Rear defroster won't work but wiper and window work fine

[Coops75]

Hi Everyone. Any ideas what to look for? My rear defrost doesn't work but the wiper works and the window goes up and down fine. All the posts I've found have the wiper not working as well and it ends up being the window position. My window is all the way up. Any idea where to check for only the defrost?

Thanks,

Rich

 

[BMeister]

You disconnect your battery recently? May need to be normalized. Roll back window all the way down and all the way back up.

 

[Coops75]

I just bought it recently but the battery probably was disconnected however I already tried rolling it down and then back up again but still doesn't work.

 

[gm350reratliff]

You may have to pull the panel and see if there is a broken wire going to the back glass. If not I would start checking for voltage from there forward.

 

[Coops75]

When the weather isn't -22 I'll try that.

Also, when you press the defrost button the light does go on.

 

[KingPrat]

Do your heated mirrors work properly?

 

[Coops75]

Didn't even know it had heated mirrors. Do all 2005 sports? I dont think they work but they haven't been frosted or covered with snow yet.

Thanks

 

[Door Ding]

Somebody probably did what I did, unplugged the rear defroster wires from the glass to make sure the glass doesn't explode when you try to use it.

 

[rpete]

On my 2006 SR5 the connections fried to it. I had a buddy who had a car that had the same issue and he tried wiring in and reinstalling new tape for it but it never worked quite right. However I'm not sure this is your issue because you will usually have a few or more of the strips still working. Also learned the only way to fix my issue is to replace the whole window.

 

[kcdehart]

If you have heated mirrors, they will defrost in a square pattern (pretty quickly) after you push the rear defrost button.

That said, the rear windows on these have been known to shatter if any of the defroster elements in the glass have been damaged (usually by being scratched or the window rolling up and down).

I haven't disabled my rear window because I like the mirror defrost feature. So I just run it for a minute or so and then turn it off once the mirrors are good to go.

 

[zonianbrat]

My wires broke right at the connection. I left it that way because I do not want to blow out the rear window. Pop off the rear panel and check it out.

 

[Coops75]

Well I can live without it. I'd rather not blow out the window but I'll check when I have time just to find the problem.

Thanks

 

[zonianbrat]

If and when you do pop that rear panel be careful for the bundle of wires in the loom that runes everything in that back hatch. The previous owner at some point took the panel off ( I can only assume he was troubleshooting the rear defroster issue) when he did he did not attach the wire loom to it's anchor points when he was done. After I bought the truck I would roll down the back window some when we had the dog in the back. At some point the window "caught" the wire loom and it stretched it and a main wire was stretched and eventually broke and shorted out. I had no power to the back hatch. It was a pain tracing down that one broken wire. That is when I found out why my back window defroster doesn't work. I made sure to clean everything up and I securely anchored the loom out of the way.

 

[NRAVG]

You disconnect your battery recently? May need to be normalized. Roll back window all the way down and all the way back up.

:redbrick: you should have seen as i tried to take my car apart on the weekend to figure out why defogger does not work, after reading your comment, i new right away that all i needed to do is to reactivate my rear window, as i did disconnect battery just recently. :redbrick:

 

[ladywolf]

I've got this same issue. Rear window and back corner windows will not defrost, but mirrors defrost perfectly. Hoping its just that someone unhooked the connector.

Guess I'll check it out this weekend!

 

[lightfreak]

I've got this same issue. Rear window and back corner windows will not defrost, but mirrors defrost perfectly. Hoping its just that someone unhooked the connector.

Guess I'll check it out this weekend!

The corner windows don’t have defroster , that grid on them is actually the radio Antenna. Good luck with the rear.

 

[AuSeeker]

I've got this same issue. Rear window and back corner windows will not defrost, but mirrors defrost perfectly. Hoping its just that someone unhooked the connector.

Guess I'll check it out this weekend!

As mentioned by slightfreak the 2 rear most side window don't have a defroster, those are radio antenna grids on the windows.

As far as the rear defroster, I would live without it because of the issue of the defroster causing many rear windows to break/shatter, so just be warned by getting it back to working order you risk it at some point possibly shattering, Toyota issued a Warranty Enhancement/recall for this issue but unfortunately it has expired so if your window does shatter you would have to pay out of pocket to have it replaced.