Is there a solution to my constant problem with my windshield?

[GigaCluster]

I live in a household with three cars. Every day I drive to school. Every day, I get in and my window is fogged up. I have to turn on my defroster to get the minimum relief. When it's raining, water "sticks" and even when I use my wipers it leaves a layer of water, making it hard to see. At night, when I drive, my window is fogged, but it's nothing that a defroster can deal with. The streetlights and oncoming headlights are under a foggy haze and it's hard to see anything. In the winter, my windows have a layer of frost on them and I have to sit in the car for 5-10 minutes with my defroster set to max heat before I can see ANYTHING out the window. When I drive to school there's several hundred feet of road where the sun is shining right in my face, and normally it wouldn't be a problem, but my windshield with its layer of fog seems to diffuse this sunlight to where I am almost blind -- I have to strain my eyes to see the white lane marker. I cannot see any cars ahead of me, so I would not be at all surprised to feel the thump of hitting a car ahead of me. Yes, I am that blind on that short strip.

The same thing happens to the other two cars. I tried twice to use a window cleaner, and thoroughly cleaned my windshield with it, but that does not eliminate the problem.

Generally I would assume that this is normal (this is why they have defrosters, right?), except that no other cars in my neighborhood seem to be suffering from this problem! Their windshields are always clear and water-free (while their cars are sitting in their driveways), and they never have frost on their windshields.

This leads me to believe that there is a popular solution out there that is obvious to most people, but I (as a teenager from another country) am unaware of. Can you recommend a cleaner or tell me some other way to take care of my windshield?

 

[Spoooon]

My old car (96 Cutlass Supreme) was like that all the time. It didn't really matter what the weather was like, every morning the front and rear windshield would be fogged up. Rainx works pretty good though.

 

[Mutilator]

You have several things acting against you here...
Inside the glass:
It sounds like you're having an outgassing problem (gasses escaping from your dashboard) and/or your car has too much moisture in it... does it leak at all?
- Clean inside your windshield thoroughly with a good glass cleaner and preferably some microfiber towels. Or just water and a microfiber towel. You can buy good microfiber towels online or you can get some cheap NicSand microfiber towels from walmart... just don't use them on your paint.
- Once you get your windows clean you need to use a protectant on your dash... DON'T use armorall. If you want to use something you have around your house use lemon pledge. Or you can buy a product called 303 Aerospace protectant. You can order that from www.properautocare.com. They are a very good and reputable retailer of detailing supplies. That should help your outgassing problem some.
- You may also want to try a Rain-X product (or similar) that prevents fogging - I havn't used one of these so I can't give you my personal recommendation.

Outside the glass:
- Again, clean the glass thoroughly with some glass cleaner and a microfiber towel. You may even want to use a claybar on your windshield and/or a good glass polish such as Zainos clear view glass polish.
- Once you have the glass completly clean you can apply some regular Rain-X. This will help the water bead up and stay off your windshield in the rain... and will make it easier to remove any frost build up in the winter.
- Replace your wipers with some good Bosch wipers from advanced auto parts or autozone. Don't use cheap ones like Rain-X wipers that you get at Walmart. Bosch = excellent wipers.

If you want to get some more tips you can go to Autopia and search around on their forums.

 

[rahvin]

Once you get your windows clean you need to use a protectant on your dash... DON'T use armorall. If you want to use something you have around your house use lemon pledge. Or you can buy a product called 303 Aerospace protectant. You can order that from www.properautocare.com. They are a very good and reputable retailer of detailing supplies. That should help your outgassing problem some.

Armorall doesn't work because it's water based. You don't want to use any "protectant" or "shiner" on a car that's water based. Find a good oil based one. Best way to test is to spray a little on your fingers and rub it around. It SHOULDN'T soak in or absorb and should feel like oil. The stuff I use is called Clear-Guard and can be purchased at most Autozones. It's the only stuff I've found that's simlar to the stuff I used to use when I detailed cars at a dealership.

Water based "protectants" actually cause premature weathering of plastic, vinyl and rubber.

 

[morkinva]

What make are the 3 cars? It sounds like to me that there is a humidity differential and the car is so well sealed up that equalibrium is impossible. Try cracking a window or opening a vent to the outside.

 

[GigaCluster]

Originally posted by: morkinva
What make are the 3 cars? It sounds like to me that there is a humidity differential and the car is so well sealed up that equalibrium is impossible. Try cracking a window or opening a vent to the outside.

1) Mazda MX-6 (1993)
2) Ford Contour (1998)
3) Mazda 868 or 686 (1988)

 

[ChefJoe]

Sounds like a cracked heater coil.... my dad's old jetta had that problem. It mean's your hot engine coolant is boiling off trough a crack and goes in the vents and into the car's interior... condense on windshield inside.

 

[diskop]

It's been my experience that older cars had this problem more often.