Condensation on windows

TDI_luver

Newbie
Jul 11, 2006
115
0
Ireland
Same problem with my new Toledo.

Front passenger window comes up soaking wet on the inside if slid down and up again.
So its not just a new Leon problem....and i've seen someone report it on the Altea also.

I can only guess that rainwater gets in between the glass and seal at the top / side and runs down the inside along the front or rear edge of the glass, then spreads out along the felt on the inside. How else could the felt strip on the inside get soaking wet ? The water certainly is not defying gravity by climbing up the inside of the door .....:cry:

Some things never get sorted on SEAT cars, even after a model change !!
 

Ol' Timer

Full Member
Jun 20, 2004
873
2
Norfolk
Here's my theory.

Looking at pictures of the New Leon the top edge of the window curves down quite sharply at the front to follow the steep rake of the A pillar.

It appears to me that once the window is lowered about halfway the glass disappears below the top edge of the door at the front. As water is wiped off the window as it is lowered it will gather on the rubber strips at the top of the door and once the glass is low enough it can run across the top of the glass at the front and reach the felt on the inside. I assume capillary action could help with this if the inside felt and outside rubber strips are close enough.

When the window is raised again it would wet the inside of the glass.

Just my theory and probably rubbish. But I am not sure the glass on my Ibiza, for example, disappears below door level at the front in the same way as the Leon's appears to.
 

welsh80

Guest
Hmmm well I am not having a lot of luck with my Leon, its currently in the garage becuase the doors will not lock....however I did mentioned the wet windows and was assured by Seat Wimbledon that was quite normal. Not sure what to do now !
 

hangten0

Guest
wet windows

same problem as others have reported :( , rained, window down then up, wet on the inside mostly near drivers wing mirror, not as bad on passenger side but still some moisture, none as yet on rear windows.

not going to bother about it until car goes in for service, so would appreciate anybody who has got seat looking at it now to let us know what/if/when the fix is.

Cheers
 

TXOSBI

Guest
I'll be contacting my garage again soon for any updates, it was in on the 9th/10th Nov.

I'll let you know the results, I'm getting annoyed with the wet smeared window all the time, it's not going to get drier in the next few months!
 

FR*Man1984

time for a MINI adventure
My dad picked up his new car, a used ex-fleet managers car. Just over 1 year old with 9,000 miles on the clock. (background info over)

I was sat in the car with the dog after going on a short walk, dull day no rain, but was quite mild. After about sitting in the car for about 15 mins, I noticed the windows around me had started to steam up! And the whole car was quite badly condensated, which in my eyes isn't too good. My theory is that the aircon has perhaps not been used much with previous owner, or that the aironditioner hadn't got rid of the excess water whilst the engine and aircon was running. So when I have the car later on this week, think I'll try and clear the system by running full heat/full power and see if it will infact stop this from happening again. As the car seemed to steam up everytime the engine/aircon was switched off!

Does this seem to be a similar situation?
 

ayeaye

Full Member
Jan 12, 2006
33
0
Aberdeen
I don't have a condensation problem ( similar age / mileage to above) but I do have wet windows on the inside. Car going in for service tomorrow so will see if they are aware of anything that could be causing this - but from all the above posts sounds unlikely and that this is just a design issue.
 

ayeaye

Full Member
Jan 12, 2006
33
0
Aberdeen
Back from the garage today - according to them, excess water will flow down the windows through the door as designed so when the windows are put down they are likely to get wet on both sides.

The Ibiza courtesy car I had seemed to have the same problem - windows were quite streaky which I get on the Leon.

If this is the case then it seems like poor design - I'm remaining sceptical at the moment.
 

welsh80

Guest
I was told the same thing by Seat and funny enough the Ibiza courtesy car I had also had the same problem - think I am with you on this because it seems very dubious.
 

TXOSBI

Guest
I think the answer we are getting from seat is bobbins! I've never had this on any car before, even on a new TVR I bought years ago.

In my opinion it's unacceptable to be left as a 'feature', having a smeared streaking drivers window hampers the clear view so there's a safety issue.
 

mliley01

Active Member
Nov 26, 2006
57
0
Solihull
I dont get the 'wet' inside to the windows, mine are totaly dry... but I seem to get bad condensation on the windscreen and rear windscreen... I've done all the previously suggested remedies (window down to dissipate moisture, circulation turned off, etc) but it just seems to be getting worse. I never EVER suffered from any condensation in my audi... dont understand why I am now...:confused:
 

TDI_luver

Newbie
Jul 11, 2006
115
0
Ireland
The SEAT answer is crap.....yes of course rainwater is allowed to flow down the outside of the glass, through the door and drains out at the bottom to the outside...as long as there is a moving sheet of glass, there is no way of waterproofing the inside of the door completely against rainwater, so it is designed to get wet inside and allow the water to drain away through the drainholes.

That is why there is a moisture barrier inside the door card...too keep that rainwater away from the inside of the car, and direct it away through the designed drain channels.

However there is no reason on earth that water should find its way to the inside of the cabin, especially gathering on the inside of the glass.....any moisture inside the car will cause fogging up in cold weather when the heater is on. (Ever get into the car with wet clothes/ hair after a shower of rain ??)

