Newbe - Xsara Picasso Windows Steaming Up

[rangoon70]

hello all,

as i am new to this forum, i hope somebody will put this message in the right place for me.

i have got my first pug and it is a xsara pic 1.6 desire petrol (2010) i been having problem

with it  fogging up every morning can anybody tell me what is the cause.

o by the way my name is rangoon 70 and live in west sussex

[Rookie2]

Hi there, welcome to the forum. I'm sure one of the moderators will be along soon to welcome you.

 

In answer to your problem, can you tell me if the carpets on the floor are wet ?

 

When you have the interior fan running, can you smell anti - freeze ?

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

Have a look in the rear floor cupboards in front of the back seat. These commonly fill with water that gets in through the rear doors if the door card plastic seal is damaged or the door drains are blocked. if you put a bit of talc on the carpet between these cupboards and the doors when raining you may see a wet trail. We had a 2005 Picasso and it got water in the driver's floor under the false floor which could be seen when the rear cupboard was opened. I never found out how it was getting in.

[rangoon70]

I would like to thank  paul.h  and  rookie2   for your welcome,and also for your advice, i have looked at the carpet and went on my hands and knees, but did not see or felt any dampness or smell, at the weekend weather permiting i will check the doors and cupboard areas. thanks again for your kind help and  advice

[paul.h]

An additional thought, is the cabin air intake set to recirculation rather than the outside ? If so most cars would steam up unless the air conditioning was running.

[Rookie2]

It might also be worth checking to see if the scuttle panel is full of rain water.

[rangoon70]

HI-GUYS.   I am back, ok i ran the garden hose for about 10min today and found no water or dampness in footwell or cupboard, i ran a peice of coat hanger under everydoor to check for any blockage all seems ok,     my air intake is always set to outside, ( this one is for rookie2 what the hell is a scuttle panel and where do i find this panel,) i also for got to mention when i scrap the windscreen for frost i have to scrape the inside too.

thanks 

[Rookie2]

Ok, lift the bonnet on the car. Look at the bottom of the windscreen where the wipers are. Water runs off the bottom of the windscreen and goes into a trough below where the wipers are called the "Scuttle panel".

At each end of that panel, the drivers side and the passenger side, there is a hole with a rubber tube that runs from it and it lets collected rain run away down behind the plastics in the wheel arches.

Those holes and the rubber tubes that run off them get blocked with leaves and debris and water accumulates to such an extent that on some models it can be heard swilling about on corners and is a particular problem on some C4' as it destroys the ecu and electrics.

 

Even if you cannot see water in there it is wise to check that the scuttle panel drain holes ar clean, If it appears that water is in there then it is likely that the air intake to the internal blower is collecting moisture from there on it's way into the car

 

Have a glance at this

 

http://c4owners.org/plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?143590

 

When checking for wet floors inside the car please bear in mind that the carpets sit onto of a substantial amount of undercarpet and the floor pan is sometimes shaped with troughs etc to carry cables. So some times the carpets feel dry when actually underneath things are soaking. If you can, lift the edge of a carpet and shove your fingers as far down to the steel floor as possible to feel for moisture.  cheers

Edited February 25, 2017 by Rookie2

[paul.h]

The Xsara Picasso is a bit unusual in that it has a false floor with a gap under it where water can collect between this floor and the floor pan. If you open the rear floor cupboard doors you can see it if you move the inside container sides to one side and on our Picasso you could see the water that had collected at the driver's side. The sound proofing on the floor pan soaks up the water and never dries out so if you find this I would remove it and remove the floor rubber drain bung to let the water out rather than build up. You could even remove the floor bungs as a check to see if water drains out.

 

As well as the door drains you should also check the sill drains and the air con drain are clear. The air con one can be by running it and seeing if water drips on the ground approx under the driver's seat. You also need to check the coolant level in case the heater matrix has a leak which would give a burnt curry smell inside the car. If the pollen filter has not been changed recently this could be blocked restricting the air flow - the picasso needs this changing often anyway since it can lead to the ignition switch burning out if neglected.

[rangoon70]

A very big thank you to paul.h  and  rookie2 for all the very good advice and help given to me, i will be putting all your iINFO into use at the weekend.

THANKS  GUYS

[rangoon70]

THANKS  GUYS . checked everything all seems ok, no leaks or blockage cant find what causing this misting up of my windscreen, i shall leave thing alone. this weekend i plan on giving it a full service. will be buying the bits from euro car parts my local discount store. before i sign off is there a thread

about common faults for my citroen xsara picasso on this forum.

many thanks 

[Rookie2]

Inside the car, any car, buried deep inside the dashboard is a small radiator. When you turn the blower on in the car, air is drawn in and blown through this small radiator to create the heat that warms the interior of the car.

 

These small radiators are fed their water supply from the cooling water inside the engine. If you look to the rear of the engine you should see a supply and return pipe disappearing through the bulk head into the passenger cabin.

 

Sometimes these small internal radiators develop a leak (just like the normal radiator in the engine bay) when they develop a leak the airflow across them picks up the moisture from the leak and deposits it on the windscreen.

 

In my original reply I asked about a smell of "Antifreeze" in the car. If the heater radiator is leaking and the concentration of anti freeze in the water is high enough, you will be able to smell it inside the car. You could try to increase the level of antifreeze in the radiator under the bonnet and after running the engine for a while try to smell the anti freeze in the car. It does not need to be a large leak to cause moisture inside the car.

 

You could also hire a damp meter from a builders merchant and probe it under the carpets to test for mositure content.

[rangoon70]

many thanks to rookie2 for all the info regards my problem i will read your info over and over again and follow all your advice given to me over this forum.

once again thank you very much.

[Rookie2]

Not a problem Rangoon, you are welcome, please keep us up to date with your progress as it may help some future member with the same problem

 

Cheers