Steaming Up & Hardtop fitting

Paul

Paul

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2013
Points
19
Location
Oxford
Model of Z
3 Sport 2.2i
Hi Guys, My hood was a leaking a little so rather than replace that now I decided to get a hardtop. Managed to get a good one of ebay but without the fixing kit (I was told that it was included but it wasn't but the top was in too good a condition not to get) So, Question 1 - Does anyone know where I could still get a fixing kit from? - Looked on ebay but cannot find any.

But I have also come across another issue which I originally thought was down to the car getting damp because of the leak mentioned above - I now don't think this to be the case as the car was pretty much dry inside.
I'm finding my car steaming up allot in the damp weather, It's mainly on the passenger side and can be really quick. At one point I could see the white coloured steam blowing out the vents for a second. It does clear, But then the other day I went round a right hand bend upon which the whole of the left of the car steamed up almost right away. I presume this could be water in the car but not sure where. I listened while going round some bends since and I'm sure I can here what sounds like water moving but not sure where this could be.. It sounds like dashboard height. Could I maybe have blocked drainage holes? And where would I get to these if that's the case..?

Cheers
 
Last edited:
Paul said:
Hi Guys, My hood was a leaking a little so rather than replace that now I decided to get a hardtop. Managed to get a good one of ebay but without the fixing kit (I was told that it was included but it wasn't but the top was in too good a condition not to get) So, Question 1 - Does anyone know where I could still get a fixing kit from? - Looked on ebay but cannot find any.

But I have also come across another issue which I originally thought was down to the car getting damp because of the leak mentioned above - I now don't think this to be the case as the car was pretty much dry inside.
I'm finding my car steaming up allot in the damp weather, It's mainly on the passenger side and can be really quick. At one point I could see the white coloured steam blowing out the vents for a second. It does clear, But then the other day I went round a right hand bend upon which the whole of the left of the car steamed up almost right away. I presume this could be water in the car but not sure where. I listened while going round some bends since and I'm sure I can here what sounds like water moving but not sure where this could be.. It sounds like dashboard height. Could I maybe have blocked drainage holes? And where would I get to these if that's the case..?

Cheers
Click to expand...
Just bought a z3 myself and haven't driven on the road except for bringing it home from Baltimore, MD to the Atlantic city area. However, more often than not, your problem usually stems from a bad heater core. Might be wrong about this but check this first. The heater core itself is not very expensive but they can, depending on its location, be very expensive to replace. I once had a car whose heater core cost $30 and the dealership wanted $1100 to replace it. I did it myself after work and it took me 3 weeks! Some have a much easier replacement. It mostly depends on how much your A/C blocks the access to it. They are usually located, in US cars, under the passenger side dashboard. GOOD LUCK WITH THIS. FRANKIE
 
As above it could be the heater matrix that has a hole in it so check your coolant level and if that is low it could well be this. I would also check where the outside air gets drawn into the system as this could have filled up with water and not draining off. Later cars were fitted with a little shroud over the entry grills at the bottom of the windscreen to prevent water getting in under heavy rainfall. I think you will have to take the plastic trim off at the bottom of the windscreen around the wipers to inspect it properly but if water is sitting there when the heater gets warm it will be drawing in moist air and as it enters the cabin which will be at a lower temp it will condense as it would if you had a holed matrix (although I would also expect you to have a strong smell associated with coolent) hence you occasionally seeing steam coming out of the vents.
 
Hi Guys, Thanks for the advise.. Am going to investigate over the weekend :)
 
The only other thing to check is that the drain holes at the base of the windscreen are not blocked.Remove the wiper arms and the clips around the plastic trim and there are drains each side. these are near the intake for the cabin fan so water could be getting in that way. Word of caution the carpets may feel dry on top but there is a lot of foam underneath them which holds a lot of water and may cause to car to be damp.
 
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