How to Use a Permatex Rear Window Defogger Kit

On many vehicles equipped with a rear window defogger, electricity flows through small, brown grids mounted on the inside of your rear window, heating the area enough to clean up any fog or frost. If your defogger is malfunctioning and only partially clears the window, you may have damaged or broken grids, which may not allow current to flow past the damaged area. Permatex manufactures a kit to repair the broken grids and restore your rear defogger to its full efficiency.

Instructions

1

Turn off the power switch for the rear defogger. Clean the area of the inside of the rear window in the vicinity of the broken grid of the defogger with an alcohol-saturated cloth, which may be included with your defogger repair kit.

2

Peel off the protective backing from the stencil provided with the kit. Position the stencil slightly over the damaged area, ensuring the open area in the stencil is directly over each side of the damaged grid. Press the stencil against the glass. Rub down the stencil with your fingers to remove any air bubbles and to ensure it is securely adhered to the glass.

3

Shake the container of defogger repair fluid to mix it thoroughly. Remove the cap and stir any lumps in the fluid with a toothpick, if necessary.

4

Apply a coat of defogger repair fluid to the open area of the stencil with the small brush provided with the kit, ensuring you overlap both sides onto the undamaged areas of the grid. Allow the fluid to dry until it does not feel tacky to the touch. Apply two more coats in the same fashion.

5

Look through the repaired area from inside the vehicle. Apply additional coats of fluid to the stencil if you can see light through the repair. Continue applying coats and allowing them to dry until the repair is solid and no light is visible through it.

6

Peel the stencil from the rear window 30 minutes after the last coat of fluid has been allowed to dry.

7

Repair additional broken grids in the defogger in the same manner.

8

Turn on the defogger after the repair fluid has cured. Set a multimeter to a resistance-measuring mode. Place the multimeter probes on the undamaged portion of the grid on either side of the repaired area. If the reading on the meter is more the zero ohms, apply additional coats of defogger repair fluid, then re-test grid with the multimeter.