Where I live we don't need or use AC very much but in the winter my wife likes to set the interior temp up to 72 degrees and we often need the defroster, especially on the windshield. I've wondered which uses more electric power from the battery to operate, AC or the heater/defroster? Also, does the AC come on automatically with the defroster, thus giving a double whammy to power use
View 19 RepliesI have a 2014 sonata gls with about 20K miles (have only owned it for about 3K miles) and have noticed that no matter what position the selector switch is in, the air only comes out of the defroster vents. None through floor vents, nor front vents... just the defroster. What i should check or do?
View 5 RepliesDefroster/heater fans quit without warning. Heat continues to flow from vents but volume not enough to keep windows defrosted. All fuses fine.
View 2 RepliesI have a 1990 Mercedes 190E with kind of low miles for its age. Nice car, runs well. The problem is that the blower for the AC, heater, and defroster won't go on when it's cold or wet outside. Sometimes while I'm driving it will suddenly turn on. Sometimes if I restart the car it will go on; sometimes stays on, sometimes goes off after a bit. When it's dry and/or warm outside - no problem; on whenever I want, stays on, no problems. I have checked and replaced the fuses and I have had it at three different repair shops and they all insisted that it was the center console control that was causing the problem and now I have that whole unit replaced and it has not fixed the problem no matter what I tell the mechanic. I get it that it's an intermittent problem making it harder to identify ...
View 1 RepliesI have a 1996 Suzuki Swift. My defroster stopped working several weeks ago.
If I have the defroster and heater on at the same time, white vapor smoke comes from my vents. My heater works fine when I choose the vent option for it to blow directly on me but I can see and smell light blue smoke if I change the vent option to blow on my feet.
In addition a thin white film covers my windows while I'm driving whether I have the heater on or not (and there's a slight oil smell in the car if the heater is on - I do have an oil leak). The thin white film can be wiped from the windows easily at first but becomes more difficult to wipe after 30 minutes or so of driving. Once I turn the car off, the film disappears within 6-8 hours.
When I turn on the heat or defroster I hear this humming noise coming from the front of my touareg, is this normal? I have a 04 v8....
View 5 RepliesI bought my 2006 Prius a little over a year ago from a Toyota dealer in the area, and within the first month I had a strange occurrence. I got into my car, pressed the power button to start the car and everything on the dashboard lit up, the power button flashed amber, the clock's numbers were just barely visible, and the car wouldn't start. Frantic that no matter what I did (shut it off, took the keys out, and tried again several times with the same results), I called the dealer who sold me the car and just as he was about to send out a tow truck to get me, I tried it one last time and it started. I took it directly to the dealership, they inspected it, and came back with the response of 'there's nothing wrong with it, I don't know why it did that. If it happens again, come back again.' No charge and supposedly no problem, I let it go.
Well, exactly 1 year later (to the day) and suddenly it happens again. So I take it to the dealer again. They checked the battery in the back and now they're telling me it's a bad battery cell. They insist the two incidents are completely unrelated. I left to go to class that night and had no more issues that day. But now I have a car that's been getting harder and harder to start. The power button doesn't even light up green anymore. I've noticed that I have issues when I open my door and the alarm goes off like I've left the key in the ignition, but I haven't. I knew when I opened the door yesterday and the alarm sounded that I was going to have issues. Sure enough, the car wouldn't turn on, and after two tries, it became completely unresponsive.
Which battery has the bad cell? They tested in the back, where the hybrid battery is. Also, it seems like there's something more serious than just the battery, considering I've read the manual a zillion and one times since I first had issues in hopes of trying to figure out what's been going on. The power button, like I said, flashes amber when it turns on, then disappears once it's on, but there is no green light instead.
Also, I've been getting repeatedly worse and worse gas mileage since the fall, the last fill only lasting me 350 miles or so with an mpg average of 34.6. I know it's winter and that the Prius typically gets worse gas mileage in the winter due to the heater being on. But the funny thing is, I don't drive with the heater on, even through the winter. I only use the heater when I need to defrost a window or I have company in my car because I like the cold. However, I got stuck on the I-90 for about 9 hours in the beginning of December and I noticed then that the heaters for the feet was varying how much air was blowing out of them after a few hours, and ever since then it's had the same problem. I figured it might have been a need to change the cabin air filters, but now I'm wondering if it points to something else...
I was installing an aftermarket nav system on prius 08, because 2 hours working with dome lights on I have to jump start, now battery doesn't show bars is blank no mpg status, a message appeared check a/c connections.
I check connections and NOTHING avg mpg got stuck... enter to service menu shows 13.6 volts while running and the car is running fine! just the bars doesn't appear not even mpg avg
I have a 2005 Grand Prix and it seems like my windshield defroster has lost power as far as the fan. Its almost like something is either blocking the air or maybe a fan is dying?... still blows hot hair to defog my windshield but doesn't have the force it used to have. What are the things for me to check?
