Rear Defogger not too good
 

Been rainy today and the car's windows fogged up pretty good. The rear defogger comes on but barely works. After about a half hour of driving all it managed to do was make a some lines in the fog where the filaments were. Is there anything I might be able to do to improve it? Not a big deal but I thought I would ask.

Also I seem to have a bulb out in the dash, it is the one that backlights the text on the button for the Rear Defogger and hazzard buttons. How would I go about changing that one?

Re: Rear Defogger not too good
 

make sure your air conditioner is charged and working properly:)
Keith

Re: Rear Defogger not too good
 

He's not refering to the AC the electric one should be able to handle that since mine melts ice in about 10 minutes

Re: Rear Defogger not too good
 

You pretty much have to pry out that group of switches and pull out the bulbs (you kind of unscrew them) and replace them. It can be a tedious task, but I did it with all those types of bulbs on my car. I can show you if you can't figure it out yourself.

The bulbs are somewhere on this site...radioshack 279-**** 12v bulbs. The problem is you kind of need the little green caps if you can't get them off your old bulbs. I don't have anymore so you may have to get somebody to mail you some.

BTW, those are two separate bulbs. Both of the same type.

Re: Rear Defogger not too good
 

He did say windows... plural... Indicates there is extra moisture in the car that would not be there if the air conditioner is working correctly. The air conditioner compressor cycles on the heat cycle to remove moisture from the inside of the car.
If the rear defogger comes on at all it chances are it is doing as good as it can under the circumstances. They don't exactly get weak.

Keith:)

Re: Rear Defogger not too good
 

I have tons of green, and some blue,yellow caps if anyone needs them as the old ones tend to tear when replacing the bulbs.

Re: Rear Defogger not too good
 

speakng of rear defrost, is the switch set for rear defrost auto turn off after say like 5 or 10 minutes? the only time i drove the car and needed it, it turned off before the frost cleared off, so i had to turn it back on.....on my legacy's the switch always stays on unless i want to turn it off. we get lots of frost and ice here....

Re: Rear Defogger not too good
 

Yes it shuts off

Re: Rear Defogger not too good
 

is there a way to defeat this unwanted shutoff feature, or at least allow it to stay on longer....like when i want to warm the car up in the morning and let it melt off an inch of ice?
5 or 10 minutes whatever is not nearly long enough to take the ice or frost off. stupid feature to shut it off. I am putting in a legacy switch if no one can recommend a way to defeat the dang auto off. I know when to turn it off, when the window is clear. yeah i am sure engineers designed it to prevent burning out the wires....but this suks and considering i am smart enough to turn it off and on, duh

Re: Rear Defogger not too good
 

Yesterday every window was fogged, but the defroster on medium took care of the front windows. I was thinking the rear was not getting the proper voltage and was just barely coming on. How would I check that the AC is working in winter?

Re: Rear Defogger not too good
 

When I press the buttons the light green indicator lights come on, it is just the backlighting of them for night driving that is out. Do you have to take the switches out for that bulb?

Re: Rear Defogger not too good
 

Yeah, you gotta pull the switches anyways. They're quite easy to remove via just a bit of prying with a knife.

Re: Rear Defogger not too good
 

I actually noticed all my windows fogging recently the last week or so and was suprised to see that both my front and rear driverside carpet was soaked with water. I pulled the carpet back and found about an inch or so of water on the floor that was causing the fogging. Long story short the sunroof drain managed to point itself towards the floor pan and soaked the crap out of it. Just something you might want to check.

Re: Rear Defogger not too good
 

good question.

If you turn on the defroster and open the hood, you should notice the compressor cycling some. Also might put a gauge on it to be sure the refrigerant is ok. If the refrigerant is lo, it could still engage the clutch on the compressor but disengage quickly because of the "built in" safety that keeps it from running long enough to suck air in the sealed system if you have a leak.

redlightningsvx made a good point with moisture getting into the car from an outside source that could cause extra moisture on the windows. Even a small heater core leak that could only slowly seep out moisture?

My bet is the air conditioner not functioning properly!

Good luck...
Keith

Re: Rear Defogger not too good
 

My rear defroster is pretty weak, while my work car melts ice in 2 minutes. I think it could be a wiring lead may be corroded to there is much more resistance. I have yet to trace it back due to lack of time and the fact that I dont drive the svx much as it is. It may be worth checking into if you have the FSM.