Hi, I turned on the rear defroster button and my rear window didn't defrost. I checked the manual and it confirmed all I needed to do was press the button, not activate anything else. I stayed in the car for 10 minutes; when I pressed the front defroster button it defrosted my front windshield but when I pressed the rear defroster button my rear window was still icy.

I brought it into the dealership and they told me nothing was wrong with it.

 

Is there a question in there somewhere?

I know defrost takes a few minutes to really get going depending on how cold it is. Was the engine running? Were you running your climate control as well as the defrost?

 

I did it once with climate control, once without. Neither times worked. I saw the orange light on the rear defrost button, indicating it was on. To test it at the dealership, I just need to put my hand on the rear windshield right? They are saying it's fine because the "grids" are OK but I know from practical experience they are not.

 

Might check your fuses.

 

It takes about 10 minutes for you to actually notice it is on and working. It just takes longer to heat up than most other cars I've driven

 

To take the "human factor" out of the test, if you have access to a hand held infrared thermometer you might run a quick test.

1) Test the temp of the glass and defroster grids before turning on the defroster

2) Turn on the defroster and leave it on for 5 to 10 minutes

3) Recheck the temp of the glass and defroster grids

You should see a very noticeable increase in the temp on and around the defroster grids. If you see no change in the temp then you know the defroster grids are not working. This type of test is something the service tech should also be able to reproduce.

 

Thanks guys, I need to test some more, but recently I did get it to work. Just press the rear defroster button and the previous poster was right, it takes a long time, like 10 minutes.

I learned the rear defroster does not work like the front defroster. The front defroster is faster because it uses the heater in your car(I like to just use the windshield wipers if its not icy), while the rear window uses electrical grids, as another poster mentioned. The electrical lines on the back windshield called "grids" have an electrical current that defrosts the rear window, albeit very slowly. Since the window usually gets wet rather than icy, I'm better off just using a paper towel.

 

Glad it worked out, it does work pretty well w/ the ice but hard to be patient when you need to get somewhere in a hurry.