Ridiculous condensation

Chat about your 2018+ AW/BZ model Polos here!
Post Reply
david.stark
Bronze Member
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2018 12:27 pm
Drives: SE
Location: Asgard

Ridiculous condensation

Post by david.stark »

Don’t know if anyone else has suffered this but since it’s been getting really cool in the mornings and evenings now, the amount of condensation on the inside of the windscreen and rear window is ridiculous.

It’s full on moisture all over the glass. Had air con on full heat and full blast at the windscreen this morning which took ages to have any effect due to the cold engine. Even when it cleared enough to drive, it took the 7 mile journey to work to fully clear the window.

As for the back window, heater activated and re-activated after timeout on the journey home tonight and there was still bits that it hasn’t shifted.

I have checked around the pillars, roof and edges of the windows and it’s all bone dry. No signs of water ingress.

Any thoughts?
mike sel
Silver Member
Posts: 482
Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2018 11:16 am
Drives: SEL
Location: Dorset

Re: Ridiculous condensation

Post by mike sel »

Odd one that, I had that on one car years ago, took the spare wheel out and the boot had water in it. turned out the seal around the 5ht door was leaking.

I have noticed on my polo that I am getting a little condensation in the windscreen but from my experience no more than I have had on other cars (some cars were better with less condensation clearing quicker others were a lot worse where I have actually had beads of water form on the inside of the windscreen).

In this polo the demist clears it but it did take a minute or so to clear. I have kind of thought that's not brilliant. We have not had heavy condensation conditions here yet, so I will keep an eye on it. I do have a couple of water bottles in the car so that may make a difference, ill take them out and see if it improves.
jackois
New
Posts: 37
Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2018 8:58 am
Drives: Polo SE 1.0 TSI 95ps manual
Location: Southampton

Re: Ridiculous condensation

Post by jackois »

I had a similar situation with mine yesterday and used to get it with my previous car, a Fiat.

Mine was caused by playing golf on Saturday and Sunday and transporting all of my wet equipment in the car. Took a good five minutes to clear everything before driving yesterday.

Have been outside earlier this morning and there's no condensation inside even though the outside windows were all misted and needed wiping down.

Maybe, an intermittent thing?
SRGTD
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 3508
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2015 9:40 pm
Drives: 2020 AW Polo GTI+, Pure White.
Location: UK

Re: Ridiculous condensation

Post by SRGTD »

This subject crops pretty much every year at this time of year on many car forums - not just VW. Possible causes;

- carrying something damp in the car as jackois has already mentioned in the previous post - wet outdoor clothing, umbrellas etc.
- a blocked / wet pollen filter
- if you have a sunroof, blocked drain pipes from the sunroof
- a defective door/window seal, allowing the ingress of water into the car - check carpets, seats, floor mats, boot floor, spare wheel well for signs of dampness or water.

I always run my air con all year round because it dehumidifies the air in the car. Don’t know if it’s just a coincidence, but I’ve never had any issues with condensation inside the car in any car I’ve owned with air con. The only car I ever had condensation issues with was a back in the late 90’s when I had a blocked pollen filter (car didn’t have air con). The pollen filter had become blocked and saturated with water and the inside windows were so heavy with condensation I couldn’t see out to drive safety. A new pollen filter cured the problem.

Pingi car dehumidifier bags (or similar) have been recommended on some other forums by members who’ve experienced condensation issues at this time of year, so maybe worth a try;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Pingi-Dehumidi ... 2962787267
RUM4MO
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 5859
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
Location: Mid Lothian

Re: Ridiculous condensation

Post by RUM4MO »

From my experience of small VW Group cars, ie Polo and Ibiza, and backed up by Fabia owners, since the launch of maybe the 6R Polo and the similar 6J Ibiza and I'm guessing Fabia MK3, there seems to be some basic issues with the heating and ventilation systems that were not evident in earlier models of Polo, ie 9N*, Ibiza 6L and I'm guessing Ibiza MK1 and maybe MK2.

While I was looking after my daughter's late 2009 Ibiza, I just avoided using it in late Autumn, Winter and early Spring due to the windscreen fogging up quickly despite using everything possible to get the inside of the glass clean.
My wife's August 2015 Polo is okay from that point of view, but when certain climatic conditions hit, it quickly turns into an really big issue jumping back into it and driving away, plus getting the heating air to the areas that you need it is not easy, that car was auto HVAC the engine heats up quickly, but you can't make as good use of the available heat or fan power as you could in previous Polo 9N.

So it does in my mind and many others across the VW Group motoring forum world remain an issue, and that issue seems to be some basic design error which I'd hoped would have been resolved before this current version of Polo etc was launched.
david.stark
Bronze Member
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2018 12:27 pm
Drives: SE
Location: Asgard

Re: Ridiculous condensation

Post by david.stark »

Thanks for the input. I’ll order a couple of those dehumidifiers today.

