No. There is a dedicated button for the defroster and that's what they are talking about. I have let it run and if it's coming down good it just builds up like crazy on the side third of the windows. You can see where the vent goes from side to side and you can't get air out of 2/3 of the vent no matter how hard or how long you run it.
This is not a solution, this is moving the problem somewhere else. By blocking airflow in the center to gain airflow on the sides, you still have to lose airflow in the center. CFM like amps is a limited and fixed set, you will never make more CFM than the fan can deliver.
yes heat only no A/C
The base sport vmodels have a dial for HVAC. The dual climate systems have a button for defrost.
I'm not worried about heat, I am getting enough of that. I'm worried that it only comes out the middle third and it never clears the outside portion (mainly right where you are looking on both sides of the windshield).
From what I have read, there is not a shortage of CFM coming out of vent to keep the glass from frosting, the issue is it (all the CFM) all comes out of the central vent and not the sides. So by blocking SOME of the central vent hopes you are redistributing the CFM, total amount of CFM stays the same, it just gets redirected. Problem solved, as in a solution.
There is a picture of the hvac unit on another thread that shows the problem... no angle to the ribs in the defroster ductwork so it blows straight up the center of the windshield. You can live with it, or complain about it and hope FCA does something about it, or you can put in the plugs to get decent defrosting until the FCA fix arrives. They are cheaper than the stubby antenna that everyone wants because it looks better and they actually do something that you can appreciate.
I’m also from MA and I refuse to believe anyone from the commonwealth would argue in favor of patience. Who the $&@! has time for that $&!+?
LMAOI’m also from MA and I refuse to believe anyone from the commonwealth would argue in favor of patience. Who the $&@! has time for that $&!+?
Seriously, though, last winter I could leave it warming up for 10-15 minutes and still not have ANY of the passenger side 1/3 of the windshield defrost.
As soon as I covered the center defrost vents with speeding tickets, Dunkin’ Donut receipts, and championship trophies, the passenger side would defrost in seconds.
I can wait seconds (or a minute or two) for defrosting, but I can’t wait 10-15 min without any progress.
You can keep your patience for wherever you’re really from, cause I’ve got places to be, people to cut off, and a bowl of chowda waiting’ that ain’t gonna savor itself.
That's odd - mine isn't really all that bad. A pair of gloves tossed up there, or those square plastic plugs stuck in 2 or 4 of the center vent areas, and it's perfect. But I drove it for a while in Iowa's winter with none of those plugs in place and it's just fine.
I have a post somewhere in the forum about my experiences with it - and decided it's really not any worse than anything else I've owned, and better than many.
You can literally see on yours that ice has built up where the wipers still clear. That will cause the wipers to ice up and on any long trip will stop clearing the windows and require you to pull over and clear everytni g manually.I have a post somewhere in the forum about my experiences with it - and decided it's really not any worse than anything else I've owned, and better than many.
I do what you suggest - I set heat way up, turn off AUTO mode and change to windshield defrost mode, turn the fan up - and it works.
Like many other cars and trucks, the trick is turning the heat temp up and the fan high.
Further - a trick I learned years ago on other vehicles, lower the visors. It traps that warmer air against the windshield. Years ago my wife asked me why I kept lowering the visors each time I hit defrost. I told her next time she needed defrost in her vehicle, lower the visors. She reported back -I see, the windshield seems to clear a bit faster.
Maybe it just feels that way but it sure feels like it works.
This is the worst mine ever got in the middle of one of Iowa's frequent ice storms. It was moments after turning up the heat and fan speed. And before I put those plastic plugs in. If this was as bad as it got - it's at least as good as many other vehicles I've owned.
