Frost on the dash

[wolfdog]

mquinn13 and site owner,

Great video, like the web site!

However I have a JLU purchased Feb. 18th 2018 bought he Mopar mats 2 weeks later old # and they sealed fine! Lots of work but they sealed OK, hose test, better than wiggle test oh, they don't wiggle!

Go Jeep!!!

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[juels98]

That's a great question. I doubt they would action on it but they must have had a strategy change after release. Here is the video showing the difference between the two.

Ahhh! Those are drain plugs. Brilliant!

 

[PavementWarrior]

if other peoples vehicles don't do this, there is a source of extra moisture in the cab or vehicle or an odd cooling of dash relative to inside temp.

Warm air holds more moisture (think condensation on a cold beer cup on a hot day, so the dash cooling off faster than air would result in condensation forming on it then freezing as temps drop).

I guess a badly sealed front window could accelerate dash cooling? Do you get any wierd wind noise?

More likely your cab is wet alot then you run heater producing water in air to form condensation.. I guess you could taper down the heater before parking and open up a second to reduce warm cabin air before closing it all up.

Wierd for sure, but basically your dash is cooling down early and water in air is condensing on it, you will have to try a few things to narrow it down

 

[juels98]

if other peoples vehicles dont do this, there is a source of extra moisture in the cab or vehicle or and odd cooling of dash relative to inside temp.

warm air holds more moisture (think condensation on a cold beer cup on a hot day, so the dash cooling off faster than air would result in condensation forming on it then freezing as temps drop).

I guess window could blow in on a faulty badly seal front where you can drop window down? Do you get any wierd wind noise?

If your cab is wet alot then you run heater real high thats gonna get alot of water in air to form condensation.. I guess you could taper down heater before home and open up a second to reduce warm cabin air before closing it all up.

Wierd for sure, but basically your dash is cooling down early and water in air is condensing on it, you will have to try a few things

You may be on to something. I did have my windshield replaced less than a week ago. Can't tell if it's letting in air-- in the jeep, when driving down the road, sounds like everything lets in air.

 

[PavementWarrior]

You may be on to something. I did have my windshield replaced less than a week ago. Can't tell if it's letting in air-- in the jeep, when driving down the road, sounds like everything lets in air.

Somehow you have warm air with moisture, and the dash is first to cool off. another source could be heater, there is a cabin filter.

Otherwise let some of the hot air out when you park, even here in warm Cali i get window condensation to form (but not on dash)


edit:

oh and dry everything down good and clean window and dash. Once a few years ago I had some kinda wierd moisture build up, that went away with a good drying / cleaning.

 

[blessidsoul12]

You may be on to something. I did have my windshield replaced less than a week ago. Can't tell if it's letting in air-- in the jeep, when driving down the road, sounds like everything lets in air.

Wait what!? You just had your windshield replaced? Was that intentionally left out of the conversation so far? I feel now like that nugget was intentionally omitted and this has been a riddle with a known answer the whole time.

Uh...Doc, can you figure out what's wrong with me? Have you seen many people bleed out of every orifice before? Everything has been normal....except I just quadroupled my warfarin dose last week...

 

[mquinn13]

mquinn13 and site owner,

Great video, like the web site!

However I have a JLU purchased Feb. 18th 2018 bought he Mopar mats 2 weeks later old # and they sealed fine! Lots of work but they sealed OK, hose test, better than wiggle test oh, they don't wiggle!

Go Jeep!!!

maybe I should get back to work and get them to fit more snug I am just lazy! haha

 

[DesmoDog]

If the temp is below zero, air leaks are not going to cause the vehicle to draw in moisture from outside. At -10 F the air is drier than whatever is in the vehicle alread, the moisture is coming from somewhere else like humans and dogs breathing and wet carpets/floormats from melting snow.

You want to constantly draw colder/drier air into the vehicle. Heating by itself it won't add moisture, it enables it to carry more of the moisture that's already in the interior. Might seem like pedantics/nit picking but it goes back to not recirculating the air. You have to kill the moisture source and/or transfer the wetter air for drier air. Sometimes that just isn't possible and you'll get condensation or even frost on the windows. At -20F there's about a 90 degree difference in air temps between interior and exterior. Poo happens.

 

[juels98]

One more question on all weather mats. The drain from the video does not have plugs in my mats. You can see carpet through the hole. The mats were installed at the factory. Should the holes have been cut then?

