Steamy windows IS300h

[Ken83]

Hi All,

Had my IS300h for almost a month now and I love it so far. Had a few niggles to begin with but gladly sorted by the dealership.

I have however noticed that the inside of the car steams up quite easily when its more that just me. Even when the heating is set to auto and the A/C is on. this has only started happening as far as I can remember as the weather has got colder and it's been raining. 

Has anyone else experienced this and is there something I am doing wrong?

Had a 2005 BMW 120d before this and I would stick it in auto heating mode at 20 degrees and turn the AC off an the windows never frosted up regardless of weather. Was expecting this to be an even better system being a Lexus - so sincerely hoping im doing somthing wrong as sonctantly turning on the demister can be annoying.

Thanks all,

Ken

[cruisermark]

I can suggest 2 things:

1) Check for any dampness within the car i.e footwells and carpets

2) Ensure ventilation is set to outside air not re-circulate.

3) Set airflow to feet and front screen.

Hope this helps

[wharfhouse]

In all my cars when the weather has been very damp or turned cold outside there can be a very brief period when starting the car that there is some slight fogging of the windows when the AC is on but this clears within a few seconds as the internal fans come on and so is not a problem. I did have a BMW once where the fogging persisted and when the garage checked they found that the drains for the condensation form the AC (that exit under the car) had become blocked. The garage blew them clear and the problem went away. Since then I do look now and again when the weather is hot to make sure there is a small puddle of condensate under my cars after stopping so I know the drains are clear. If you have persistent fogging on the inside of the windows with the AC on then it could well be this problem that the AC drains are blocked and need clearing.

[i-s]

Also make sure that cabin pollen filter has been replaced and that the insides of the windows are clean (humans are mucky things that exude oils and grease. This sticks to your windows. Dust then sticks to the oils. The dust provides a surface on which water will condense much more easily - clean the insides of the windows thoroughly and you'll find that there's less tendency to get condensation). 

[Ken83]

49 minutes ago, cruisermark said:

I can suggest 2 things:

1) Check for any dampness within the car i.e footwells and carpets

2) Ensure ventilation is set to outside air not re-circulate.

3) Set airflow to feet and front screen.

Hope this helps

Thanks - it's set to outside air and i try to set it to feet and screen airflow but pressing auto over-rides.

I will however check the footwells.

Cheers,

Ken 

[Ken83]

32 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

In all my cars when the weather has been very damp or turned cold outside there can be a very brief period when starting the car that there is some slight fogging of the windows when the AC is on but this clears within a few seconds as the internal fans come on and so is not a problem. I did have a BMW once where the fogging persisted and when the garage checked they found that the drains for the condensation form the AC (that exit under the car) had become blocked. The garage blew them clear and the problem went away. Since then I do look now and again when the weather is hot to make sure there is a small puddle of condensate under my cars after stopping so I know the drains are clear. If you have persistent fogging on the inside of the windows with the AC on then it could well be this problem that the AC drains are blocked and need clearing.

This isn't an issue when I start the car in the monrong, more after driving with people inside talking for a little.

Thanks

Ken

[Ken83]

26 minutes ago, i-s said:

Also make sure that cabin pollen filter has been replaced and that the insides of the windows are clean (humans are mucky things that exude oils and grease. This sticks to your windows. Dust then sticks to the oils. The dust provides a surface on which water will condense much more easily - clean the insides of the windows thoroughly and you'll find that there's less tendency to get condensation). 

I cleaned the inside of the windowns at the weekend because I thought t was exactly what you were suggesting. I did the windscreen and the rear screen to see if there woudl be a difference with the side windows but they all seem to frost up the same. Will check the pollen filter (when I figure out where it it :-D).

Thanks for the suggestions.

Ken

[wharfhouse]

13 minutes ago, Ken83 said:

This isn't an issue when I start the car in the monrong, more after driving with people inside talking for a little.

Thanks

Ken

Definitely not a problem in my IS 300h - even with 4 up. I pretty much never change my climate control from auto with AC on and just let it do it's own thing. If the car is indeed dry inside (e.g. carpet in the footwells etc.) and after checking the other suggestions I would suspect the clogged drains next. On my BMW that has this they said it happens with road dirt getting into the drains and blocking the ends. If not that then if AC is running properly and vents inside the car are open this should definitely keep the inside of the car clear of any condensation.

[Cotswold Pete]

To keep windows clean, I use damp newspaper to rub them clean, then windowlene to finally de-smear surface.

The problem is that humans breathe out warm damp air, and warm air carries more moisture than cold air.  So by heating up the car you have more wamr air, capable of carrying all that moisture with ease to the window surface. Here the glass is cold, so the air cannot carry so much moisture, and it dumps a film of water of the window.  So the only for sure way to sure is to get the glass hot enough to stop this, put a plastic bag over your passengers heads, or as I do, put AC (which dries the air out - somewhat) and also tilt the sun roof to allow better flow of cooler air into car.  Though not sure if the IS350 has a sunroof?

An average a human excretes about 30ml of water an hour (breathe and sweat), so does not take long for a car to have enough get steamed up.

[royoftherovers]

3 hours ago, Ken83 said:

Hi All,

Had my IS300h for almost a month now and I love it so far. Had a few niggles to begin with but gladly sorted by the dealership.

I have however noticed that the inside of the car steams up quite easily when its more that just me. Even when the heating is set to auto and the A/C is on. this has only started happening as far as I can remember as the weather has got colder and it's been raining. 

Has anyone else experienced this and is there something I am doing wrong?

Had a 2005 BMW 120d before this and I would stick it in auto heating mode at 20 degrees and turn the AC off an the windows never frosted up regardless of weather. Was expecting this to be an even better system being a Lexus - so sincerely hoping im doing somthing wrong as sonctantly turning on the demister can be annoying.

Thanks all,

Ken

Hi Ken,sorry to read this. Are ALL of your controls set as per the Handbook recommendations, before you go adjusting anything?

[chris1601]

Sounds to me like the compressor may not be working properly, either electrically or lack of refrigerant. Even with 5 adults on a rainy day, an AC system should be able to cope with the moisture load with ease. If you direct the air to the screen, does any misting clear within a few seconds?