While winter is still several weeks away, the temperatures in the fall season are cold enough to cause some winter weather behaviors. For instance, you have probably already needed your defroster in the morning this season.
When the temperature outside gets cold enough, the windshield on your car will get foggy because of the conflict between the warm air inside of your car and the cold air outside. This can actually happen to all of the windows in your car and many makes and models of vehicles are equipped with front and rear defrosters.
A car’s defroster is designed to leverage heat from the engine to warm up the glass of the windshield in the front and back of the car. In the back of the car, the windshield is usually equipped with warming lines that heat up and defrost the cold ‘fog’.
When the defrosting system is not working in an automobile, the driver’s ability to see and safely drive their car from point A to point B can be severely impaired. In fact, a malfunctioning defroster can cause a car to be inoperable in cold weather. A driver must be able to safely see out of all of the windows in the car at all times in order to safely drive the car without causing collisions.
There are many reasons that a defrosting system might stop working or, not work efficiently:
- The blower fan has stopped worked. The defrost system uses the heat generated by the engine and then blows that heated air through the ventilation system of the car’s cabin. However, if the blower fan is not working then the heated air will simply blow away with the movement of the car, leaving the hot air available but, not being properly directed.
- Not enough antifreeze in the radiator. If the cooling system of the car has a leak, antifreeze will drip out of the radiator and leave the defrosting system unable to work properly.
A build-up of rust or contaminants in the coolant that deposit throughout the system can cause serious damage. This will block the heating element in the defrosting system from being able to circulate air. Make sure to have your car’s defrosting system properly maintained this fall and avoid any complications in the cold temperatures.
