Dampness in ignition leads etc

Doug

Doug

Member
Hurray! another daft question from Doug.

We have our van (1725cc standard petrol engine) stored securely, but he has to live outside.

The engine bay seems to get very damp: loads of dew all over the ignition leads, even inside the dizzy, after a week or two of not being started.

Has anyone found a way around this? WD40 helps art the time but I was wondering if there's a more durable solution like a water dispersant spray that doesn't evaporate, or a magic trick to stop the damp getting in.

Like living in Dubai. (not feasible)

Maybe leaving the engine cover open or something? sounds counter-intuitive.

The rest of the van gets condensation but doesn't leak do far as I can tell.

ta!
 
As Panky right says, if it must be outside, be aware of what surface you are parking on.

Long vegetation is the worst. Contains loads of water which recondenses under the van. Blocks ventilation under the van so it doesn't evaporate quickly.
Short grass is better. The water still condenses, but evaporates quicker.
Gravel is better still. The gravel reduces evaporation off the ground, and keeps weeds down so ventilation is good.
Gravel on polythene is even better than just gravel. Very little evaporation off the gravel and plenty of ventilation.
Slightly sloping concrete or tarmac etc is best.

So once you have the best possible surface, try and get as much ventilation as possible by not parking under trees, too near fences or buildings.

Condensation is so much greater when the weather is warming up. The engine is a big lump of cast iron which stays cold and gets lots of condensation, including on ancillaries like electrics. The best defence is to try and warm up the engine a bit. You can get little mains immersion heaters that just warm the engine above the "dew point". If you can keep the engine up to about 12C in the winter and spring that should do it. Lots of vehicles in the US use them against cold starts, but in UK they are more useful against condensation.

My Commer Q4 truck had an immersion heater in the bottom radiator hose. Unfortunately I threw it away because it was so old.
 
Glad I asked, as usual :)

The van is on flat gravel (good), but in a corner between a large metal container and some trees (bad).
There's no mains power for a heater so I guess it has to be the ACF-50 spray, which I guess is ten better than WD-40.
I think I'll get a two cans: one for the van and one for me.

I shall report on the results.

thanks again

D
 
Doug - Any way of protecting the van with a carport stretching from the metal container - I also found that even the thin plastic roof of a carport was enough to stop a car getting the frost... so may be enough to buffer from the temp differential?
 
OnTheRoadAgain said:
Doug - Any way of protecting the van with a carport stretching from the metal container - I also found that even the thin plastic roof of a carport was enough to stop a car getting the frost... so may be enough to buffer from the temp differential?
Click to expand...

Hmm, it's in a general storage place (pay per plot) so we can't hook things up to the wall/containers unfortunately. A car port would sort a lot of this out.

I see what you're saying re temp difference ..
We have a cover for the van which unfortunately is a right pain to put up (so I'd almost forgot about it). I had assumed this wouldn't help because the damp in the engine bay is (presumably) coming up from the wet ground underneath.
Maybe it would, though if it keeps the van warmer, and the ground more dry. Just have to find an easy way to get it over the van.

He still seems to get quite damp in the engine bay just overnight, especially with this cold fog we've had lattely.
I'm pinning all my hopes on the waterproof spray at the moment. If that doesn't work I'll just fit a marine engine lol
 
Doug said:
We have a cover for the van which unfortunately is a right pain to put up (so I'd almost forgot about it).
Click to expand...

When we put the cover on Bonnie I attach a couple of lengths of washing line to the rear tie on points, then throw the ropes over the van and pull the cover over from the back end. Only takes a couple of minutes and Bonnie is BIG.
 
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