Obviously the proper answer to my question is going to be "bring it do the dealer and ask" but has anyone else had their rear window de-mister die. Mine just stopped working today and I don't think it's a fuse, since it's on a fuse that covers a number of other things that are still working, like aircon & foglights. My question is if it's not a fuse or connection problem, what is the likely fix by the OPC. I'm still under warranty and I'm wondering if the fix might be as extreme as a full new soft-top considering this seems to be the answer to a broken rear window. That would be a result as the previous owner left a couple of minor creases in the soft-top and it is showing a couple of faint fade lines.
hard rear window de-mister dead
- Thread starter jw2015
- Start date
What do you care if it's under warranty? Call me a sceptic but I wouldn't be surprised if the hood fabric etc. is not included in the warranty. The mechanismn, motors and relays etc. will be. Take the car to the OPC and find out.
I had asked the OPC about the faint fade lines in the hood and was told it's normal wear and tear, no chance of a replacement, and to be honest they're so faint it doesn't bother me as long as they don't get much worse. But if I was to get a new hood just because the rear de-mister is gone then I'd be laughing. That'd be a superb result but before I tackle the OPC about it I'd like to hear from anyone that has had hard rear window problems.
Paul Fraser
New member
I doubt whether there is only one fuse for the aircon, foglights and rear window demister. I don't know what year your car is, but on my '97 there is one 30A fuse (D2) for the rear window defogger and the heated electric mirrors. You might want to recheck your info and the fuse in any event as a starting point.
just checked the fuse map in daylight and now I'm really confused. It says there is a fuse for door mirrors and rear window heater (D2), which is what I'd expect, but it also says the rear window heater is on C7, which is the one with heated seats/aircon/door mirrors and some other items. Why is it on two fuses according to the map. Neither of them have blown anyway, so the problem is elsewhere.
jac in a box
New member
Check for power at the rear window connections with a voltmeter?
Paul Fraser
New member
C7 (on a '97) is 'Term. control wires' whatever that is, probably the switching for all the things you mention,
A6 is the seat heater
E7 is aircon,
B10 is instrument cluster diagnosis /power windows.
What year/model is your car, why do you think it has failed? I assuem it is a post facelift model with the glass rear screen?
Have you checked the rear screen is plugged into the socket on the rear shelf (if the facelift mocels have the same socket as my '97)
Do you have an avometer that can check the voltage to the screen?
A6 is the seat heater
E7 is aircon,
B10 is instrument cluster diagnosis /power windows.
What year/model is your car, why do you think it has failed? I assuem it is a post facelift model with the glass rear screen?
Have you checked the rear screen is plugged into the socket on the rear shelf (if the facelift mocels have the same socket as my '97)
Do you have an avometer that can check the voltage to the screen?
It's a 03 facelifted model. I can't see any connections other than the plugs to the heater on either side of the window itself and they look fine. The wires then go under the rear shelf and out of view. There's nothing else that's obvious. Are there any connections I can check by just dropping the top. I'd prefer not to disconnect the rear end of the soft-top to look further as the weather's too miserable and I've had problems with the top in the past, so I think I'd leave that to the OPC.
Paul Fraser
New member
Sorry, but that is me out of ideas. Hope your warranty covers it. Please let us know what it is: I for one am curious.
There is a two pin connector behind the nearside raising and lowering mechanism and roll bar which you have to change the plug on if you have a Hardtop. I don't know if cars without a hardtop have this but its worth a look. If this works loose it would stop it working.
Just to fill you in on the outcome to my problem. A couple of days after I noticed the window heater was dead, I realised that my softtop wasn't functioning correctly either. I couldn't change direction mid-cycle and the warning lights only came on at the end of a cycle. This is a problem I'd had previously but I never noticed if the rear window was also dead back then. I phoned the OPC and got a not so great response about expired manufacturers warranty, despite them having 'fixed' the same problem less than 9 months ago. I have an extended warranty, and despite some murmuring that the parts may not be covered, I wasn't worried and I booked it in.
In fairness, the service guy I dealt with in the end was great (not the miserable guy on the phone), and I didn't even mind being without the car for 3 days - it took them over a day to diagnose the problem and a day for the parts and half a day labour. The problems were related and as it turns out a new motor for the soft top fixed them completely. Seems the motor has switches in it that determine the direction of the top and that also cut off the rear window heater when the top is down and these were buggered.
Anyway, my confidence in the local OPC was restored as the service chap I dealt with didn't know about my extended warranty but was going to get Porsche UK to cover it all anyway, perhaps because the first time I reported the problem was before the manufacturers warranty had expired. So it would've been painless even without my extended used-car warranty. Now if they had actually cleaned my car as they said they would, I'd have given them 10 out of 10 for service
In fairness, the service guy I dealt with in the end was great (not the miserable guy on the phone), and I didn't even mind being without the car for 3 days - it took them over a day to diagnose the problem and a day for the parts and half a day labour. The problems were related and as it turns out a new motor for the soft top fixed them completely. Seems the motor has switches in it that determine the direction of the top and that also cut off the rear window heater when the top is down and these were buggered.
Anyway, my confidence in the local OPC was restored as the service chap I dealt with didn't know about my extended warranty but was going to get Porsche UK to cover it all anyway, perhaps because the first time I reported the problem was before the manufacturers warranty had expired. So it would've been painless even without my extended used-car warranty. Now if they had actually cleaned my car as they said they would, I'd have given them 10 out of 10 for service
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