Iced Up Inside

[dgs2001]

Morning All

No snow here in Cheltenham, but a temp yesterday morning of -1 and this morning of -2, have left a layer of ice on the inside of both the front and rear windscreen's, two days running.

I had an Avensis from new for 9 years before the prius and I dont think this ever happened.

No liquid has been spilt in the car so I'm not impressed with having to scrape the inside.

Is this normal for a car that runs with the AC/Climate control on auto all the time and has only done 3,300 miles?

Will scraping this ice off damage the little window heating wires? what will happen to the resulting water that is now sitting on the dashboard and rear parcel shelf?

Does everybody have this problem?

Am I just expecting too much?

Dgs

[Jan&tone]

I looked at our carpark this morning and out of 15 cars out there 14 had ice inside as well as outside. The other one is a cab and had been out working all night!

Don't scrape it off the inside, get out 5 mins earlier and let the blower/aircon clear it while you scrape the outside. The inside will then be dry.

Do not use the recirculate switch, you will only be recirculating damp air (from your/passengers breath) you should drag air in from outside the car.

My wife's Aygo lives outside and is icy inside just as her previous 2 Suzuki Alto's used to be and her mini and metro before that, so I'm assuming that it's normal!

Roll on spring....

[flow]

I'm having this problem too - rear window iced up on the inside & thick condensation on the front window.

It was a problem last winter too, although seems to be alot worse this time around.

Is it normal ? Don't know but, this is the only car i've had real problems with.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Never happened to me and I carry plenty of passengers whose breath could cause the damp.

I ALWAYS leave the a/c on and the heater at 20c or 21c on Auto and NEVER use recirc unless there is a nasty niff outside.

Remember, using the a/c on this car doesn't make any noticeable difference to fuel economy in the same way it does with a normal car, so why chance damaging onboard management computers with damp?

[flow]

Never happened to me and I carry plenty of passengers whose breath could cause the damp.

I ALWAYS leave the a/c on and the heater at 20c or 21c on Auto and NEVER use recirc unless there is a nasty niff outside.

Remember, using the a/c on this car doesn't make any noticeable difference to fuel economy in the same way it does with a normal car, so why chance damaging onboard management computers with damp?

I too always leave the a/c on, temp set to around 19.5 deg'c & never use recirculation mode - still doesn't stop the problem on my car.

[DrCez]

Is this normal for a car that runs with the AC/Climate control on auto all the time and has only done 3,300 miles?

Like Grumpy Cabbie, I haven't noticed my Gen 3 car being any worse than previous cars. I always run the demister to help shift ice off the outside of the window before setting off; if there is ever any ice on the inside it has gone before I notice it. The rear window heater seems pretty powerful and shouldn't take long to melt & evaporate any ice.

There have been some reports of new Gen 3's suffering from more condensation than usual but I would have thought by 3,300 miles you should be past that stage. When you use the climate control, are you actually switching on the air con? This should dry out the air inside the cabin and help the problem. If this doesn't help I guess the next step is to try to identify how moisture is getting into the car. I had an old fiesta that had a leak somewhere allowing the footwell to get damp which caused a lot of condensation; or it could just be wet shoes/clothes from a couple of days ago that have left more moisture inside (check if the floormats are dry).

If the sun shines on the car when parked this can make things worse as it allows the air in the car to absorb some moisture which then condenses on a cold surface: usually the windscreen or back window on the shady side. Steeply raked windows (like those of the Prius) seem to be more prone to this for some reason (IMO the side windows hardly ever steam up). The humidity of the air can vary, so it could just be that you're unlucky with the weather conditions at the moment (thinking about it, the biggest factor is probably how much temperature change there is overnight: colder = more condensation).

Will scraping this ice off damage the little window heating wires?

I wouldn't go anywhere near the heating wires with an ice scraper! Even if I'm cleaning it with a cloth I'm careful when working around the wires.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I do recall that the Prius was prone to steaming up for the first couple of weeks after purchase and judging by comments on the US Prius sites it would appear this is a characteristic of the gen3 Prius. However, this shouldn't still occur after 3k miles.