I want to locate the cause of this myself, its happening on only 1 window at the moment, the passenger front window. It's obviously a window seal issue somewhere. Luckily my local Dealers are fairly approachable and honest about stuff, so if I cant fix the problem myself, I will let them have a go...

BTW, This is the fourth SEAT that I have owned, all different models, and the fourth that has leaks inside the cabin. No SEAT is ever 100% dry at all times....bit like a FIAT !!

E.g.: Arosas and older Ibizas fill up inside due to rear wash/wipe plumbing connections disintegrating behind trim and thus filling up the car with screenwash, my old MkII Toledo nearly broke my heart with wet footwells where all 4 doorseals leaked rainwater from inside the doors into the footwells, and had a leaking pollen filter cover, and had a leaking plenum chamber panel (in front of driver's seat). It was like a scene from Das Boot....as soon as one leak was fixed, water poured in from somewhere else !

If you dont have wet glass, but your windows fog up badly (with clean glass !) then check the carpet in all 4 footwells....press down well with your knuckles as the padding underneath is very thick and absorbent. Check the boot carpet also.

I believe that new Alteas and Toledos have a common fault with wet passenger footwells where the drain pipe from the aircon unit to the bottom of the car splits and leaks water into the footwell. The ironic thing about this is that if you have the wet window problem and you use the aircon to dry the insid eof the car, if you also have the aircon drain hose problem, the condensed water from the aircon condesnser pours into the footwell instead !!
 

OLDOILER

Full Member
Jul 28, 2005
1,292
1
Wiltshire, UK
same problem as others have reported :( , rained, window down then up, wet on the inside mostly near drivers wing mirror, not as bad on passenger side but still some moisture, none as yet on rear windows.

not going to bother about it until car goes in for service, so would appreciate anybody who has got seat looking at it now to let us know what/if/when the fix is.

Cheers
Had a simlar problem with other cars that have pollen filters

a) is due for renewal??
b) is the recirc ON

either of the two have caused me problems in the past on other Marques
 

AR-CoolC

Full Member
Feb 3, 2006
295
3
Lincoln
The SEAT answer is crap.....yes of course rainwater is allowed to flow down the outside of the glass, through the door and drains out at the bottom to the outside...as long as there is a moving sheet of glass, there is no way of waterproofing the inside of the door completely against rainwater, so it is designed to get wet inside and allow the water to drain away through the drainholes.

That is why there is a moisture barrier inside the door card...too keep that rainwater away from the inside of the car, and direct it away through the designed drain channels.


The design of the doors on the New Leon means there is no moisture barrier on the door card, or door frame.

What I believe is happening is:
Rain water runs down the glass, some goes into the door and drains out of the bottom, but some sits in the felt outer trim of the window, espessially when winding windows down.

So, because this trim is wet, and the window is wound down the wet outer felt rests against the dry inner felt, and when you wind the window back up that moisture is transfered to the inside of the glass.

I don't really have much of a problem with this, and can only put this down to:
a) I hardy ever open the windows
b) My windows are kept as clean as poss, so as soon as the car is above 30mph the windows are completely dry due to the water being blown off (smirk), therefore the felt trim is reletively dry.


Cheers
Ali
 

Ol' Timer

Full Member
Jun 20, 2004
873
2
Norfolk
The design of the doors on the New Leon means there is no moisture barrier on the door card, or door frame.

What I believe is happening is:
Rain water runs down the glass, some goes into the door and drains out of the bottom, but some sits in the felt outer trim of the window, espessially when winding windows down.

So, because this trim is wet, and the window is wound down the wet outer felt rests against the dry inner felt, and when you wind the window back up that moisture is transfered to the inside of the glass.

That is more or less what I was suggesting (rather clumsily) in my post no. 23 above. As an experiment you could try stopping the window before it is completely wound down into the door and see if this makes any difference.

Also is there a gap between the felt and glass on the inside as this could cause the felt to 'paint' any water onto the window rather than wiping it off as the window is raised?
 

TDI_luver

Newbie
Jul 11, 2006
115
0
Ireland
Hi guys,

Interesting theories on the rainwater ingress, but there are one or two things which go against proving them correct (at least in my case; maybe there is more than one type of leak..?)

1. This problem only happens with the passenger window.

2. I open the drivers window probably 10 times more often that the passenger's window, and have no such problems. I am assuming here that the driver's window is subject to just as much rain as the passenger window.

3. I also tend to open the driver's window fully to clear rain drops from the outside when starting up. I rarely open the passenger window more than 1/4 or 1/2 - therefore the inner and outer felt strips never come in contact - and there is an air gap between them anyway. But the glass section than goes below the felt always comes back up wet.

Additionally, by careful experimentation and observation, the glass seems to get wet from the rear end (i.e. the 'tall' end near the lock end of the door, not the mirror end of the door.

I WILL find the answer to this yet, trust me. I just need a little more time and some more rain.:think:
 

TXOSBI

Guest
I only have the wet inside to the window on the drivers side.
I only have to put the window down a few inches, never the whole glass down, I still get the wet inside window.

Still searching for the answer.
 

TXOSBI

Guest
Had to ring the dealer yesterday, alarm kept going off, must be booked in for a new sensor to be fitted.

Asked again if they'd heard anything from Seat re the wet windows, nothing as yet!
 
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