internalaudit

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if my 2004 four door Civic has door plugs that I can remove to allow for excess water or liquid to evaporate.

I hurt my left knee bad and so cannot actually bend down to check. Also, I'm not even sure if the plugs are going to be at the bottom of the door panels.

I read that newer Honda's no longer have door plugs but not sure when Honda implemented this on the Civic.

My two concerns are -- rusting and interior cabin fogging up (I live in Canada where winter is cold).

I heard that without an outlet, rusting could start from within the door panels.

For fogging up, I noticed my car's interior windows fog up quicker than my neighbors' cars when parked outside.

Thanks for any advice.

ezone

ALL of the doors have drain holes along the bottom. Water is allowed to pass through the inside of the door, by design.
But if someone mutilated the plastic vapor barrier behind the door panel, that can allow water to enter the interior of the car.

Standing water/moisture/humidity trapped in the car due to wet carpets etc. will let the windows fog. You might have to lift the carpets and put a fan on them so the padding can dry out. The padding can hold a LOT of water.


Use fresh air, not recirculated air for the defroster, if it even allows you the choice.

HTH

internalaudit

Thanks HTH/ezone for taking the time to craft your explanations based on my concerns.

To regurgitate your words of advice -- there are no door drain plugs on the 7th generation Civic to worry about as there are drain holes at the bottom of each door to let excess water/moisture out. Also, because of the plastic vapor barrier, water/moisture that gets through the door panel will not be entering the interior cabin, which means it is the excess moisture already in the cabin interior that is causing fogging up.

Did I get your explanations correctly?

I'm guilty with the recirculating air on when trying to defog the windows. I noticed that very few manufacturers besides Honda allow for recirculating air when in demist/defogging a/c mode.

Man, my car is over ten years old and the engine is still good though there is rust in the flooring as well as a few other places.

ezone

Name me any car that has drain plugs in the doors that one would have to remove in order to drain water out. Any car.

They have drain holes.
Read at least the first post in this thread: http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1201257
The first pic there shows a mutilated/damaged/missing vapor barrier (the plastic sheet that used to cover the large openings).

Rust holes might equate a drainage system?



All doors, every car on the road that has windows that can roll down. There is no "excess". The door is designed to allow water to pass through it. You will never ever have a completely dry, sealed door...unless you want to completely seal off the glass and never roll the window down again.

If the drain holes ever plug up, you need to pull the door panel off and clean the door out.

Erm, no again. The plastic vapor barrier is to prevent water from getting through the door panel. It keeps water on the outside of the cars' interior.


You get water inside this door, all water will stay out of the interior:




But if you get water inside THIS door, water is free to enter the interior because thee vapor barrier is pulled down and no longer covering the open spaces:




Is this making sense yet?


Nope.
There doesn't have to be excess moisture in the carpets (or anywhere) to cause fogging. If the carpets are holding moisture, that's a problem. If you have holes in the floor that let road spray water inside the car, that's a problem. It makes a problem that much worse.
But
Even if the interior of the car is perfect, your breath is enough moisture to fog the windows. NOW you have to be able to use the defogger properly.
You really don't even need to breathe. Humidity in the air is plenty to fog the windows if you don't have FRESH air circulating over the glass surfaces.

There is a reason for that.
Most people have no idea how to work the controls properly so the majority of car manufacturers automatically select it for you. Same with AC operation, it automatically runs when DEFROST is selected on most cars.

Always use FRESH AIR for defog/defrost. Also use AC if it can operate. Job #1 of an air conditioner is to dry the air.





Ummmm....HTH is not my initials or anything.

HTH means "hope that helps".

internalaudit

Thanks for clarifying ezone. Much obliged. Learned a few very important things today.

stock

What's that stuff holding vapor barrier to the door? My vapor barrier is not sticking to the door anymore after the shop ripped it off to mess with the power door locks. What can I use to restick it. Where can I buy the stuff?

ezone

POST # 5000!!!! W0oT!




It's the second most nastiest crap in the world. Don't get it on your clothes.


I was going to C&P from an old service news article, but got sidetracked looking for a free link elsewhere.

This took a few minutes of searching....

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/doorseal/index.html

Hondas part # is the same as listed in the info I have, but the other sources listed should be much easier.

HTH