Rear defroster not working on 98 Civic

I noticed on my way to work this morning that the rear-window
defroster on my 1998 Civic wasn't clearing the window. I haven't had
a moment to look yet, but wondering if (and hoping that) it's just a
blown fuse. Does that seem like it might be a probable cause?

Thanks for any info....

Mike

 

Could be. But neither you nor I have any clue until you do the bare minimum
amount of work necessary and check the fuses.

Other than that...

If the car is a hatch, the wiring to the defroster might be broken where
the harness goes into the hatch frame. Got a rear wiper? Does it work?

Problems have been known to happen concerning the Integrated Control Unit,
which controls defroster timing. Any other strange electrical problems
anywhere?

 

Thank you, Tegger. It's not a hatch. I will inspect the fuses this
evening. With winter coming I'm going to need that rear defrost
(though one could argue that I don't REALLY need it since I live in
Georgia).

Mike

 

Hello again -

I got in the 98 Civic again this morning and turned on the rear
defroster and remembered that it wasn't working yesterday. I got in
the back seat to check the connection of the wire to the window only
to find the wire had been disconnected (no doubt due to the fact that
my 2 year old son was crawling around in there over the weekend).
Anyhow, I touched the little plate hanging off the wire to the spot on
the window where it used to attach and there was a couple tiny
sparks. Looks like I've found the problem.

Any advice on connecting the wire/small plate back to the window?

Thanks a lot!

Mike

 

You're saying the tab has been knocked completely off the window?

If so, you can get defroster-tab repair kits at auto parts stores. These
use a conductive adhesive to reattach the tab to the pad on the window.

 

Groovy....thanks for this handy info!

Mike

 

I stopped by Auto Zone on lunch, they had a bunch of adhesives, but
nothing that said it was conductive. I think I'm going to try some
Elmer's spray adhesive that I have. Just a little. Think it'll
work?

Thanks again....

Mike

 

Not likely.

I wouldn't monkey with this sort of repair. Contaminate the area with the
wrong adhesive and nothing may stick thereafter.

As I said, you're looking for a REPAIR KIT for rear window defrosters. The
kit has what you need. Phone around or use the parts places' Web sites to
find them.

Here's one:
http://www.frostfighter.com/


It didn't occur to me before, but an auto glass place should be able to fix
this for a fairly reasonable cost. You might try calling one.