Car full of Steam ?!

Silvera

Picture the scenario........

You're driving along when suddenly (without warning) you car interior fills up with steam and your vision is completely blocked ! :eek:

.......what do you do next ???



This is what actually happened to my father on Friday last when driving his 1991 Golf.

Luckily he was almost stationary at the time (looking for a parking space) and merely opened his window to allow the steam to escape.

(Imagine if this had happened on the outside lane of a motorway at 100+ kph!!)

Turns out it was the heater matrix which burst (and spewed water into the footwells. We replaced it with a new matrix (€46 from GS&F Car Parts) today - after much dash board dismantling ).


Anybody else ever comes across this problem/happen to you ?

greglo23

used to happen all the time in Renault 9's & 11's. a right pain to change as well.

AMurphy

Silvera wrote:

Picture the scenario........
......

(Imagine if this had happened on the outside lane of a motorway at 100+ kph!!)

Turns out it was the heater matrix which burst
......
Anybody else ever comes across this problem/happen to you ?

My first response, "you must have a leaking heater core".

As for lack of vision and what to do next..... Like the "Hitchikers GTTG",
"Don't panic".
However consider you are in mush better position with steam than those old windscreens that went instantly opaque on being shattered/broken.

Actually I'd know what to do on a highway, its a twisty country road that would get me.

BrianD3

Yep, this is quite a common problem on older cars.

For some reason, French makes do seem to suffer this problem more than other makes

dogg_r_69

Silvera wrote:

This is what actually happened to my father on Friday last when driving his 1991 Golf.

Its a common thing with Mk 2 Golf's I think I know of that happening to 2 friends when they both were driving Golfs

mike65

As a rule you usually get warning of a failing matrix ie condensation that wont shift or a trickle of moisture in the footwells.

Mike.

RicardoSmith

dogg_r_69 wrote:

Its a common thing with Mk 2 Golf's I think I know of that happening to 2 friends when they both were driving Golfs

Usually you get the windscreen misting and its almost impossible to clear. Happened in my old Mrk2 Golf. Even though it was 10yrs old at the time they fixed as it was a recall item for Mrk2. At least I think it was for this. They fixed something on the rear hatch aswell. Great car. Wish I never sold it. Love another one even now.

ds20prefecture

BrianD3 wrote:

For some reason, French makes do seem to suffer this problem more than other makes

Geez - I thought the Golf was a German car.

The heater matrix went on my old Citroën - but the window didn't steam up. The damned matrix was never hot enough to evaporate the water! €10 fixed it.

Silvera

I was aware of it being a problem on French cars (I used to work for a Renault Specialist) but usually it would be water leaking into the footwell that would indicate a matrix was required .........rather than a dramatic 'boof' (bursting sound;)) followed by a car full of steam and blocked vision.

RicardoSmith

ds20prefecture wrote:

Geez - I thought the Golf was a German car.

The heater matrix went on my old Citroën - but the window didn't steam up. The damned matrix was never hot enough to evaporate the water! €10 fixed it.

In the german car it worked then broke. In the french car it never worked in the first place. €10? Two rolls of gaffer tape and a tin of snake oil?

ds20prefecture

RicardoSmith wrote:

In the german car it worked then broke. In the french car it never worked in the first place. €10? Two rolls of gaffer tape and a tin of snake oil?

No, some brazing of the casing. It works perfectly now, btw.

RicardoSmith

ds20prefecture wrote:

No, some brazing of the casing. It works perfectly now, btw.

Only slagging. How did you arrive at the cost of €10? No labour, no materials, etc, etc. That said the VW was free even after 10yrs. So thats not too shabby, especially since its buried behind the dash. I've had the same problem in a Honda and a Ford. I guess it just something that just liable to go in older cars.

ds20prefecture

RicardoSmith wrote:

How did you arrive at the cost of €10?

My friend took it to some old rad guy in Ballyfermot. I removed the matrix & refitted (about 2 mintues labour each way).

I think one of the nice things about running a classic is that people don't always gouge you on price.

RicardoSmith

ds20prefecture wrote:

My friend took it to some old rad guy in Ballyfermot. I removed the matrix & refitted (about 2 mintues labour each way).

I think one of the nice things about running a classic is that people don't always gouge you on price.

Must be somewhere very accessable. In both the VW and Ford I had you had to remove half the dash to get at it.

BrianD3

Must be somewhere very accessable. In both the VW and Ford I had you had to remove half the dash to get at it.

It can depend on what side the steering wheel is on. French, German and Italian cars are designed for LHD. Sometimes this design involves providing relatively easy access to the heater matrix (eg you remove a panel or part of the dash rather than the whole dash) But this is lost in the conversion to RHD.

Alfasudcrazy

Speaking of visibility my father persevered with a Mk 2 Escort for 20 years and anything that broke on it he always brought it to his own handy mechanic - me. :rolleyes:
It had worn wiper linkages that broke numerous times. Terrified that they would eventually break while he was negotiating a series of S bends with an artic approaching I had to replace the entire wiper system. That was a nasty job to do - so I know a bit about ripping out dashboards too. :eek:

Silvera

Thanks for all the replies.

However, nobody has stated if they had ever experienced their car filling with steam (and completely blocking their vision!) as they were driving ?