Frost developing on the INSIDE

Chiggles · Post by **Chiggles** » January 4th, 2005, 7:53 pm

Hey guys, I don't know if this is a repost or not, but here goes. Have any of you ever had a problem with your Precidias with frost developing INSIDE the cabin durign the winter??? When it drops below -20° C, and my MX-3 has been parked for more than 4 hours or so, I get a lot of frost built up the inside of my hatch. My windshield gets a little frosty on the inside as well (nothing that the heater up front can't take care of in a few minutes), but not quite as much as the back of my hatch where the ENTIRE glass is covered in frost on the inside and it's such a pain in the a-- waiting for the defroster and the rest of the cabin to warm up enough to take care of (probably takes about 10 minutes or so). I don't know for sure, but I'm thinking there may be a leak somewhere but I don't know how to test this. More importantly though, how do I prevent the frost from developing on the inside like that, but if I can't help it, how do I defrost it faster? Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

As a side note, speaking of potential leaks.... up front, if my MX is covered with a fresh sprinkle of snow lightly packed, I just use my wipers to clear them off rather than using the snowbrush. Anyway, whenever I do that, I notice that snow seems to be drifting INTO the cabin cuz I can see it float and land on the dash!!! I don't think it's a problem with my sunroof, but I'm not sure if there's a sealant problem with the windshield or not. I don't get any water coming down from the inside of the windshield when it rains or when I run the car through the carwash, so why would I get snow????

I'm very confused about this, and wondering if this could have something to do with my internal frost problem with the hatch. Thanks in advance!!!

Grants · Post by **Grants** » January 4th, 2005, 8:29 pm

The solution is to move closer to the equator.

Don't know how anyone could live in those conditions!

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » January 4th, 2005, 8:30 pm

IT's possible that it's just that it's humid inside. Try driving your car with the air set to "Fresh" instead of "Recirculate". It nomally revents the windows from fogging, and the foggging is caused by condensation, which would more liekly freeze in cold weather. Driving on "Fresh" for a few days may dry out the inside of the car. The condensation could also be from your breath, from either sitting in the car before getting out, going back into the car, or even smoking in the car

Taras · Post by **Taras** » January 4th, 2005, 11:41 pm

Try adjusting your rear trunk lock assembly down so it pulls the whole hatch closer to the body when it is closed and making a better seal.

Typhoonk · Post by **Typhoonk** » January 5th, 2005, 1:47 am

I replaced the door seals (because they were leaking) and it made a little difference in the frost build up in the front windsheild.
This spring I'm gonna do the rear hatch seal. And also seal up my doors around the speaker and put in a new proper vapor seal in the doors(I ripped mine when doing the speakers....

)

Chiggles · Post by **Chiggles** » January 7th, 2005, 2:58 am

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. My air is always set to "Fresh" 95% of the time unless I happen to be passing through an area that stinks; only then do I ever use "Recirculate", but even then, not for very long so I don't think that's the cause of my frost. It could just be that I spend too much time sitting in the car before getting out. My trunck lock assembly doesn't go down any further than it already is, so I'm sure that seal is as tight as it's going to get. Speaking of which, I don't seem to get any leaks around the door or the hatch, but regarding the snow drifting in from above whenever I push the snow off of my windshield with the wipers.... does that happen to anyone else here? Like I said in my previous post, I don't get any moisture leaking in from the windshield when it rains or when I put it through the carwash, so why would I get snow??? How do I test if there's a sealant problem with my windshield and could this be the cause of my problem with having frost develop on the inside of the hatch???

Zim_Zim · Post by **Zim_Zim** » January 10th, 2005, 10:55 pm

yep thats what you gotta do its all about recirculation...happens to me too, it's a winter thing...i just scrape it off. its fun when snow gets in the heat vents below the wipers and when you turn on the heat when its sucking from outside it blows little snow bits everywhere for a minute..... i get amused easily.

PG13 · Post by **PG13** » January 15th, 2005, 9:51 pm

Not really a Precidia only problem, whenever it get really cold with moisture in the air, it's going to happen to any car.

Note to self: Get remote starter installed

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » January 16th, 2005, 12:22 am

Back window frost. Had similar problem on an old celica. Found out that one of the rbber body plugs in the spare tire well wasn't completely seated and over a long period of time water had acumulated in the spare tire well. Of course all that translated into excessive moisture in the rear area which of course frosted up my rear window in the winter. Try checking all the nooks and cranny's in the rear hatch area for moisture. Also find that running the AC (even in the winter) for a short bit quickly rids the interior moisture (a Vancouver Island routine occurance). Periodic running of the AC during the winter is a good practice anyway.