Condensation in the gauges.

[McLaren-TAG]

Hazy hot and humid late afternoon drive, the car has done this since I got it, on humid days it seems to gather a condensation "fog" inside the glass lens of the two left most gauges. The tach does it a little bit on the left side which is visible here. Speedo and clock are fine. Anyone fix this type of issue before? I must be getting hot humid air buffeting into that side of the car and fogging up the lenses.

I suspect that no carpet in the frunk and no particle board cover for the blower may have something to do with it but just getting an opinion check here.

[tazzieman]

A normal quirk of our cars. Temp differential is a factor ; there is no engine to warm things in front!

[Sunroof]

Normally left gauge (fuel level and oil level) is notorious for fogging. Thus far I have owned a 1973.5T, 1974 911 and 1979 SC and it happened in every car, year after year when high humidity is a factor. Never an instrument failure from corrosion. If the left gauge did not fog up on a hot summer humid morning I would be worried! Several threads have run on Pelican for answers and solutions to the problems but it gets down to the same answer each time. Its at home in the Porsche 911 and the five hole dash! Makes you feel kinda special don't it.

Bob
73.5T

[szyzygy]

yep, mine does this too. Just part of the porsche experience

[McLaren-TAG]

Well... I guess it's a lot less dangerous than snap oversteer if you lift the throttle on high speed turns which is the other adorable quirk of our cars.

I'll see if I can at least make things better, maybe a wind deflector of some type or a zip lock bag over the gauges, but then again that may just keep the moisture in longer if it does develop.

[tazzieman]

Does your clock gauge tick?

[Jerome74911S]

I had this problem, too, on the left gauges, but then I moved the car into a dry garage.

Problem vanished.

[McLaren-TAG]

Originally Posted by Jerome74911S

I had this problem, too, on the left gauges, but then I moved the car into a dry garage.

Problem vanished.

You may see the problem reappear if you drive it the one hot humid day a year you get up there in Quebec.

[Jerome74911S]

Originally Posted by McLaren-TAG

You may see the problem reappear if you drive it the one hot humid day a year you get up there in Quebec.

Hot humid day?

[Porchdog]

Mine has been doing that this year - I don't remember it from years past.

[OsoMoore]

Does it on my 79 SC as well. It usually clears up in a few hours once temp/humidity stabilize.

[Lapkritis]

Condensation will form from either a direct source of moisture or a temperature differential with humidity present. Check for an air leak in the cowl. A difference in temperatures will give you what appears to be sweat on non-porous surfaces.

[GH85Carrera]

The only time I have seen condensation on my gages was in Savannah GA. It was a super humid day. I had the AC on MAX most of the time. I was trying to soak up as much coolness as possible. I was cold when I arrived.

The morning I drove out to Roebling Road to run the DE I knew it was going to be a very HOT day at the track. I had the AC on MAX on the drive out to the track. The entire car was covered with condensation. I had to turn on the rear defogger just to see out the back. When I stepped out of the car even the top of the roof was covered in condensation. I wanted to take a picture of it but my camera fogged up just as bad.

[turborat]

Wonder if installing o-rings or other seal around lamp sockets would help.

[Breeang]

I drive a non A/C car in central Florida. Every summer morning I wonder about a sytem of wipers for the inside of my gauge glass.

[dw1]

As previously stated, a common problem with our cars. The gauges do not have sealed backs, and the backs are exposed to outside air via the trunk.

Mine doesn't fog up anywhere near as much after I cleaned the inside of the gauge glass. Fewer surface particulates to trap moisture droplets, I think.

However, based on my experience, unless you have the right tools to re-crimp the gauge bezel & housing together and a very clean dust-free environment, I don't recommend disassembling, cleaning, and reassembling the gauges yourself.

North Hollywood is, of course, my recommended gauge service organization. Besides, an R&R on the gauges make the dash look so much better...

If you do decided to do this yourself, there are tech articles to assist in the disassembly of the gauges - just go to the "Tech Info Center" section of this web site.

[Sunroof]

.....................a long time ago I read a Car and Driver article about a Porsche 911 guy heading out for a vacation and a drive in his buddy's new 1976S. He did a great job describing the Porsche driving experience and came away simply saying, "getting into and driving a 911 is like putting on a comfortable well worn pair of shoes". After 40+ years of Porsche ownership, I could not agree more. The smell, the fit, the feel, the look and the FOGGED UP instrument (on a humid day) all makes the ownership experience special.

Let 'em fog up, no harm done....................I'd like to think Porsche designed the system that way. Always brings a smile to my face.

Bob
73.5T
Pelican Senior Citizen

[McLaren-TAG]

I'm okay with the eau de Porsche 911 on my clothes for hours after a hard drive, that's part of the allure and the comfortable fit of the air cooled. But the fog on the gauges is a challenge to be resolved or at least alleviated, just like the slow windows up.

I'll keep the thread updated with things I try. So far I agree that a thorough cleaning of the inside glass will help to remove the impurities that are allow the condensation to form and be more prominent. I'll try to see if there's any way to protect that area from direct humid air getting in there and even seeing if I can better "seal" the openings in the back of the gauges.

[JoeyD911]

I only get condensation on the furthest left guage. I always wondered if it was from a leaky bezel or something. Huh, guess not. Are you guys sure this won't eventually rot out the guage?

[tevake]

I think of it as like the wing tip vortices on an F1 car at speed in damp weather. Just something that goes with this class of performance machine :-)