Condensation in gauges

[BYantzer]

Yeah, thats right, I got it and now I don't know what to do about it. Any questions?

Any help. It is in my left two Gauges. That would be my oil level and Temp and druck press.

The whole car is actually steamy now that the rain has been straight thru and since driving back to SF from Bruce's class in the stuff. And my heater motor burnt out.

Got help?

[Typical Fish]

I have the EXACT same problem. It POURED in Long Beach over the weekend and today.

Any help? Anybody?

[Joe Bob]

Drilling a small hole and adding a powdered dessicant will help....then plug the hole. Requires removal of the gauges....

[pwd72s]

HOOT! Another reason to suggest that you buy your used wiper motors out of either Cali or Arid-zona. Guys, we in the NW have lived with fogged gauge lenses since day one. It happens whenever it rains. You just wait for a dry day...it'll go away.

[john walker's workshop]

i thought everybody's gauges did that.!!??

[nostatic]

yes...it's a feature, not a bug.

[island911]

The problem is humid air in the front boot (trunk) is condensing on the cold gauge.
Im betting if you threw one of these CARGO DRYPAK in the front boot, the gauges wouldn't fog up for a while.

[Superman]

We've had guys in warm, dry parts of the country, whose cars are garage queens that NEVER see rain, report the same phenomenon. Like the good Doc says. it's a feature, not a problem.

[Wayne 962]

Pull the gauge. Take it to your closet (dry place). Heat the gauge carefully with a hair dryer. Pull out a bulb. Take the hose end of your vacuum, and tape it around the gauge. Let it run for 1/2 hour or so (make sure that you don't overheat your vacuum). You will be sucking out air with water vapor, and forcing in dry air. Reinsert bulb. Install back in car.

Eventually, you may have to do that again, depending upon the weather and humidity and how wet and soggy the car gets. Make sure that there are no holes in the back of the gauge, and that all the bulbs are properly installed...

-Wayne

[Bo]

Happens to me too, only the two left ones, but the weird thing is that my car hasn't been driven in rain for as long as I've had it (4 years) and it is always stored in a dry garage.
And I doubt it can be from when I wash it, since that typically happens only 2-3 times a year (it's normally under cover and only comes out to play on sunny days ).

An observation I've done, is that I have to drive for at least 15 min before this starts to happen, and then only in the two left instruments. Never in the three right ones, and never on really short drives. Seems like there's some connection to when the engine starts to get warm.

This is really annoying me, so anyone coming up with a fix will have my gratitude forever

[dickster]

me too, but what do you expect in the uk?

[Sunroof]

Ditto on the two left guages...........thats interesting and the idea of condensation in the trunk sounds logical. I was about to take the gauges out and just reseal the front cover thinking that is where the condensation gets in.................It happened on my 1974 and 1979SC and now the 73T, sooooooooooooo, its an 911 characteristic like John suggested.

The big question is............will any of the insides rust or corrode?

I will let my sealing idea go away and live with it for now.

Excellent post. Thanks

Regards
Bob
73.5T

[jyl]

I'm kind of confused - I recall reading from a prior thread that the solution was to drill a small vent hole in the gauge body?

While driving to work, peering at my foggy gauges, I also thought of sticking hose barb fittings in the defroster ducting and running hoses into holes drilled in the gauge bodies, idea being to guide hot air into the gauges -- dumb or inspired?

[Superman]

Hah! I'm going to stick by my theory that others dismissed months ago. I think the trunk area temperature rises (on CIS cars, the gasoline slowly gets warmer, for example and also the heating ducts are partly in the trunk). This suspends additional water in the air. The gauges are still cool, and the suspended vapor condenses there.

Hey, it's a theory.

[island911]

Super, you were the first (that I read) to post the wild idea that the condensation (on the inside of the gauge) was coming from moist air in the trunk. good deduction.

On the other hand; Waynes THV method (Tape, Heat & Vacuum the gauge) is just throw'n a bone.
I'm not saying it won't work; it's just a futile effort. All your doing w/ the THV method is inducing an artificial and temporary (dry) humidity level in the gauge. Once back in the dash, the gauge will be exposed to the slow and steady forces of nature; in this case, it's that pesky kinetic behavior of gaseous water molecules.

So, the way I see it Wayne should sell some of those big’ol dry-packs. . . . Keeping the trunk area dry will help fight rust, from condensation, and rust (pitted brake bits) from the hygroscopic nature of brakefluid (which BTW is vented in the trunk) AND will help keep condensation from forming on the inside of the gauges.

Of course, it maybe a tough sell . . . folks may have spent all there money on useful things like eRams, cool-collars, & filter magnets.

[CHRIS DAVENPORT]

This has been asked before. I suggested then that you drill a tiny hole in the bottom of the guage caseings that are affected.

Every 911 I've owned has had the problem and this has fixed it every time.

Just be careful not to damage the mechanisms inside!!!!!!

Let us know how you get on.

Chris

[Monterey911SC]

During a morning run a few days ago I had noticed my left two gauges were fogging up every time I start my 1980 911 SC.

Found this thread and basically decided to wait out the bad weather we've been having (It's been raining here off and on for a few weeks now with more on the way) to try some of the ideas other owners have been mentioning.

I was taking out my floor mats today to dry off some condensation on the floor boards and "whadda-you-know", I felt a little bit of water under the driver side dash lip next to the gas gauge (pic#1 not my car but same dash and gauge).

Now judging by other owners similar situations, my question is "Is this a normal spot for water to collect?" Also, how do you get the dash board off so one can see if there is any more of the wet stuff trapped in there?

Can this be more of a widespread problem? I ran into another members photo of his car stripped of paint (pic#2 & pic#3)and in that same area, all you see is rust.

Anyone else experiencing this? Please tell me I worry too much.

Thanks,
Anthony

[OZCarrera3]

Anthony, this problem occurs with the same 2 guages in right hand drive cars as well (i.e. guages are towards the middle of the car, not near the windscreen pillar). I get this issue with mine, although never as bad as in your pics.

[schleg79]

I put in 2 small dessicant packs (from new shoe boxes, etc.) inside my fuel/oil gauge - no condensation in 3 mos (previously a weekly occurrence).

Requires removal of gauges and removal of screws on the back of gauge. Plenty of room inside for the packs w/no interference. Tried one small pack first time, required a second pack and all is good.

[350HP930]

Since the culprit is always moisture in the front trunk the solution is to keep out moisture and get out what's in there.

Another solution for removing the moisture besides putting a bag of dessicant in your trunk is leaving the hood open (disable the light though) in a relatively dry garage when not using the car.

Also check your hood and tank gaskets, battery and charging system since they are the only sources of moiture in there.

Everything else is just treating the symptom instead of the cause.

Besides fogging up your gauges that moisture also promotes corrosion.