All carpets and seats are bone dry too. Wouldn’t expect issues with the pollen filter on a brand new car but stranger things have happened...
Willni
Silver Member
Posts: 419
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 4:46 pm
Drives: Polo '14 6R, Golf 07' Edition 30
Location: NI

Re: Ridiculous condensation

Post by Willni »

SRGTD wrote: Tue Sep 25, 2018 9:51 am always run my air con all year round because it dehumidifies the air in the car. Don’t know if it’s just a coincidence, but I’ve never had any issues with condensation inside the car in any car I’ve owned with air con.
As with SRGTD, I also always run my AC all year round and have never experienced this.
wabbit1
New
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2018 10:25 am
Drives: SE 1.0 95PS
Location: Surrey

Re: Ridiculous condensation

Post by wabbit1 »

In addition to running the AC, make sure you haven’t got your air set to “Recirculate”

If you’ve got this on especially without AC your windows can steam up badly 👍🏻
david.stark
Bronze Member
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2018 12:27 pm
Drives: SE
Location: Asgard

Re: Ridiculous condensation

Post by david.stark »

I always use air con all year and don’t bother with recirculate mode. Perhaps it’s just teething problems, I’ll see what happens with the dehumidifier things fitted.
Leif
Silver Member
Posts: 498
Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2018 6:21 pm
Drives: SE 95 PS
Location: East Hampshire

Re: Ridiculous condensation

Post by Leif »

I rarely use air-con, the air becomes too dry and I get sore eyes. My new Polo does not have this issue apart from a thin layer of condensation due to the coldness of the windscreen. I don't think you can avoid that in our damp climate. I make sure I have fresh air coming in to the car while driving, otherwise my own breath creates humidity. My VW Up did suffer from internal condensation and even frost but only after I'd owned it 4-5 years and I think the issue was a seal or some such.

A sort of workaround is to carry a suitable cloth or towel to wipe the bulk of the condensation from the windscreen. Not ideal.
david.stark
Bronze Member
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2018 12:27 pm
Drives: SE
Location: Asgard

Re: Ridiculous condensation

Post by david.stark »

Just thought I’d bring this up again as I’m changing the mats over to the rubber mats in anticipation of the dark side of autumn and the incoming winter.

The rear passenger side footwell carpet is damp. The mat itself was dry on the top but damp underneath.

I can confirm the following:

Back window has always been fully closed
No rear passengers at any point in recent wet weather
No wet clothing or umbrellas anywhere in the car
All other footwells are bone dry
Roof lining in all places is dry
The pillars are dry
The bump thing between the two rear footwells is dry
The seats are dry

Any offers on what this could be?

I’m currently drying it out by way of air con pumping into the footwells on max heat. Will keep a close eye on this.
SRGTD
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 3508
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2015 9:40 pm
Drives: 2020 AW Polo GTI+, Pure White.
Location: UK

Re: Ridiculous condensation

Post by SRGTD »

Maybe a defective door seal or the door speaker sealing gasket may be faulty. Both of these have been known to be the cause of water ingress on the mk7 Golf.

If you do a Google search on ‘mk7 Golf defective door seal’ and / or ‘mk7 Golf defective door speaker gasket’ you’ll see a number of hits returned.
david.stark
Bronze Member
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2018 12:27 pm
Drives: SE
Location: Asgard

Re: Ridiculous condensation

Post by david.stark »

Thanks. I think I’ve found the source! Before and after photos below.

After

Image

Before

Image
mike sel
Silver Member
Posts: 482
Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2018 11:16 am
Drives: SEL
Location: Dorset

Re: Ridiculous condensation

Post by mike sel »

Yea good find assumed it was a seal.
RUM4MO
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 5859
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
Location: Mid Lothian

Re: Ridiculous condensation

Post by RUM4MO »

I hope that that was all it was as many/lots/most older versions of Fabia seemed to end up with leaking doors and the leaking coming through the door inner skin from leaks around the window regulator assembly where it fits into the open frame of the inner door skin - very few previous versions of Polo had this issue, some previous Ibizas did have it. This was happening on any of the 4 doors.

One strange thing, hopefully not a new Polo trait or indeed a 6C or 6R Polo trait, but on the 3 door Ibiza 6J, if it gets left parked out of doors in rain, when you open the doors, water pours out of the door base drain holes!! Seem SEAT made very little effort to try to stop water running into the door assembly and so they assume making sure that there is an exit hole sorts that issue out, if you park at an angle, the void in the doors at least on the 3 door cars fills up with water until it reaches the single drain hole which is mid way along the door lower face.

I'm just adding these facts in just in case you find that even with that seal fitted properly, you are still getting water into the rear of your door, that is all.

Edit:- one thing in your favour is, well at least in the past and hopefully still now, VW fitted inner and outer seals where necessary.
Post Reply