View Poll Results: Does your windshield defroster work fine?
Yes, it works fine
9
81.82%
No, it only gets a small area
2
18.18%
Voters: 11. You may not vote on this poll
'81 defroster
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 333
Likes: 0
From: Portage Michigan
'81 defroster
My defroster does a real crappy job of defrosting (windshield). It only gets a small area right above the vent. I have always assumed it was poor design, but my dad suggested maybe something was blocking it inside (i.e. rodent nest). I figured I'd inquire to see who has a problem vs. who does not. If majority of you say it works fine, then I'll inspect the vents.
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,057
Likes: 99
From: Southeast, Tennessee
St. Jude Donor '09 thru '26
one of the more common problems is that the upper defroster duct doesn't fit properly to the main ventilation duct work. there have been a few threads on this in the past as to "solutions" people have employed. in my case when i completely redid my interior wall to wall, i cut a piece of rubber inner tube and used it as a "sleeve" to insure good connection between the 2 pieces of the ducting. some have used duct tape. i guess it would depend on how serious you are about getting it to work as well as possible. gluing the inner tub piece has worked very well for me, it also depends to some extent on how hot your heater can get because the defroster heats the window and normal molecular events will cause the heat to spread if it is high enough at the concentration point.
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,057
Likes: 99
From: Southeast, Tennessee
St. Jude Donor '09 thru '26
well.............it's alot easier to do it that way, but it isn't mandatory. it will require that you remove the radio (and therefore the center console section) and you can get to it that way just as easily, you might be able to reach around the back of the radio to get a feel for the fit before you go to the trouble of taking anything else apart. if you turn the defroster on high and get your hand back there and feel a lot of air blowing behind the radio area, that's a good sign that the pieces aren't fit together. all this is assuming that your high fan speed is functioning. if it is and you are still getting the defroster results you describe, the chances are real good the ducts are separated somewhat.
