Inside of windshield frozen

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I have a 23 minute commute and don't melt floorboard snow with the car's heat... just doesn't work out.

It can sublimate (turn from snow into water vapor) at temps below freezing, though.

My best approach is to grin and bear it and just pick snow up with a gloved hand and chuck it outside.

The AC won't activate the compressor clutch below freezing temps. Any heated air you blow should be nice and toasty dry anyway.

You can try leaving the car with the windows down an inch during a dry crisp day even if it's well below freezing. Get them before dusk though as you can get frost inside that way too and it's hard to shake.

Also your heater core could be beginning to go out.
 
I doubt the heater core is the issue, since the heat is still very hot. One of the first things I noticed about this car when I bought it was how quickly it got heat, and just how hot it got.
 
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I think it has to do with build up of moisture in the AC box, and how it vents or allows water to evaporate when sitting.

Are your drains clear? Car kept on recirculate?


No, I rarely use recirculate, unless I need really cold air in the summer.


This drain clogging has nothing to do with how you use the system. It is all about how much and how large the pieces of leaves and bugs that fall into the intake air vent are.

This drain us usually very hard to locate because it blends in with the rest of the car underneath. If it is clogged you can't find it by putting water in the air intake and looking at where it comes out under the car because it is clogged. But on an identical model that is not having this problem you could do that.

It usually is on the bottom of the fire-wall. Usually on the passengers side. Often it is U shaped with the normally open ends actually against the fire wall.

BTW, if you use a straightened out clothes hanger and push it up into this vent from under the car, don't get too aggressive and push it up much farther than the clog because there is a very slight chance you will hit the heater core and or the air-conditioner evaporator and if you were to jab at it often and hard enough you could possibly knock a hole in them. Probably a good idea to have a blunt tip on that straightened out clothes hanger. And if it is clogged and you unclog it, expect about a pint to a quart of water that has been sitting in there for a long time to come draining down on you.

These drains are just about impassible to find unless you put the vehicle up on a hoist and look around with a good light.
 
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
I doubt the heater core is the issue, since the heat is still very hot. One of the first things I noticed about this car when I bought it was how quickly it got heat, and just how hot it got.


The heater core could still work fine if the airconditioner drain were clogged. Then again if it were to totally fill that area with water because of that clog, then it would not work. It all depends on the design.
 
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Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Would it possibly help to switch the defrost vent to say, floor only, before I shut the car off? That way the defrost vent will be closed, and/or any air that enters the vehicle will go to the floor instead of right onto the windshield.


Probably not.

Is the carpet wet anywhere. Even look under the floor mats. If you find wet carpet the location of where it is wet will be a BIG clue about where the excess moisture is getting into your vehicle.

ALSO, check the trunk including any hidden areas such as low on each side. If you have to lift up the carped in the trunk if there is one. If you have a leak in the trunk seal then water getting into the trunk will cause moisture in the cab of the vehicle. Remember when the excess moisture is in the air it is actually a gas and it can go right through the back seat and the back deck by the back window. In most vehicles the trunk does not seal off from the back seat, there for a wet trunk because of a leak will cause excess moisture in the cab.

On some vehicles if you park facing down a very steep hill, rain water or snow melt will accumulate in the channel around the trunk and if the hill is steep enough the water runs towards the front of the vehicle instead of draining off of the back of the vehicle. And in this case sometimes the water can find its way into the trunk when this is going on.
 
BTW on one of the cars I had in the past, I rigged an additional switch on the wire going to the AC compressor, so I could disable the compressor while the defroster was on if I wanted maximum heat during using the defrost.
 
Some cars have a door to channel hot or not hot air, and that door runs on engine vacuum to move it. And some have a valve that shuts off the hot coolant flow to the heater core, and that valve uses engine vacuum to move it.

And some cars have a very low tolerance for air in the cooling system, or when a cooling system is low air in the system will get into the heater core and drastically reduce the amount of heat you will get.

Of course there is always the case of the old heater core that is clogged up inside and not allowing enough hot coolant to flow through it. If that is the case, it would be a good idea to replace it because it is probably going to start leaking soon anyway.
 
Before you shut the car off, do you turn off the ventilation system via the "O" button? On some Ford products the owners manual cautions against doing that because it does put the system into a recirc mode. If there is a high humidity/moisture situation might wanna make sure you leave it set in one of the on positions but not in a recirc position.
 
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