okay so I got this civic about a month ago and I began to notice that when its really cold outside the windows get frosted but when I turn the rear defroster on it takes forever to heat up. is this because of a bad fuse? or is it just something that I need to wipe down with a towel?

 

Check for breaks in the lines going across the rear windshield. If there is a break in the lines, you will have these types of problems. Should be easily fixable.

 

If some lines work and some don't, it's broken traces like cvcrcr said. If it doesn't seem to work at all, turn the key on and press the button then check for voltage between the main contacts on the sides of the window in the back. If there is battery voltage but it doesn't heat up, it's possible that every trace is broken (usually by improper cleaning of the inside of the window). If no voltage, check the fuse and relay under the hood (note that the light on the button will come on even if the power circuit fuse under the hood is blown). Also on a hatchback the wires could have broken between the hatch and the body.

 

thanx for the replies guys. but yeah I have a coupe non hatchback. i looked and there doesn't look like there are any cracks.

it does turn on though. but it takes forever to start having an effect. itll take like 5 minutes before you can barely start seeing through the cracks.
how long is it suppose to take? maybe i'm just expecting too much.

also the window is tinted so i'm not sure if that has any effect on it. my dad said that he disabled his defroster on his car because the tint would melt on his car. the tint on my car is fine though.