Windshield fogging up all the time

i live in GA. myself and my 2010 dont fog nearly as bad as my 2008 did. with my 2008 i ended up taking a black towel and rolling it up long ways and wedging it between my window and dash. it seemed that when the a/c was blowing out the vents that a small amount was coming out of the defrost causing fog ALL the dang time. the towel fixed it though for me.

 

Over time small particulates in the air settle on the glass in a very fine film. Think cloud seeding - it helps the moisture in the air to condense onto the glass.

I have to use an ammonia-based window cleaner like Windex about every 3 months or so to get rid of it, which I follow with some invisible glass cleaner to get rid of the windex smears.

New vehicles tend to be worse with this because of vapors from the new plastics settling on the glass, making a thin goo that the water vapor just LOVES to adhere to. Hondas are notorious for that. I takes a lot of Windex to get that crud off of there too.

 

Behind the glove box.
You can see the recirc door with the glove box open.
You have to remove the glove box to access the cabin filter.

 

Just a note...

Ammonia based window cleaners will destroy aftermarket tint.

 

Are they really fogged or are you forgetting to turn your lights on?

 

This happens to me all the time summer and winter. My fix was to block the vent at the base of the windshield/dash with something anything really. While the AC is blowing air is creeping out of the dash and blowing directly onto the windshield and causing this fogging (atleast for me.) If you block this with a shirt or towel it will stop, once you have proven this to be the culprit you can fab up something better, which is something I am still needed to do.

He beat me to it.

 

I'm in Chattanooga as well and my wife's BMW 325 did that crap. It was so annoying that I traded the damn thing in and now my truck doesn't do it... Winning!!!!

 

Confusia say colder inside than outside(high humidity) equal condensation...I get it all the time here too, just open your windows

 

Turn the temp. knob close to the middle and keep the AC on and setting on vent, it should be ok.

 

Every single thing with A/C will do that if the humidity is high the A/C is a great dehumidifier the draw back is it's cold so the moisture condenses on the cold glass out side try the heat up a touch that will help.

 

If it fogs all the time when you have your AC on, check the AC condensate drain. Turn the AC and let tour truck sit. If there ia no puddle that forms under neath, the drain is clogged. This will cause foggy windows.

 

I think most of us are saying that this is more common with our trucks than what is normal. I can obviously only speak for myself but I have had vehicles with AC for quite a few years as well as lived in this same location/climate and not had this issue with other vehicles. Thus something is odd and most likely fixable with our trucks.

 

For those having this problem do you use the sun shade things in for the windshield?

They cause a film. I used one in my last truck until my father mentioned about something he saw on tv proving how them things caused oil build up on the windshield. I quit using it and cleaned the windshield real good and bam, no more problem.

I've actually even noticed this around the top of my side windows now right where my vent shades are.

 

I just open the windows- combined with defrost, it almost always seems to work. The problem is a difference in temperature from the inside to the outside of the vehicle.

 

I do use a windshield shade on my truck, so I suppose that is plausible here but the issue is that I use the windshield shade in my other truck and car and can not reproduce this to the extent that my Tacoma does. Not even close. However if I place something over the dashboard closest to the windshield it prevents this from happening because there is an abundance of air coming out of the vent there which I feel shouldn't unless I am using the defroster. Which is what I think is also causing everyone else's problems as well. I have gone to the extent of going to the dealership and test driving a newer truck. I was unable to fog up the windshield in that truck but also felt that there was much less air coming out of the dash near the windshield in the newer truck than mine. I'm not saying it is age related to the vehicles but a 2011 was easily found on the lot the day I was there.

 

Is there really a debate going on why a guy, who lives in GEORGIA(its a little humid there if ya don't know), windshield fogs up in the morning?

 

Every one of my vehicles with A/C has done it from Toyota's to Audi's if the conditions are right it's going to happen.

 

Thank you! I'm not the only one!

 

I think y'all are misunderstanding. Atleast in my case, it happens all the time every time. I'm not saying it shouldn't ever happen, but if I fire up my 3 vehicles with A.C. blazing in my driveway my Tacoma will fog up but my other 2 won't. And as I have said before there is an abundance of air blowing directly on the base of the windshield in the Tacoma and not in the other vehicles. And this is the factor causing the fogging not the fact that I live in south Louisiana and it's humid. If it were just the humidity then the other 2 vehicles should fog up also, since the temperatures of the AC's are the same.
So to spell it out I am assuming, since I haven't taken my dash apart, that there is a loose connection or a valve that is remaining open allowing the truck to blow air through the dash vents as if the defroster was on even when defrost isn't selected, hence the reason covering the base of the dashboard prevents the folding from happening it was related to humidity this wouldn't matter. I hope that was clear enough to help you understand.

 

It's because your truck is silver...