Hello everyone! I've been browsing the forum for the last couple of days and decided to make an account and ask for more informed opinions. Not a car guy myself, as far as being technical is concerned, but I do like to take good care of my car, to the best of my abilities. 

I've recently noticed a problem when driving in the rain a couple of days ago. Having switched on the heating for the rear window, only the left side of the window actually "de-fogged". The other half was unaffected. Now, I have managed, with the help of some good posts around here, to look around at the fuse-box under the steering wheel, but fuse 25 (which is the one responsible) seems to be fine. I can also hear a "click" when I press the button. 

I have no idea, however, how to check at the back and see if all the cable-work is in order, since I've seen people recommend that. After a couple of hours of circling around the car (I said I'm terrible with this), I've decided, perhaps for the best, to take the car to the dealer's tomorrow. My main questions would be: What do you think could be the cause? Since the car still has 2 years of warranty, is there any chance of it being done under that or should I expect to pay? 

Can't think of a reason as to why it wouldn't be covered under warranty in such a case, the heated window is definitely not a wear n tear item.

Strange that one side would work but not the other, IIRC the elements run straight across.  Are the vents closed on one side of the car and affecting how quickly it clears?

 

If it was one wires on the screen damaged it would not be warranty.

 

Was going to look at mine but realised I can't - BCA collected it last week and the new one is being built.

 

Edited 12 May, 20206 yr by IJWS15

I thought that maybe one of the side cables is somehow damaged, maybe from road-bumps, corrosion or something, I have no idea, since I haven't been able to take a look. I asked the guy from the dealer if the matter was under warranty but he predictably said that they would have to see the car before saying anything. 

This is my uninformed opinion, but I don't think the wires on the screen should be damaged, as I've always forbidden people from car-washes from washing it, specifically because I was afraid they would somehow damage the window. The same goes for the front window as well. I prefer to gently do it myself with a micro-fiber cloth.

In my experience it's actually quite difficult to damage a rear window element during ordinary cleaning - it's a window after all, it's supposed to withstand it.

 

Like any part on a car, the rear screen could have failed due to faulty manufacture. You could start testing it yourself with a multimeter but given the car is under warranty then take the simple solution first, let the dealer check it.

 

Other than attacking the window with an ice-scrpper or something similar, the only thing that springs to mind where you may be responsible for the damage is if you had aftermarket window tints?

 

PS fuse?  If there's electricity going to part of the screen then can't see why the fuse would be at fault.

Edited 12 May, 20206 yr by Guest

8 minutes ago, Scot5 said:

In my experience it's actually quite difficult to damage a rear window element during ordinary cleaning - it's a window after all, it's supposed to withstand it.

 

Like any part on a car, the rear screen could have failed due to faulty manufacture. You could start testing it yourself with a multimeter but given the car is under warranty then take the simple solution first, let the dealer check it.

 

Other than attacking the window with an ice-scrpper or something similar, the only thing that springs to mind where you may be responsible for the damage is if you had aftermarket window tints?

 

PS fuse?  If there's electricity going to part of the screen then can't see why the fuse would be at fault.

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it. I expect windows to get that kind of damage after at least some sort of abuse, not cleaning, but you never know with some people. With my old car, I've seen a guy clean the rims, which were heavily covered in dust and other gritty particles, and then proceed to wash the side-window with the same cloth. 

I can confirm no after-market intervention has been done to the car. I've always kept it as I've received it from the dealer, and apart from the 30k maintenance and some pre-journey check-ups and 1 extra oil change, nothing has been done to it. 

I'll be heading with the car to the dealer's tomorrow and will post some updates to let you know how it turns out, hopefully it proves helpful to other people.

Update after paying the dealer a visit: their conclusion was that nothing is wrong with the car. They said that, first of all, because of the hot weather, they can't actually test the defroster and that because of the high temperature, the voltage drops during warmer periods (??) from 12V to 5V and that causes the window to heat up unequally. All wires also seemed fine, they said.

As I've already mentioned, I'm not a tech-guy, but this is the 4th car I own, and it's the first that does this. The other, even my old O1 from 2004 heated the rear windshield across the entire surface at the same time, no matter the weather. I even tested it with some water, from lack of any other method, and only one half seems to heat up and eventually dry the window, while the other half does nothing. Granted, the water eventually dries off anyway but after a considerably longer period of time, whereas the "functioning half" does it in less than a few minutes. 

Any thoughts? Should I take it for a check-up to a non-dealer service? 

 

Ask the dealer to make a note on their system that says you have witnessed only half of the screen demisting.

 

You have two years warranty remaining. This should be ample time for the conditions required for the issue to be witnessed again to occur, except this time be sure to take photos of the screen, one half clear, the other misted up.

 

You then have proof something isn't right and then the problem becomes the dealers, not yours.

If you could have access to a thermal camera, I guess it would be quite easy to document no matter the weather conditions. In Denmark they are widely used for investigating potential energy savings in houses.

They said they had it noted down. It's true it's not urgent. I suppose it will have to wait until proper conditions. It just seemed strange to me since I've never seen it happen before, especially since this is the third Skoda I own. 

A thermal camera would have been nice indeed.