We have found that our car wont demist when the temperature is around freezing, the windows all mist up and take about thirty mins to clear, unless we open the windows.. has anyone any suggestions ? were in the Mid West and its a tad cold to be driving with the windows open right now..
and yes we have followed all instructions on how to operate the system, we thought maybe the drier unit in the A/C was defective?

 

Turn dial to 3 o'clock, shut off side vents, turn both temp wheels to the first red dot. Hope this works for you. It works here in Florida when the temp outside dips below 45. (rarely though)

 

Hi stan ,
Tried that as did the garage as did the salesmen who bought one of the cars too, and guess what, no luck, you can actually drive along and watch the mist decending down the screen, its really weird

 

One more suggestion..take your car to your local Mercedes dealer..they know more about the car than the Chrysler guys.. and I find them very accomidating I have my car serviced at the MB dealer same price, but more confidence

 

Hi Stan,
That is prob a good idea, especially as one of the Chrysler salesmen has the identical issue with his car and has no idea how to fix it..I'm pretty sure the drier unit is not coming on..
thanks for the tip..Happy motoring

 

This will happen with all cars if the air flow is set to recirculate versus drawing the air from the outside. I believe it is the bottom button (of three) between the two dials. I have seen this problem several times. You may want to check this. Good luck.

 

Hi,
Thanks we checked that, its not recirculating, well the light isnt on.. what is interesting, is that both cars, are kept outside at night, and I'm wandering if the problem may be that the body is so cold its condensing on it, and the heater cannot cope.

 

Guys: Had the same problem when I first got the car, it would fog up solid, even in descent weather, however, it got to be less and less an issue as I put more mileage on it and now I don't have that problem any more. Are your cars very low mileage? Look, I know that there shouldn't be any correlation to fogging up and the age of the car but if you check on the forum, you will see this issue before. Maybe there is some form of residual moisture in the system from new.
What about you guys who complained about this problem before? We haven't heard any more about how they worked out! Did they just go away like mine or are you still experiencing the same deal?

 

Hi Bob,

Thats interesting, I hope it is, we have 17000 on the clock as we speak...still no nearer solving the conundrum...grin

 

I read about other people with the same problem and I'll tell you the same thing I told them. Read this thoroughly and if you can't figure out the cause bring it to the dealer if it continues.

Moisture is caused by WARM air. Warm air can hold moisture. Cold air CANNOT. Thus it's humid when it's warm out because the air is holding moisture.. When it's winter and cold, the air is NOT holding moisture... it's dry.

Now here's what's probably happening. With the windows up, our car is pretty much airtight. If you turn off the car when the inside is all hot (and holding moisture), and then the temperature outside dips down and gets cold, the air inside your car will get cold. The air can't hold the moisture any more so it forms into water on your windows (where its coldest, thus holding the least moisture and making the water solid) The problem will be even worse if you get in the car with wet clothes or shoes, it will evaporate into the air and then remain there until temperatures come down and then it will form mist or water on the windows. Are any of these scenario's happening to you?

-Try blowing your AC or rolling down the windows for a minute prior to putting the car away.

-Try turning down the heat when your in the car.

-Try wiping off the vapor while the car is cold and see if it reforms the next day. I have a feeling that since it's cold out, your probably driving around with the heat blasting and thus it's holding the water. **Even if the mist on your windows eventually evaporates as you drive the car, unless you roll down the windows and let the warm air blow out, the air will remain inside the car and redistribute itself as mist when it gets cold out again! I have a feeling this is what's happening. Just because you can't see the moisture doesn't mean it's not there!

Anyway I hope these tips helped!

 

Hi,
Thanks, I'm sure you are right.. the odd thing is that it happens about ten mins after you start out, and thats after warming the car for ten mins.. the annoying thing is that we have a top end Volvo, and we never ever have a problem with it.. it seems to confirm your theory, my thought now is that not enough air is expelled from the inside of the car even though it not being recycled..

 

Kit and Kat:
With 17000 on the car, it should have already cleared up if my theory was correct. NJ's information is right, so go figure! The only other thing that I do is that I use the dial in the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock position only and I don't seem to have that problem. Good Luck.

 

Interesting..... on your usual drive do you have any sort of elevation changes? I used to have a commute where I'd have to drive through a higher elevation and I could almost always count on a weird type of flash-over of fog in certain types of weather either at the elevation or passing through it. This was not in a Crossfire mind you, just trying to think outside the box (car) if you will.

Also, regarding the comments of trying to cool the car down at night... this might be an excellent task for REST. Once you arrive home for the night and shut off your car, set the temp to cold and to defrost (???) and press the REST button. This will run the fan for 30 minutes and I would think cool off the car.

Good luck, I hope you get the problem resolved.