Hey guys, i have a 94 Civic EX 5speed and i have been trying to figure out this rear window defogger problem, and it's kind of irritating to say the least.

so first off, i just got the car about a month ago and i noticed that the (+) side of the terminal was off of the bus bar, so i got a kit and re-attached it, after that, i plugged the switch back in from behind the dash, turned it on, but no go..

so i then started taking measurments, i get 14 volts between both tabs when i hook up the (+) and (-) to each side, so then i check for continuity and i get 0 Ohms between the tab and the bus bar.

so the entire bus bar is hot after me checking this, so then i try to take a measurement in the middle of one of the lines where it should read about 6V and i get nothing..like 0.02V on every single line.

so what is wrong do you suspect? the switch, timer and relay should be working properly due to the fact that i get 14V to the poles right? and i have continuity between the pegs and bus bar...

so i'm stumped then, is the whole grid bad then? has anyone else had this kind of issue?

Thanks for the help!

 

Sounds like the whole grid is bad, lines broken near the side with the plus wire. You can move the probe across the whole window and measure voltage to ground, it will jump up to 14V when you go past the break. It's also possible to have more than one break in a line.

 

well that sucks ***...how do you even go about fixing it? i looked through most of the lines with light in the background and could not find any breaks... the window did have some ghetto tint film that bubbled up so i took it off thinking maybe that could be it, i could also see after that.

it's good that i have 14V at the poles right? it turns off when the switch does, so i ran across some site that sells just grids, would that be a bitch to install or should i just tough it out until summer gets here?

http://www.frostfighter.com/ seems promising, and it's only ~$50

 

If you can locate the break in the wire grid, it can be repaired with silver conductive paint (see service manual).

 

yeah....i cannot locate the break in any particular line, but when i probe each and every grid line, it reads almost no volts...

the entire bus bar is hot with 14v but just no defrosting, i think the whole grid is bad, could this have been from the tint installation? it wasent even a real tint, but it was a film with some gnarly adhesive! so i was thinking about just getting a new grid if it comes down to it

 

There must be a break between the bus bar and the line, maybe right at the bar. Yeah sticking anything to the inside of the glass or attempting to clean it can damage the grid. You can also change the whole window to get a new grid too but that's expensive, about $200.

 

Do you have insurance? Whats your deductable?
A brick, and your deductable gets you a NEW rear glass.

 

Suggesting that someone should commit insurance fraud is poor advice.

 

+1

 

$200? No, try $350-400 for a new glass w/defroster grid.

I bet you can get a rear window at a salvage yard for less than $175. If you cannot find one locally, try here http://www.car-part.com/ They have a database of100 million carpartsat salvageyards nationwide. When you find one, call one of the autoglass companies and ask what they will charge for labor to install it for you. Or better yet, finda glass guyreplacing a windshield somewhere and offer him some cash to "install it for you off the books" that way might only cost you $30 or so for labor.