I cant help but wonder if the driver has the car set on defrost all the time.
I would be more inclined to wonder if he always has the HVAC system set on the “recirculate” position.
As an owner of a Saturn SL, what he is experiencing is normal. When the defroster is on, so is the AC, thats the way GM designed it. It can be very annoying, especially in the winter when you don’t need the AC on.
“When the defroster is on, so is the AC, thats the way GM designed it.”
That is also the way that virtually every other car manufacturer designed their HVAC system.
If this was the culprit for the moist spot on the windshield, wouldn’t almost every other car on
the road exhibit the same symptoms?
Mine does, that is why I asked the question.
Hmmm…Interesting.
Mine does not exhibit this symptom, nor did any of my other cars whose defroster also operated in this manner.
Tom & Ray forgot to say what antifreeze tastes like…
A little taste… just get some on the finger, and touch the tip of the tongue won’t hurt a thing.
The taste is very distinctive… the sweetest thing you tasted… sweeter than sugar.
and touch the tip of the tongue won’t hurt a thing.
I would not suggest doing that. I don’t agree that a little poison is OK.
To clarify Mine will fog if I have it on vent and defrost with the temp turned down.
I wouldn’t suggest it or do it myself either, but the toxicologist’s mantra is “the dose makes the poison.” You could certainly do this safely with gasoline, and you’re kidding yourself if you think you’ve never absorbed rubbing alcohol (a poison) through your skin.
No that is NOT what virtually every other manufacturer designed their HVAC system. Only GM seems to do this, along with a number of other annoying decisions their engineers feel they have to make for the driver. Fortunately my Saturn is the bottom line model so it doesn’t have stupid options like automatic windshield wipers, automatic headlights, ABS and traction control.
I’ve been driving for almost 50 years and I know how to handle a vehicle and when to turn on the headlights and/or wipers. I almost wrecked the company car a few years ago when I got caught between two semis in a turn during a misty rain and the wipers suddenly decided to smear the windshield and block my vision.
Actually you probably have. I’ve seen it used as a sweetener in some medicines. Most have switched to propylene glycol now though, its a little safer. Note “safer” not “safe”.
Actually, this is the way that the HVAC system works on the Hondas, Toyotas, Fords, and Subarus with which I am familar–so GM is certainly not alone with this type of HVAC design.
This [AC on with defroster] is exactly the way that all of the cars I have ever driven have worked. This includes Fords, Dodge, Mercurys, and Lincolns.
Not the Honda’s and Toyota’s that I have had. You had to push the AC button to turn on the compressor in defrost. In the Saturn, if the AC button is not depressed, the AC light won’t come on, but the compressor is still running.