My ‘94’s hatch defogger has been essentially non-functional for a decade. I,too, only had a whisp of defog on one or two middle rows. I decided to get into it. I read the FSM pages, got out my ohm meter and found that I had 14v current at the connector tabs. I had a completely open circuit, no resistance across the whole grid. It was time to replace the system. Replacing the entire window never crossed my mind figuring I wouldn’t be able to find a new window and any ‘used’/salvaged window may likely have a non-functioning defroster. I purchased a Clear View Frost-Fighter on-line. Paid $80. I followed the instructions to the letter. The application was easy except for the strain on my 70 y/o back. I made a mistake in removing the old grid conductors by scraping with a razor blade. I know some out there are cringing reading this and yes, I scratched the glass quite a bit. Stupid!! Thought about trying to polish the scratches out. Were the scratches in the glass or just the tinting film? I tried to get reliable opinions on where the tint layer resides and got too many different ones. But a universal opinion was that if one is not really careful, polishing attempts can shatter the glass. So, I’ve spent a few months getting use to the minor visual disturbance of the scratches and decided to not spit into wind and make a small problem into a huge one. I now am not even sure I had to remove the old ‘lines’.
The new lines do not exactly align with the old grid lines(even though the old surface lines were scraped away, the stain in the glass remains) but I slightly adjusted the application spacing of the new ones so the off-set is not too noticeable. The lay out for the new electric contacts finds both tabs on the same side as opposed to the OEM tabs on opposite sides. It was easy to fish the electric supply by removing the liner on the hatch.
Now I have 10 ohms across the whole grid. It is literally 100 degrees outside this Memorial Day so it will be awhile before I can give the new grid a good testing, but I am confident. Pending that test I am very pleased with the product
The new lines do not exactly align with the old grid lines(even though the old surface lines were scraped away, the stain in the glass remains) but I slightly adjusted the application spacing of the new ones so the off-set is not too noticeable. The lay out for the new electric contacts finds both tabs on the same side as opposed to the OEM tabs on opposite sides. It was easy to fish the electric supply by removing the liner on the hatch.
Now I have 10 ohms across the whole grid. It is literally 100 degrees outside this Memorial Day so it will be awhile before I can give the new grid a good testing, but I am confident. Pending that test I am very pleased with the product