Maybe the car isn't used often and has absorbed cold damp air into the carpets, seats etc and then doesn't have time to fully dry out by the time the car is parked up again? I dunno, is that possible? Otherwise I'd be curious as to whether there is a leak such as a faulty a/c drain or damp carpets.

[timberwolf]

I can get a lot of condensation on the back window of my car, but it spends a lot of the week parked. I've been trying some rechargeable dehumidifiers in the cargo area, but it hasn't been a problem until this week, and I forgot to take the dehumidifiers out of their little storage area after using the car.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I can get a lot of condensation on the back window of my car, but it spends a lot of the week parked. I've been trying some rechargeable dehumidifiers in the cargo area, but it hasn't been a problem until this week, and I forgot to take the dehumidifiers out of their little storage area after using the car.

The one way I stop the rear steaming up is by pulling back the rear parcel shelf pull out cover thingy. Seems to let the air circulate better.

[timberwolf]

The one way I stop the rear steaming up is by pulling back the rear parcel shelf pull out cover thingy. Seems to let the air circulate better.

If I understand you correctly, I rarely use my cargo cover, it just gets in the way, and I did wonder if having it always deployed could weaken the springs?

[Seamaster73]

First thing I'd check would be the aircon's drain pipe. If for any reason this is blocked or not fitted correctly, condensation from the system can route into the cabin causing this problem. I've encountered it on a previous car. Easily fixed.

[jonbee56]

First thing I'd check would be the aircon's drain pipe. If for any reason this is blocked or not fitted correctly, condensation from the system can route into the cabin causing this problem. I've encountered it on a previous car. Easily fixed.

Thanks for this bit of info. I'm suffering severely with inside & ouside ice after 3800 miles. Will ask the dealer to check the vent pipe when I pass by next

[capnbirdseye]

I always use my B&Q discount card to scrape the ice off the windscreen, trouble is it only gets 10% off

[Bazza66]

I always use my B&Q discount card to scrape the ice off the windscreen, trouble is it only gets 10% off

I had a titter at that one! :D

The one thing I would recommend all Gen 2 (as that's all I know about, I just envy Gen 3 drivers!) owners do is if you have just got your car then make sure that the previous owner hasn't put neat water into the washer reservoir. Because during the freeze, my entire washer system froze up and I couldn't clean my screen for 2 days. :ffs:

You wouldn't believe the lengths I went to to drain the washer fluid out of the reservoir, and replace it with a blend of washer fluid and very warm water!

[Jolly English Gentleman]

Indeed - sometimes the same applies if you do have a summer mixture in your washer bottle. During the big freeze one morning when it was minus 5, I attempted to wash the screen at a set of lights and found myself peering through the bottom part of the screen as the water immediately froze. :o

I am only doing short commutes to work and as my Prius lives in the garage I do not have to think about warming my windscreen before I set off.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

It's the first thing I do at the sign of cold or frosty weather - change the washer fluid to a proper winter mix, as there's nothing worse than frozen screen washers when stuck behind a truck. I even do the gf's if she's been good

I was once talking to a Russian passenger about this and he was telling me that they use cheap Vodka as it doesn't freeze in Russian winters! Not tried this and wouldn't recommend it, but I do see his logic.

[Ancient Nerd]

I was once talking to a Russian passenger about this and he was telling me that they use cheap Vodka as it doesn't freeze in Russian winters! Not tried this and wouldn't recommend it, but I do see his logic.

Nothing wrong with vodka. It's ethanol, which is just methylated spirits without the methanol and flavourings to prevent you drinking it. And if you look at the ingredients of at least some of the screenwashes, their main ingredient other than water is ethanol.

[Sagitar]

I used to put methylated spirits in my screen wash in the winter, but it does pong a bit . . .