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Original rear defroster

Instead of having an electrical wiring inside the rear window to create a heating grid, a simple fan takes the air from the trunk and send it through a little grid directly to the rear window. The decision was to perform a full restore of the old original defroster unit.

After take it away from the car, the plastic blower was disassembled. It was cleaned in the outside but in the inner side too. High pressure water passed in the inner of the plastic blower. The reason is that the air that passes through it will be directed to the interior of the car, to the people's compartment. And i like fresh air. After total cleaning, a 3M silicone product was applied to the exterior and interior of the plastic. As a result, we got a plastic tubing that even smells good. The metalic top of the plastic fan was taken away. After cleaning, it was sent to a zinc process to came back to its original appearance. The plastic fan was deeply cleaned at home. The metalic housing was sent to a painting job. It was totally polished. The little electric motor was reviewed. At the end, all the pieces was assembled again and the defroster, as a system was back to life. Something interesting was find a noise reduction in one of the wires that came from the defroster's motor. The idea is to prevent interference in the radio when the defroster is turned on.




March 22, 2009 : Metal housing painted and polished.

The metal housing was initially painted in epoxy but the finish wasn't good enough. So the entire paint job was restarted but the second time in polyurethane. With polished finish the result is a black mirror.

Before : rust in the housing. After : polyurethane paint job, smooth surface.

The defogger is not yet assembled, but can't avoid little preview.

Before After




March 13, 2009 : Soldering and previous tasks paint tasks.

A bit of soldering was applied carefuly in the zone of the broken wires. At the beginning it looks really ugly, but after some patience and sanding the overall look was improved.

Before : broken wires. After : soldering applied and sanding with care.

Start needed tasks to paint the capacitor

Wires are covered with care leaving exposed just the desired surface for paint.




March 8, 2009 : Capacitor, used to reduce electrical noise when blower is running

The capacitor is in a cleaning process. Still not finished :

Before After

Before After


Id codes identification :

NFT 854 - 10

It appears some evident problems, like broken wires. Please note when the contact area decrease the electrical resistance grow up, so this must be solved.

There is a healthy side. Other one needs care.

Pending tasks :
  • Soldering with care the side with the broken wires.
  • Check with an electrician if the capacitor is working properly.
  • Finish cleaning to generate a smooth surface.
  • Paint.

If the capacitor doesn't works properly or it has decreased functionallity then a new one has to be bought. Fortunately GM still produces it and it can be found in YearOne seeking by the code 52N



7 de marzo, 2009 : Limpieza de cables y terminales

Wires, terminals and electric contact pieces was cleaned in detail.

Before After




March 7, 2009 : Reading codes

Codes in the wheel :

2, 301, 7808


It exist other set of numbers in the electric engine, but the complete secuence is not easy to read. By now, these are the most clear numbers :

8,68




March 5, 2009 : New updates on rear defogger parts

zinc process applied to the lid:

Initial state The lid after the zinc process


Electric engine painted with epoxy :

Initial state After painting : pending wires cleaning


The grid was painted : now i think we should wait to the end having the speaker covers installed, to match the color. Anyway, looks fine by itself.

Cleaned grid Painted grid


Pending :

electric noise suppressor has to be cleaned Nuts has to be cleaned, rubber ring is in perfect
shape, the other one may be replaced.



January 2009

Initial pictures, taken from the trunk :



Pictures taken from the cabin :



Defroster is taken away and disassembled :



The plastic blower and the metalic housing was joined by an elastic material with gray color :



There is an elastic material on the plastic blower, maybe to absorve vibrations.



Plastic blower cleaned on the exterior and inner side.



Some inscription.



The top of the housing is taken away



The plastic fan was taken away
Little electric motor is away for review
Metallic housing getting away and sent to paint.
Top cleaned and sent for a zinc treatment
Plastic grill taken away, cleaned, and siliconated



Fan cleaning






9 / Feb / 2009 : Next set of pictures belongs to the backside of the plastic fan : the axis of the little electric motor does not enter directly in touch with the plastic. There is a little piece in the middle.