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ideola · Joined: 01 Oct 2004 Posts: 15550 Location: Spring Lake MI

Yesterday I was taking apart my electric side mirrors. To my surprise, both mirrors had heated glass elements! The hot lead for the heater element is white with two thin, lime green stripes, the same color wire that goes from the defog switch to the defog relay. Makes perfect sense.

So, the issue is that on BOTH mirrors, the heater element is sandwiched between the backside of the mirror and a piece of clear glass. The clear glass is cracked on both mirrors, causing the element to be broken in several places. I suspect that this is what is causing me to get voltage to the defogger, but no current.

I'm going to reassemble everything as is until I decide whether to replace the heated mirror glass. I will disconnect the heated mirror lead at the relay to see if that solves my defog problem. Any thoughts?
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

924guy · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 2:02 am Post subject:

i dont recall how the defroster grids were applied to the side mirrors, but if the metal in the grid is accessable, you can drop a bit of soldier in the cracks to complete the circuit and repair the grid..
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Eric
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dpw928 · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 1860 Location: owasso, ok 74055

IIRC the mirror heaters use a separate power supply but do have a common ground with the rear window defogger. If you are getting current to the defogger, check your connections on the right hatch strut and the ground.

Dennis
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81 931 5 sp
78 928 5 sp Silver
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ideola · Joined: 01 Oct 2004 Posts: 15550 Location: Spring Lake MI

dpw928 · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 1860 Location: owasso, ok 74055

They are both powered off the degogger switch with different but the same colored wires. The switch completes the ground for both the mirrors and the rear window defogger. It is tough to read, but the circuit is listed on page 295 of the Haynes manual.

Dennis
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81 931 5 sp
78 928 5 sp Silver
78 928 AT Euro Black

ideola · Joined: 01 Oct 2004 Posts: 15550 Location: Spring Lake MI

So, to the original question, if the circuit is interrupted or shorted in the mirrors, would it prevent the defog from working?
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

dpw928 · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 1860 Location: owasso, ok 74055

No, the crack in the mirror wouldn't cause the rear defogger to not work. Since you have power to the hatch, you should check all of the connections and ground.

Dennis
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81 931 5 sp
78 928 5 sp Silver
78 928 AT Euro Black

924RACR · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 5:34 am Post subject:

Defog doesn't work on either of my side mirrors - they're both cracked - but my hatch does work. It's separate, as noted.
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