Yesterday morning, I got into my car to make my weekly commute into Portland and noticed quite a bit of condensation on the inside windows. It was 27F and 90% humidity out which didn't help. It appears to just be water vapor that condensed due to the cold. No smell of coolant which was the first thing I checked for. When the climate system is on, I always have outside air selected. Maybe it's just due to all the rain we've been getting lately and temps running 8-10F cooler than average for this time of year. Anticipating that this morning would be the same, I use the remote start for the first time and it was almost clear when I got into the car. Anyone else noticing condensation?
Not really, I do notice that the windows have a bit of a film to them when there is light fogging inside, but I attribute that in large part to off gassing of the plastics and seats as a major contributor. If its getting super humid where you're at, and especially with the swings in temperature associated with spring, some form of dehumidification always helps. Maybe a desiccant bag under the seat (on top of something plastic so that it doesn't stain the carpet) would help with the moisture for the time being. Or just run the A/C compressor for a bit to have it dehumidify the car and that might be enough to avoid major condensation for a few more weeks.
I just turn-on the AC and set it to recirculate. It clears out pretty quickly. Check your trunk and carpet for leaks.
Second the leak check. Be sure to look at the passenger foot well. It's where water will end up if it is getting into the HVAC intake at the base of the windshield. Most likely just the high humidity, but better to find issues sooner than later.
Were you using AC* the previous drive? It'll leave residual condensation on the AC radiator fins in the dash (aka "evaporator?), and when you start up that tends to cause a humidity dump. * Using the North American definition of AC, meaning freon-like substance compressed/expand, to cool the cabin, defog, etcetera. Toyota refers to the entire vent system as AC, fwiw.
I checked the places for leak (passenger footwell etc) and found none. No glass on the roof so it's not coming from there and no stains from any leakage on the pillars. If there was outside moisture coming in somewhere, I'm fairly certain I would smell it. I will chalk it up to at this point to the rain and high humidity plus the cold we've been experiencing. We've had a couple dry days now but rain is forecasted for the next four days with warmer temps so we'll see. Thanks for replies everyone!
Solution: ***Take the car out of ECO mode!*** Eco mode runs the HVAC half assed to give us better fuel economy but should prob not be used when it’s extremely hot or cold out or very humid out….Eco works fine under normal conditions though. Case in point: I started my commute the other day like I always do and had my HVAC set to auto @ 66 deg and I was in full EV mode. It was very heavy rain and just a miserable day. The darn windshield would not clear up fully even after 15 mins. I flicked the switch up to NORMAL and within a minute the windshield stayed perfectly clear the rest of the drive. I think I forgot I was in Eco mode from the day prior attempting my full commute on EV only. Edit: I’ll add I wanted to stay in EV only and didn’t want to press the front windshield defroster thus auto starting the ICE. I believe the ECO mode lowers HVAC output in both EV & HV the same (had to remind my wife for her Hybrid Rav in case she was having the same issue).