View 2 Repliesi have noticed that with my 08 that occasionally when driving after a rain the windshield will fog up on the inside with the defroster on and set at roughly 73 deg. I also notice that under a/c auto occasionally the window will fog up a little right around the vents, just under normal driving.
View 2 RepliesWhen the front defroster is on, a little orange LED is lit on the defroster button.
When I press the Off button for the AC system, the orange LED stays lit on the front defroster button.
Is this normal?
Got our 2012 package 5 lesss than a month ago, so we haven't had much opportunity to use the rear defroster. The two times I have used it I noticed that it works well on the upper rear window, but the glass below the rear spoiler doesn't seem to be clearing. The red/orange "wires" are visible in the glass, but don't appear to do anything. Wasn't planning to head back to the dealer until first service since we haven't had any other problems, but this could be annoying with the winter weather.
View 7 RepliesAll of the other buttons on my 05 are fine but for the last year or so the defrost buttons only work when the wheel is turned at least 90 degrees. I am guessing that there is a contact strip of some sort. How hard is it to get to the backside of these buttons?
View 2 Repliesi have prius 2004 yesterday the rear defroster stopped and not working while the key on steering wheel and the yallow light indicator works very well and mirror defroster also working well, this case it become yesterday but before that it was working as usual.
View 1 RepliesI'm trying to find the fuse for my rear window defroster. The manual doesn't show it. The fuse panel under the dash on the drivers side doesn't have it marked and the local dealer can't tell me where it is either. They want me to bring it in, of course! Exactly where this fuse is located?
View 3 Replies2011 F350 with the rear window defroster not working on the slider window, just the glass that slides.
I had them look at when it was in for other warranty work and the dealership says it is not covered by the ESP. I looked up the ESP and it states that it covers heated back glass(electrical only). The dealership says it is considered glass and it isn't covered. If it was the outer sides of the back window it wouldn't bother me, but it is the center piece.
I had it looked at a while back when the truck was in for different warranty work and they supposedly fixed it, it was never fixed but I just thought I would get it fixed next time I was in there instead of just going in for that. Last time I was there I was under the 60K mile warranty and it is covered under that, but not the ESP supposedly. Bad dealership or just live with it?
A couple of days ago I noticed that one of the elements in the upper rear window defogger/defroster isn't working. It's the fifth one from the bottom I believe. All the other elements on the top and bottom seem to be working correctly. Is there a way to correct this without taking it to the dealer?
View 2 RepliesI have a 2010 Prius III and was pleasantly surprised to find out that the side mirrors defrosted when the rear defroster was turned on. I looked in the owners manual and it said if equipped. Which Prius models do not have these defrosters, the package II? My mirrors do not have the little defroster icon, but I'm almost positive it must have them.
View 6 RepliesI am having heat issues with my 2004 Prius. Recently it has been difficult for the defroster to keep the windshield clear and the heat output is clearly not normal. It's chilly here in Vermont so having heater is important. I have been doing some reading in this forum and have gained some insight into how the heating system works.
One observation I notice is that the radiator does not seem to get hot at all. If I open the cap on clear overfill tank under the hood it appears to be full. In fact the coolant seems to be circulating through this tank. If I dunk my finger into the fluid it is only warm. There is a warning about not opening when hot but it is not hot so I can open it.
As I sit in the car I can hear liquid circulating through in the dash board area. When I change heater setting to enable different vents and defrost each change produces sounds that would make me believe the mechanical things are working ok. It's just not very warm.
For the past several months I have been noticing a mildew smell in my truck. Today it seems much more noticeable than ever. I have no leaks that I know of. Back in the first part of the summer we had very heavy rains and flooding here and I was in the middle of it, stuck in my truck overnight due to flooding. During that time I never noticed any leaks.
A couple of months ago I saw that there was about a half inch of water in the bottom of my glove compartment. (It's dry today.) I didn't find any wet spots in the carpet underneath. I thought maybe that some AC condensation had gotten in there somehow.
This morning as I was leaving for work, the smell was very noticeable and when I turned on the defroster I could definitely smell it coming out of the vents. What could be the cause?
During this week, most ppl at NA are experienced extremely cold weather, what I found is, the Prius can't do a great job to keep the front windshield clean under that kind of condition.
What I tried, front deforest bottom, or fan to front windshield and leg, both works fine for the middle area but not the top left side which is about 1/4 area of the windshield. It doesn't happen on my sienna. Usually I drive 5-10mins and the windshield are clean. What I guess is maybe the fan tunnel goes too straight to the windshield instead of blow to the rear area or maybe the outlet isn't wide enough to cover the side.