Fixing the rear defroster

[1-3-2-4]

So with this last storm and it getting colder I should of did this a little sooner.. but to get to the point..

 

I'm trying to figure out how to find a break in the lines..

 

OK.. if the wire had a break in it it should show (lets say 12 V) 12 V most of the length until you hit the break and it goes to 0 V right?

 

On a wire that's ok it starts at 12 V one end and tapers off on the other end right?

 

it's painful because I think pretty much all the lines have issues.. must of been a tint or something on the rear glass? I do get battery voltage to the tabs and a bit down the wires but it's hard to say for sure where the breaks are..

 

I do know you never see any defrosting action in it's current state.. i did buy a repair kit but not sure how well it's going to work.

[uniberp]

Haynes manual says check a the middle of the window on each strip. If 5-6v ok, if 10-12 broken on neg (ground side), if 0v broken on + side.

It advises using foil wrapped around probe and pressed with finger to the strip.

[forester2002s]

I've used the repair kits a few times and they work. I think that they are a conductive type of epoxy-glue.

 

My experience has been that you can usually see (use a magnifying glass if needed) where the break is.

On some cars (not sure about Subarus), the heater lines are covered with a protective layer. So to read voltage, a sharp pointy probe works best. Just don't be too aggressive with the probe, otherwise you'll end up making another break.

[1-3-2-4]

ugh.. well it was easy to find the breaks..

 

slowly moving along... 12v... then it's gone..

 

SO many of the lines are in poor shape it had to been a tint that was removed forcefully..

 

I hope I can clean up the look of the rear since I used painters tape to mask the color is lighter so when removed you can see on the outside rear..

 

I only started on the passenger side since that's where the (+) is.

 

this is just part of it..

 

[Dogbone]

I did the same repair to my Loyale a few months ago.

 

The kit indeed worked well, but I must have missed a few breaks because I still have two lines not working.

 

I'm not too worried about it, since originally only the top six lines were functional. It would just be nice to get them all working eventually I guess.

 

Oh, when I did mine I gave it a week to fully cure, then CAREFULLY went back with a razor to clean up any splotches or runs visible from the outside. Not a problem.

[1-3-2-4]

Mine is really bad lol at least you had a few working.. it sucks by the time it starts clearing up due to all the heat in the cabin I'm burning up.. I'm going to wait for it to cure a few days myself since it was only like 50F today besides I'm just about out of painters tape anyways.