Here's an unusual problem. When I opened my tailgate the other day I saw several of the rear window defroster grid lines dangling in the air. Several more rows were hovering away from the glass but were still connected at either end. Here is a photo of some of the dangling grid line. They are a very fine black conductive material and I held an orange pad behind them to help them show up in the photo.


The grid lines were very fragile and quickly broke free. I have since cleaned them up with a vacuum. I checked on the internet how to test whether the defroster is working. After turning it on at the dashboard you use a voltmeter with the negative lead attached to vehicle ground and the positive lead pressed against the individual grid line beginning on the left side. Each of the grid lines still had some black residue remaining and I was able to measure 12 volts on each. As I would move the probe to the right the voltage disappeared as soon as the black grid line was no longer present. The gold colored lines were still there but they seem to be either non-conductive or partially conductive as I would occasionally see a few volts on the voltmeter.

My dealer is investigating whether this can be repaired. No answer yet. My car is 4 1/2 years old and is only used 2 or 3 times a weeks generally for short trips. It spends most of the time in my garage where it is hot and humid 6 months of the year (Florida).

 

Wow! I have never seen that happen before!
I will be interested if they are able to reattach it and it look symmetrical as well as work completely?

 

The dealer informed me that I will have to replace the tailgate window. They referred me to their window people. I'm waiting for a quote.

I sent an online inquiry off to Mazda USA.

 

Here is the email response from Mazda USA:

Thank you for contacting Mazda Customer Experience Center. I am very sorry to hear that you are currently experiencing this issue. Unfortunately this is not a known issue due to there not being a open recall or warranty extension pertaining to this issue. Please adhere to the recommendations of the Mazda dealer so that the matter can be resolved as soon as possible.

 

Is see in RED your are not happy with the response.
The rear window replacement should not be that costly and you can also ways shop around a few independent auto glass installers for the best price. Look on craigs list for your area as well. It not as critical as a windshield so you may not have to be as concerned whom does the installation as long as there is a warranty on the glass and the labor will be at least partially covered for a warranty replacement should it arise with the new glass?

 

The issue is not yet dead. I had forgotten about it until a few weeks ago during a cold snap in Florida. My rear window was fogged up on the inside and there was nothing I could do about it. I turned on the defroster for fun and discovered that the very top wire is still functioning. So the top inch or two of the window cleared up but all of the rest of the window remained foggy.

I then e-mailed the President & CEO of North American Operations and I quickly received a reply from the very same agent that gave me the negative response that I posted in Red. He has requested an official diagnosis in a service report from my local dealer. I have an appointment for 1/9/24. I'm still hopeful that Mazda corporate accepts responsibility.

It's not really the cost that has me annoyed. Aside from routine maintenance this vehicle has cost me $0 in repairs during almost 5 years of ownership. This unique problem can only be a manufacturing defect. Nobody I have spoken to has ever heard of such an occurrence. And I only have 9800 miles on the odometer. I'll report back after my service visit.