As the title says... Sometimes I have to park outside instead of the garage, and I noticed this morning that when my rear window has a lot of condensation, it takes forever for the defroster to clear up the glass. It definitely works (so it's not like it's inoperative), just very weak. I wonder what would happen in real icy, snowy weather (seeing that we don't have this where I live).
My wife's Toyota Sienna, for instance, is much better in this regard. The van's defogger works quite quickly. I remember that my previous car (a Ford Probe GT) had a much better working defroster as well.

Is it just my car that has this problem? How could this be resolved? Any idea?

 

Uhmmm... the DEFROSTER is designed to keep the back glass free of ice (once you've scraped the window). It's not really designed to dehumidify the inside of the car.

The rear defrost in any car is limited in what it can do to remove moisture inside the car - it is trying to heat the back glass above the dewpoint.

Use the A/C to remove moisture inside your car. It works really well.

EDIT: Also, look at the cause of why your car has so much moisture inside. Check for leaks (especially in the trunk). Try running for a while without the passthrough in place to dry the trunk.

 

Works real well in icy/snowy weather in my area - often clearing the rear glass in a matter of minutes. Sometimes I'll even leave the 2-3 inches of snow on the rear glass, turn on the rear defroster for a few minutes to heat the under layer, then after I take off from a park (or get up to speed) the rest of the snow slides off as the underlayer had been liquefied by then.

 

If you're still under warranty you could try the dealer when i lived in the north and had snow/ice it worked great for me yeah it's not gonna b instant when ther is 1/4in of ice but it worked quick enough for me

 

I'm not talking about moisture on the inside. The condensation is on the outside.
All I stated is that on other cars, the defroster works quite well to make the window clear enough to drive in the matter of minutes. In case of my RX-8, it doesn't. That's all.

I'm glad to hear that it works well to keep the window ice-free. I never had the chance to try that.

Still, I wish it would be more helpful in getting rid of the morning dew from the window.

 

^ it won't work for that.... Use a squeegee. The defroster should keep the dew from coming back.

 

I notice the rear defroster will get rid of some dew on the rear windshield. I live in Jersey and the weather has now changed to allow frost on the back, and clears it up within 5 minutes. But some manual hand work is required.

I mean we own a high maintance car why should the defrosters be a freebie?

 

I get dew on the back of my car every morning, use the defrost to take it off. Start's clearing up after about 3-5 minutes, totally clear after 7-10

Doesn't seem slow to me. Seems normal considering a little tiny wire has to warm up all that glass.

If I really cant see, I use a napkin to wipe the glass down.

 

a napkin!

 

yeah those paper squares they give out by the handful everywhere- I'm sure you've seen them?

 

Yea, i keep a towel in the trunk to wipe off the condensation. It's a defroster not a boiler.

 

it does take them a minute to get warm, its not instant

 

Yea, happens to me in the morning a lot.. I used to wipe it with a towel but I've been lazy lately so I drive with my rear windows covered and side windows.. Don't ask me why..

 

I keep a whole pile of them folded up in my door pocket. they're great if you need to check your dipstick, wipe condensation off a window, blow your nose, god forbid wipe up a spill.

Just seems like a good thing to have around, and they're free. like the airsick bags I also have in reach of every seat.

 

what effect does the defroster have on window tint? i've always wondered.

/hijack

 

al..

it makes the condensation darker?

/hijack

 

didn't notice any difference on my windows. although it can become quite a pain if you have to remove the tint for any reason.

 

the defroster I find is good for ice, however if you are talking bout alot of dew then any defroster is going to have some trouble taking it off.
I leave a dollar store squeegee in the trunk for heavy dew....works gr8!

 

just drive the wind will dry it off....lol

 

+1 Some RainX or similar product will help too.

 

i keep one of these in the storage bin between the front seats

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/ice-scrape...e/product/8692

its a scraper on one side and a squegee on the other comes in real handy

 

my defroster always clears the back window in under 5 minutes. thats sufficiently fast for me.