# Moist spot on windsheild **URL:** \ **Category:** The Show\ **Created:** [April 12, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038 "2009-04-12T18:07:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![waterboy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/waterboy/32/764_2.png) [@waterboy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/waterboy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/1 "2009-04-12T18:07:44Z")
I cant help but wonder if the driver has the car set on defrost all the time. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/2 "2009-04-12T18:36:51Z")
I would be more inclined to wonder if he always has the HVAC system set on the “recirculate” position. ---
**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/3 "2009-04-12T23:58:40Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 1:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/4 "2009-04-13T01:17:43Z")
“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? ---
**Author:** ![waterboy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/waterboy/32/764_2.png) [@waterboy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/waterboy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/5 "2009-04-13T01:48:32Z")
Mine does, that is why I asked the question. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/6 "2009-04-13T02:22:57Z")
Hmmm…Interesting. Mine does not exhibit this symptom, nor did any of my other cars whose defroster also operated in this manner. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/1/d/1d47c66a543aa6c5a7873bb2320858f978ff52ed.png) [@system](https://community.cartalk.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 11:03am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/7 "2009-04-13T11:03:51Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 11:31am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/8 "2009-04-13T11:31:11Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![waterboy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/waterboy/32/764_2.png) [@waterboy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/waterboy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/9 "2009-04-13T22:01:46Z")
To clarify Mine will fog if I have it on vent and defrost with the temp turned down. ---
**Author:** ![Caller\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8797f3/32.png) [@Caller\_X](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caller_X)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/10 "2009-04-13T22:06:12Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/11 "2009-04-13T23:41:30Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/12 "2009-04-13T23:44:15Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/13 "2009-04-14T00:15:16Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/14 "2009-04-14T02:48:25Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/moist-spot-on-windsheild/29038/15 "2009-04-15T00:14:02Z")
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.