Hello I’m new here. I searched diligently but was unable to find a thread with my issue. After a recent bumper repair I noticed that my rear window defroster did not work. When I press the button, it comes on. I can even hear a slight click in the fuse box area. (Fuse box near my lower left driver side knee). The light stays on for the entire time that the defroster is scheduled to work but it does not defrost the rear window. I checked the fuses and both are fine. I checked the heating strips that go across the back windshield and found no damage. The stealership wants $185 to diagnose it. Is there anything I’m missing? I cannot find any documentation about a relay switch or its location. Help!

 

The good thing is yours is coming on when you hit the switch, so that means the fuse and wiring connection are good.

Check the connector on the rear window strip itself, over time they can get condensation in them from the rear window obviously and lose the connectivity.

Simply unplug it and clean the terminals, you can spray some wd40 on it but be careful not to mess up the heating element strips.

Hope this helps you.

 

After removing the panel I found a frayed wire. It was no longer connected because it appeared to burn out. I replaced the section of the wire that was missing and tried the defroster the next morning. No luck but at least I think I now know the issue.