I've had my 2002 Insight CVT for about 2 months. Last week we finally had our coldest morning to where the rear window needed to be de-fogged. I noticed that the top 2 lines don't work. I called a local Honda Dealer who said "They're not supposed to work... they are your antenna". To which I replied, "If those top 2 lines are my antenna, why to I have another antenna sticking out of the roof?" Bottom line here... does anybody know if all of the lines on my rear window defogger are supposed to heat up and clear away the fog? Thanks. Jim
Rear Window Defogger... top 2 lines
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Yup :!:
All the grid lines in an Insight are for the defogger. Many Accords and Acuras have some lines as a multilpe antenna. (the also have a "standard" antenna stick).
So the dealer was 1/2 right but didn't know his Insight (yawn). Sad but commonly true. And the guys in the shop that would know, or know where to look to find it, don't answer the phone for a living.
Service Manual p.g. 22-103-105 detail function and possible repairs. Most commonly somebody gets agressive with a razor scraper and gouges off _hunk_ of grid line or *two* before :idea: oops :!: goes off
Such damage isn't covered under warranty. Hairline cracks and gouges up to 1" are repairable. See the SM for the proceedure.
HTH!
All the grid lines in an Insight are for the defogger. Many Accords and Acuras have some lines as a multilpe antenna. (the also have a "standard" antenna stick).
So the dealer was 1/2 right but didn't know his Insight (yawn). Sad but commonly true. And the guys in the shop that would know, or know where to look to find it, don't answer the phone for a living.
Service Manual p.g. 22-103-105 detail function and possible repairs. Most commonly somebody gets agressive with a razor scraper and gouges off _hunk_ of grid line or *two* before :idea: oops :!: goes off
Such damage isn't covered under warranty. Hairline cracks and gouges up to 1" are repairable. See the SM for the proceedure.
HTH!
Thank you both for your input. Since I bought this from a Honda Dealer (different one than that noted above...) 2 hours away, I'm hoping to get this fixed by my local Dealer under warranty for two reasons. I bought it as a "Honda Certified" Used Car... so I would think that they would have to present the car to me with the defogger working. And second, because I paid an extra $1,065 for additional Honda Care Service (til 2009 or 100k miles... I'm sitting at 52k now... which is about 2.5k since I bought the car). I'm hoping that they will understand that I had no opportunity to check out / confirm the defogger was working when I bought it in the 95+ summer heat - and that now 8 weeks later in cool September is when it first came to my attention. I have a service appointment with my local Honda Dealer despite their initial statement that the top 2 lines are an antenna because the dealer I bought it from is nearly 3 hours away. So I appreciate your references to say that all the lines are for defogger and will inform them of that. I'll let you know how things work out after that service appointment. Thanks. Jim
G
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·My top 2 lines do not work either, dealer said it was tough when I bought it.!!!
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Just for the record, Japanese Insights have some kind of radio aerials on both the triangular windows behind the seats, which look identical to demister lines.
Okay. So here's the story from today's visit to local Honda Dealer service (Madison, NJ). And it's a good news / bad news :evil: story. They tell me the top 2 lines indeed are supposed to work. There you are - from Honda itself. But on my car those 2 lines are "physically damaged" - as in scratched. Therefore neither the "Honda Certified Car" warranty nor my additional $1,065 "Honda Care" warranty will cover that. And since I did not buy the car from them, they are not able to help me out - "thank you m'am." So I called the Dealer I purchased it from (Friendly Honda in Poughkeepsee, NY... 2.5 hours north) and they were 100% terriffic. They too acknowledged that neither the "Honda Certified Car" thing nor the additional "Honda Care" warranty cover "physical damage". They tell me that if it were an "electrical" or "switch" problem... it would be covered. But since Madison Honda says it physically scratched, I'm not covered by any warranty. Even though I've only had the car for 8 weeks and am quite sure I've had nothing much more in the back of my car than a soft-sided lunch box and a daily newspaper. H O W E V E R... they did not hesitate to immediately tell me that they are very sorry about the situation and will have it fixed free. They have arranged with a National Auto Glasss Company they have a relationship with to come over to my house next week and they'll totally replace the entire rear window with one where all the defogger lines work. No cost to me... and saving me the 2.5 hour trip up to Poughkeepsie. I think that's total Customer Satisfaction :!: . I have to say they were complete professionals on the sale - and after this, despite the long trip up, I'm almost inclinded to buy my next Honda from them. Hopefully that'll be several years away while I continue to enjoy my little "blue beauty".
Thank you to all who have offered me help and information.
Regards,
Jim
/ bad news :evil: story. They tell me the top 2 lines indeed are supposed to work. There you are - from Honda itself. But on my car those 2 lines are "physically damaged" - as in scratched. Therefore neither the "Honda Certified Car" warranty nor my additional $1,065 "Honda Care" warranty will cover that. And since I did not buy the car from them, they are not able to help me out - "thank you m'am." So I called the Dealer I purchased it from (Friendly Honda in Poughkeepsee, NY... 2.5 hours north) and they were 100% terriffic. They too acknowledged that neither the "Honda Certified Car" thing nor the additional "Honda Care" warranty cover "physical damage". They tell me that if it were an "electrical" or "switch" problem... it would be covered. But since Madison Honda says it physically scratched, I'm not covered by any warranty. Even though I've only had the car for 8 weeks and am quite sure I've had nothing much more in the back of my car than a soft-sided lunch box and a daily newspaper. H O W E V E R... they did not hesitate to immediately tell me that they are very sorry about the situation and will have it fixed free. They have arranged with a National Auto Glasss Company they have a relationship with to come over to my house next week and they'll totally replace the entire rear window with one where all the defogger lines work. No cost to me... and saving me the 2.5 hour trip up to Poughkeepsie. I think that's total Customer Satisfaction :!: . I have to say they were complete professionals on the sale - and after this, despite the long trip up, I'm almost inclinded to buy my next Honda from them. Hopefully that'll be several years away while I continue to enjoy my little "blue beauty". Thank you to all who have offered me help and information.
Regards,
Jim
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