iced over inside the 4Runner, in a matter of seconds

[Dergibog]

Has anyone ever experience anything like this? I am 64 and nothing like this has ever happened in any vehicle I have ever driven. I have a lifetime of experience driving in all sorts of terrible winter conditions.

I was driving the 4Runner to work in the snow this morning. 5 minutes after leaving home and hitting 55 on the expressway, in a matter of seconds the inside of all the windows went from clear to covered with ice. All of them. Even the instrument gauge lenses were iced over. I was on the expressway and couldn't see anything. I got over to the shoulder somehow with the flashers on, and when I tried to wipe the inside,...that's when I realized it was ice. They weren't just "fogged up". It was like a humidity bomb went off inside the car. It happened so fast I had little time to react. I couldn't see anything while trying to pull safely over as far as I could. I was fortunate not to crash or cause a crash. I hope this is a one time anomaly of weather but I welcome any speculation as to what may have happened or any stories of similar experiences.

2004 4Runner, V8, 255,000 miles, owned 11 years. Conditions were light snow, between 5 and 7 degrees Fahrenheit and 75-80% relative humidity. HVAC fully functional on the 4Runner. It sits outside. Nothing in the car that could give off the level of water vapor to create what instantly happened.

Thanks!

 

[AuSeeker]

If you didn't have "recirculate" air turn on I'm guessing that with the high humidity the outside air loaded with moisture entered the vehicle via the vent under the hood and the extremely low outside temperature keeping the glass below freezing formed ice as the "wet" outside warmed up quickly from the heater releasing the moisture.

That's the only thing I can think of to cause that.

 

[Dergibog]

no recirc on. It defaults to off but I did check that as soon as I started the 4Runner to warm it up, just in case.

Following up on what you said, I did run the defrost on a short drive the last time I drove it. It's possible that collected water in and around the coil, which froze overnight and then released all at once.

I can't think of anything to top your theory. I hope it doesn't happen again, in such a fast and extreme fashion.

Thanks for the input.