Windshield wiper defroster

[yota1976]

Found a button on my dash the other day and I didn't know what it done. The wife looked it up in the owners manual while we were going down the road. It's a windshield wiper defroster! I've never even heard of a vehicle having that. I did get to use it a few days later when it rained the night before and froze overnight. Pretty cool feature to have :biggrin1:

 

[nb rob]

It is definitely the most underwhelming feature in my climate. It doesn’t seem to make much of a difference at all.

 

[GreenMountainOwl]

It is definitely the most underwhelming feature in my climate. It doesn’t seem to make much of a difference at all.

Ditto, so far. I am moments away from my next adventure with that feature turned on...air temp about 20F, snowing for the past six hours.

 

[yota1976]

It was in the high 20's that morning here when I used it.

 

[Bossman]

Windshield wiper de-icer?

Windshield Wiper De-Icer

Do I have wiper de-icers or not?

Windshield defrost switch

 

[wcjeep]

Even better is the auxiliary electric heat.



PSA for those in cold climates: Aux heater usage

 

[yota1976]

Windshield wiper de-icer?

Windshield Wiper De-Icer

Do I have wiper de-icers or not?

Windshield defrost switch

I did search for "windshield wiper defroster", but I didn't find those. Sorry.

 

[yota1976]

Even better is the auxiliary electric heat.



PSA for those in cold climates: Aux heater usage

Keep learning new things about the 4runner, thanks!

 

[Cadesun]

It is definitely the most underwhelming feature in my climate. It doesn’t seem to make much of a difference at all.

Agreed. Parking outside in Chicago, I was really exited for this feature but many days I am not even sure if it is doing anything more than the windshield defroster. Would have rather had a heated steering wheel!

 

[6172crew]

It was 20 this morning, the Aux heater doesnt work very well for me.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

I like my wiper defroster, it's annoying though that you can't set it to come on with the remote start

 

[tm965]

I like my wiper defroster, it's annoying though that you can't set it to come on with the remote start

also annoying that you have to turn it back on after so many minutes driving

 

[97BlackAckCL]

also annoying that you have to turn it back on after so many minutes driving

Agreed, that wouldn't bother me as much if it would actually turn on when starting the vehicle

 

[Madmartygan]

I'm also in the group that was never really sure what that button did...until this morning.

So I leave for work and it's cold and icy. I figure, "Let me try this thing out and see what it does." Very shortly after I turn it on I smell something not normal. I keep driving, turning things off and on, trying to place what the issue is. Then I notice what appeared to be smoke or steam rising up from underneath the passenger side wiper blade. I think, "Hmm, that ain't good."

Now, my windshield is shot to shit. I commute 40 miles to work through road construction and my windshield looks like a prop from a James Bond flick. I purposefully decided not to replace it until the stretch of construction is finished. Probably in 20 years.

Anyway, I get out to inspect the source of the smoke and I can see a little glowing ember where one of the impacts of road debris hit. In addition to chipping / cracking that spot on my windshield, it also broke or weakened the heating element embedded in the glass. My immediate thought was, "Damn, this is gonna be an expensive windshield replacement."

Fortunately, I don't really need to use this feature so I'll probably still wait for the road construction to be completed before replacing. I just figured I'd pass along in case anyone has chips way down at the bottom of their windshield. I doubt anything serious could result, but you never know.

 

[ElectroBoy]

I'm also in the group that was never really sure what that button did...until this morning.

So I leave for work and it's cold and icy. I figure, "Let me try this thing out and see what it does." Very shortly after I turn it on I smell something not normal. I keep driving, turning things off and on, trying to place what the issue is. Then I notice what appeared to be smoke or steam rising up from underneath the passenger side wiper blade. I think, "Hmm, that ain't good."

Now, my windshield is shot to shit. I commute 40 miles to work through road construction and my windshield looks like a prop from a James Bond flick. I purposefully decided not to replace it until the stretch of construction is finished. Probably in 20 years.

Anyway, I get out to inspect the source of the smoke and I can see a little glowing ember where one of the impacts of road debris hit. In addition to chipping / cracking that spot on my windshield, it also broke or weakened the heating element embedded in the glass. My immediate thought was, "Damn, this is gonna be an expensive windshield replacement."

Fortunately, I don't really need to use this feature so I'll probably still wait for the road construction to be completed before replacing. I just figured I'd pass along in case anyone has chips way down at the bottom of their windshield. I doubt anything serious could result, but you never know.

That’s interesting. I’ve never paid much attention to that heating strip, I haven’t used mine yet. But looking at the lower center of the windshield, you can see the +12v and GND tabs and the embedded wires that heat the wiper areas; four come off the +12 and four return to GND. Also a vertical offshoot that goes up the driver side by the A pillar area. I would guess that your passenger side has a crack in the center area that bridged the +12 and GND wires. Probably got some water or dirt in there that shorted across two wires, creating a hot spot that boiled off the water and burned up the debris in the crack. As long as you don’t turn it on it shouldn’t compromise your windshield any further.