technical question? Click Here

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07-31-2003, 08:06 AM	#3
Unregistered Guest Posts: n/a	/this is an old thread but I have experience for any one else who may encounter this... I would bet the farm you have a bad/leaking heater core. My Corvette exhibited the same exact symptoms for years... including a damp floor on the carpeted passenger side. When you turned on the defogger in rain driving conditions, FOG billowed out of the dash, and created its own weather system in the car! Dangerous to say the least! In my case I didn't need the heater, plugged the engine side lines at the firewall, and with compressed air blew the remaining coolant out of the air exchanger box. It dried in about a week. The inner windows also soon stopped getting wet all the time, and my years old allergy problem magically went away..... alot of ramifications from ONE car problem. I will add with my stubborn opinion that the much maligned Corvette is actually one of the safest on the road- its handling on dry roads is so secure.... you can't get hurt in it (*crosses fingers) if you don't wreck it. ;-) 17 years w/nary a dent, 185,.000 miles.