Moisture behind gauge lenses

S2GART · S2GART's Garage

This morning I drove my car and no sooner do I start off down the road, I noticed "fog"/moisture behind the lens in both the Fuel and oil press. gauges. Now, the car had been sitting in the garage for well over a week and hasn't been driven in the rain in I don't know how long. It was humid this morning, but when the sun hit the gauges, the moisture dried out. I will check for this again tomorrow morning. In the mean time, anyone have ideas as to what it could be. Again, the car had been sittiing in the garage for almost 2 weeks.

cnavarro · 08-01-2006, 05:40 AM

Don't feel bad, it's been so damn hot and humid here that when I took my 912 out of the air conditioned garage yesterday afternoon, the moment it hit the 100+F air the gauges all fogged up completely!

Henry Schmidt · Henry Schmidt's Garage

Don't know what caused it but a blow dryer will fix it.

khamul02 · khamul02's Garage

after a rainy day I notice a couple of mine fogging up a bit as well. It usally goes away in a bit. Especially when I run the AC.

charleskieffner · 08-01-2006, 07:59 PM

after being hit by deluge in flagstaff in my cab, had same problem and also windshield fogged. hit the a/c and beat feet for dryer climes and all was well!

gavinlit · 08-01-2006, 08:14 PM

I had a bit of the same last week after 6 days of solid rain. The first nice day we had I took the car out for a blast. Once it had been in the sun & driving for a while no moisture to be seen anywhere. I can't see it being a huge issue.

schleg79 · schleg79's Garage

Solution: Dessicant packets.

I had the same problem on the same gauges. When replacing the instrument light bulbs, I went ahead and put a couple of those dessicant packets (that come in new shoes, etc.) inside the gauges, behind the faceplates.

Worked like a champ...

aigel · aigel's Garage

Very common and nothing to worry about. I like the hair dryer idea. dessicant will work but only for a while until the dessicant is saturated. I used to get some fogging in the winter (rainy season), but a day parked in the spring sun would cure it in no time .

George

charleskieffner · 08-02-2006, 03:45 AM

rain-x makes an anti-fog which i have some but havent tried it yet. probably the same stuff as what scott goggles sells and that did work good.

javadog · 08-02-2006, 03:46 AM

Fogging will occur more readily if the inside face of the plastic/glass has any dirt on it. The gauges aren't really well sealed and after many years, a thin film builds up on the inside. This film can be hard to see, unless you shine a light at the lens from the side. If you have a gauge that fogs up frequently, removing the lens and cleaning it will help.

JR

masraum · 08-02-2006, 05:24 AM

Completely normal. Happened in my old '88 almost year round.

Wil Ferch · 08-02-2006, 05:40 AM

too much open "venting" from the front trunk area... I posted on this before....look for wire penetrations and removal of "gunk" from shock towers after alignment...etc....

Plug 'em up...... improves the situation.....

- Wil

Wil Ferch · 08-02-2006, 07:46 AM

more---> Windtunnel through the front trunk!

- Wil

charleskieffner · 08-02-2006, 07:51 AM

wil ferch that was too funny. "minor rust can easily be restored to concours"! LOL!

Jdub · 08-02-2006, 08:40 AM

Very normal, but I agree with Wil and go even further: moisture in any gauge will corrode the internal parts and leave a film on the inside of the gauge.

Dessicant packs in the gauge help, but be sure to seal the gauge as best you can. A bead of silicone around light fixtures, etc. can reduce what gets in there. Ultimately though it is the difference in temps and humidity between our garage and the outside environment that causes this.

Still, it always happens after I wash the car or it rains. It only recently occured to me that the leftmost gauges are the ones that fog on me, and these sit below the windshield trim - the same corner windshield area that is so famous in our cars for leaking into the cabin. Some sealant at the corner of the windshield rubber seal can do wonders.

John

carreraken · carreraken's Garage

Sorry to but in..

Is it difficult to remove the glass to clean the backside? Mine seems to have developed a film that shows up under certain weather conditions...

thanks.

rs6er · rs6er's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by carreraken
Sorry to but in..

Is it difficult to remove the glass to clean the backside? Mine seems to have developed a film that shows up under certain weather conditions...

thanks.

I'd like to know the answer to this also. I recently replaced all bulbs, and though the guages are brighter now they still seem a little blurred.. and that's with my reading glasses on. lol

javadog · 08-02-2006, 04:27 PM

It's not hard to remove the glass, per se, but it's not easy to do it well. The outer bezel has to be carefully pried off and care must be taken to avoid damaging it. Most people use a small screwdriver and work it around the perimeter of the bezel a little at a time. I'd imagine the shops that do this on a regular basis have a different tool and probably have a fixture to mount the gauge in, that rotates. It's tough for a do-it-yourselfer the get the bezel back on and not have it "wrinkled" in appearance. I don't think it's too expensive to have a shop (North Hollywood Speedometer, et al) clean it for you and it comes back looking nice. You should probably do a search on this board ... somebody has probably posted a how-to explanation before.

JR

S2GART · S2GART's Garage

Well, it didn't happen yesterday morning. As I mentioned before, rain is not an issue/cause here. The car haasn't seen rain in a loooooooong time. The car had been sitting in the garage for almost 2 weeks before I took her out and noticed this. As soon as the sun hit the gauges, it cleared up. I was just puzzled as to why I was getting "fog" in the guages when the hadn't seen rain in a very long time.

rusnak · 08-03-2006, 05:12 PM

Heyyy,,, I want AC in my garage. It's hot here, but it's a dry heat.