Heated rear window performance
Discussion
Does anyone else have issues with heated rear window performance? I have found mine to be rubbish, worst I’ve had in any car. They are working as you can see something happening but they are so slow and even over the course of a 20 minute drive this morning, the window didn’t clear properly. When it gets icy, I’ll be having some proper difficulties.
It's pretty typical of a mid engined car.
The rear window is far more prone to misting up and mists up worse because it's being caused by the heat from the engine but on the flip side once the engine bay has fully warmed up it will also clear it. The Alpine does seem to take longer to do this than either of my Evora's did, presumably because of the insulation provided by the Alpine's engine cover keeping the temperature between it and the glass lower.
To be honest I rarely use/used the heated rear windscreen on any of these cars. I'd only ever bother using it to melt ice on the outside (which you may find it does much better) and just use the wing mirrors until the misting sorts itself out.
The rear window is far more prone to misting up and mists up worse because it's being caused by the heat from the engine but on the flip side once the engine bay has fully warmed up it will also clear it. The Alpine does seem to take longer to do this than either of my Evora's did, presumably because of the insulation provided by the Alpine's engine cover keeping the temperature between it and the glass lower.
To be honest I rarely use/used the heated rear windscreen on any of these cars. I'd only ever bother using it to melt ice on the outside (which you may find it does much better) and just use the wing mirrors until the misting sorts itself out.
Started a long day of driving with the cabin rear glass misted over yesterday, so couldn't even see if the rear window was demisting.
A question I've meant to ask as it's early days with my car, does pressing the rear demist button also turn on the door mirror heating?
If it does, it's also very slow.
My old e36 had steam coming off the mirrors within seconds
A question I've meant to ask as it's early days with my car, does pressing the rear demist button also turn on the door mirror heating?
If it does, it's also very slow.
My old e36 had steam coming off the mirrors within seconds
croyde said:
Started a long day of driving with the cabin rear glass misted over yesterday, so couldn't even see if the rear window was demisting.
A question I've meant to ask as it's early days with my car, does pressing the rear demist button also turn on the door mirror heating?
If it does, it's also very slow.
My old e36 had steam coming off the mirrors within seconds
Your e36 will have diverted power from the redundant indicators… A question I've meant to ask as it's early days with my car, does pressing the rear demist button also turn on the door mirror heating?
If it does, it's also very slow.
My old e36 had steam coming off the mirrors within seconds
Miserablegit said:
croyde said:
Started a long day of driving with the cabin rear glass misted over yesterday, so couldn't even see if the rear window was demisting.
A question I've meant to ask as it's early days with my car, does pressing the rear demist button also turn on the door mirror heating?
If it does, it's also very slow.
My old e36 had steam coming off the mirrors within seconds
Your e36 will have diverted power from the redundant indicators… A question I've meant to ask as it's early days with my car, does pressing the rear demist button also turn on the door mirror heating?
If it does, it's also very slow.
My old e36 had steam coming off the mirrors within seconds
croyde said:
Started a long day of driving with the cabin rear glass misted over yesterday, so couldn't even see if the rear window was demisting.
A question I've meant to ask as it's early days with my car, does pressing the rear demist button also turn on the door mirror heating?
If it does, it's also very slow.
My old e36 had steam coming off the mirrors within seconds
Yes it does both rear screen (allegedly) and the rear mirrors. A question I've meant to ask as it's early days with my car, does pressing the rear demist button also turn on the door mirror heating?
If it does, it's also very slow.
My old e36 had steam coming off the mirrors within seconds
I think I may have an idea why it’s been so bad.
I was cleaning the inside of the rear screen (to get rid of smears and a spiderweb) and noticed something fairly obvious. The rubber trim which was nicely glued down on the right side, was flapping around loosely on the left. As a result, there was no seal of note on that side.
A bit of duct tape was applied, the seal still isn’t seated properly but the test was this morning. Immediately, I noticed much better performance with the heated window but clearly a discrepancy between left and right. But the screen cleared relatively nicely.
As a related aside, I was told by Alpine Liverpool that they have seen a few cases of this detached rubber seal.
I was cleaning the inside of the rear screen (to get rid of smears and a spiderweb) and noticed something fairly obvious. The rubber trim which was nicely glued down on the right side, was flapping around loosely on the left. As a result, there was no seal of note on that side.
A bit of duct tape was applied, the seal still isn’t seated properly but the test was this morning. Immediately, I noticed much better performance with the heated window but clearly a discrepancy between left and right. But the screen cleared relatively nicely.
As a related aside, I was told by Alpine Liverpool that they have seen a few cases of this detached rubber seal.
First proper test today - rear all iced up in the morning.
What I can unequivocally say is that the detached seal was a red herring. The performance of the heating elements was abysmal, basically doing next to nothing. After 40 minutes in the car, the rear was still predominantly iced up and it was still not possible to see clearly out of it, from the driver’s seat.
Am building up a little list of things which need fixing and I’m a little concerned having read about the issues regarding the wait for parts.
What I can unequivocally say is that the detached seal was a red herring. The performance of the heating elements was abysmal, basically doing next to nothing. After 40 minutes in the car, the rear was still predominantly iced up and it was still not possible to see clearly out of it, from the driver’s seat.
Am building up a little list of things which need fixing and I’m a little concerned having read about the issues regarding the wait for parts.
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