rear window defroster


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Old 02-20-17, 07:08 AM
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rear window defroster

My wife has a new 2016 Nissan Altima. She thought she had an doctor appt today [wrong date] and there was a heavy dew last night. I fully expected the rear window defroster to dry up the dew. After about 10 miles there were clean lines so you could kind of see thru the back glass. It took another 5 miles or so before the back glass was mostly clear.

Her previous car [2003 merc] would dry up the dew in short order [mile or so] miss the mirror defrosters too! I'm thinking I might need to take her car to the dealer but I don't want to waste my time if they are going to say that's normal. I do intend to try the defroster out again sometime but I don't drive her car all that much.
 
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Old 02-20-17, 08:51 AM
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A defroster is just that. It melts frost. It is not a water evaporator. The heat it provides will help dew evaporate faster but it's not really designed to boil/cook off water. I imagine the other car had better performance because of the airflow which did most of the work removing the water.
 
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Old 02-20-17, 08:58 AM
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See if the water is on the inside or the outside of the window. If on the inside, also turn on your air blown A/C heating defroster. That will dry the air inside the car.

If it is above freezing, i will use the garden hose to wash off the windows so I can see what I am backing into!
 
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Old 02-20-17, 09:08 AM
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Her merc had a longer trunk deck lid and a spoiler so maybe aerodynamics played a part. All I know is I was surprised that it didn't clean the dew off in short order like I'd been used to. If I had it to do over I'd have sprayed it off with a hose [it was handy] but never needed to with her old car.
 
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Old 02-22-17, 03:37 PM
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hey, Marksr - make sure water is not leaking into trunk. Excessive moisture on rear window may indicate dampness in there.
 
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Old 02-22-17, 03:43 PM
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I wouldn't call the moisture excess but more surprised it took so long to get gone. I must be getting old, she bought the car before Christmas and I just found out today it has a telescoping steering column.
 
 

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