 

[PavementWarrior]

If the temp is below zero, air leaks are not going to cause the vehicle to draw in moisture from outside. At -10 F the air is drier than whatever is in the vehicle alread, the moisture is coming from somewhere else like humans and dogs breathing and wet carpets/floormats from melting snow.

You want to constantly draw colder/drier air into the vehicle. Heating by itself it won't add moisture, it enables it to carry more of the moisture that's already in the interior. Might seem like pedantics/nit picking but it goes back to not recirculating the air. You have to kill the moisture source and/or transfer the wetter air for drier air. Sometimes that just isn't possible and you'll get condensation or even frost on the windows. At -20F there's about a 90 degree difference in air temps between interior and exterior. Poo happens.

-10 was not a constant (he drove north 3 hours) and time changed from day to night, so certainly he may have some level of wind/moisture intrusion from a window leak, certainly I agree water will be coming from feet, people etc or even heater (might be worth taking peek at cabin filter for something unexpected in heating system). And yes warm air holds more water than cold to produce condensation :p

I was thinking more of wind chilling the dash area (while driving or maybe even while parked if wind was strong), so after he left the Jeep that was maybe 70 the condensation formed on it early vs on windows like you would expect. obviously we don't know how wet it was, and it could simply be enough water to condense on windows and dash then freeze. Still seems wierd to have so much frost on dash..

In any event, like I said getting excess water out and cleaning it so any remaining moisture beads before freezing is best bet. I would still check front seal as it maybe having both chill and or rain intrusion, your engine and its systems are over 200 F and can certainly melt snow as well.

thanks for posting that picture, something to consider before going someplace so cold lol

 

[PavementWarrior]

One more question on all weather mats. The drain from the video does not have plugs in my mats. You can see carpet through the hole. The mats were installed at the factory. Should the holes have been cut then?

dealer usually installs mats, mine did not remove the capet cut outs and I had to pull it up and cut the partial block. the rubber drain plug is under carpet.

So the answer is yes, they did not install them they plopped them on top, and you have to complete it

 

[GreyFox]

You may be on to something. I did have my windshield replaced less than a week ago. Can't tell if it's letting in air-- in the jeep, when driving down the road, sounds like everything lets in air.

Just keep those steamy windows to a minimum

 

[BillG]

One more question on all weather mats. The drain from the video does not have plugs in my mats. You can see carpet through the hole. The mats were installed at the factory. Should the holes have been cut then?

Remove your carpet plugs, and remove drain plugs from floor to put in your mats. Insert the bottom projection on the mat into the drain hole, seating it well, then put hole plugs into mats.

 

[Midwestguy]

Lived in Minnesota for 40+ years. -10 air is super dry, like actually depletes your body of water weight as fast/sometimes faster than hot summer days. So any air cabin leaks will not produce frost...in fact, it would decrease the likelihood.

You enter your vehicle with snow (aka water) on your boots/jacket/gloves and then heat the interior, then snow melts onto the floor mats and makes the humidity higher than it is outside. Sometimes you can also just breathe and the vapor from your breath will crystallize on your dash and especially your windshield. This happens more often on SHORT trips versus long. FWIW: Minnesota winters can suck LOL

 

[AK0311]

Good morning.

Wanted to see if anyone else experienced this. I live in MN and went up north for the weekend. It was -10F to -20F. Had the jeep parked for a day after about a 3 hour drive. Came in the next day to go somewhere and noticed the dash and the panel below the dash all covered in frost. I have a 2018 JL Sport S with a hard top. All windows were closed. Everything worked just fine, but of all the cars I've owned-- I've never seen frost on anything other than the windows.

Speaking of windows. Any tips on keeping the back seat door windows defrosted? I have a 4 door. The front doors I can get defrosted by setting the air to blow in the cabin rather than defrost-- but what do you guys do for the 2nd set of doors? Also, during the trip, the kids sitting in the back complained of being cold while I was sweating up front

Thanks!
Julian

Do you run with the air recirculation on? I'm in southcentral Alaska, so I see temps in the single digits, sometimes negatives. I found that running the recirc air causes moist air to stay in the vehicle (from snow melting off shoes/coats) and can cause the frost inside issue. I stopped using the recirc button except in summer for the a/c to cool me off faster and haven't seen frost inside except when temps dip below -10 (thankfully a rare occasion lately).

For the back seat, are there no vents under the console? I ended up in a Renegade instead of a Wrangle, so I can't check one out. My old truck had vents under the console, but they only blew air when the knob was set to a setting with the floor vents (07 Ram 2500).

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