Hello,
I'm a new member to this forum, I live in Quebec, and our winters can be quite brutal.
I am having an issue with defrosting of my front windshield.
When defrosting my front windshield, the center of the windshield does defrost well, but the sides takes much longer time to do so.
I am no engineer, but I noticed that the Air ducts which brings heat to the front windshield are concentrated on the center of the windshield,
thus causing a problem for the sides to defrost well. I believe the ducts to be too narrow for our type of climate.
Its a problem when driving, since your vision is impaired because the sides are frosted and you can basically see only whats in front of you, and your right and left vision is impaired because the windshield is still frosted. The sides do defrost eventually after driving for quite some time.
I would have a solution to this as well:
1- extend the air ducts to capture more of the front windhshield.
2- add air ducts to the pillars which face the windshield, thus throwing air on the sides of the windshield.
3- add electric defrost on the bottom of the front windshield where the wipers rest to eliminate ice being formed on the windshield wipers.
Please share if they have similar experience, comments, hints...
thanks.

 

1- extend the air ducts to capture more of the front windhshield.
2- add air ducts to the pillars which face the windshield, thus throwing air on the sides of the windshield.
3- add electric defrost on the bottom of the front windshield where the wipers rest to eliminate ice being formed on the windshield wipers.

Are you seriously considering those as solutions? Aside from #3 how would you do any of the other two?

Other than some kind of deflector mounted to the dash air ducts to direct the heated air to the sides, how about this instead. After you start the car step outside and scrap the ice off the windshield? Or at least from around the edges.

Or as I've seen some folks do. Get a large piece of cardboard and cut it to a size that covers your windshield. Fasten it to the car in some way and instead of your windshield icing over the cardboard gets the ice. Of course you could use something other than cardboard but that's up to you.

Sure, the cardboard is unsightly but at least it would solve your problem.

 

Hello Conrad 16.5,

Thank you for your response.

I apologize that I was not clear when posting my message, but I forgot to mention that the solutions I proposed was for Mazda.

And also to see if any other subscribers have a similar problem, sharing any solutions they would have, as you have done.

I was hoping that someone (Engineers – decision makers) from Mazda Canada or Mazda Global would be subscribed to this forum, and that Mazda would consider these solutions in future Mazda vehicle releases, specifically for vehicles destined for countries / provinces / states that have winter climates.

Thank you and appreciate the possible solutions you posted.

 

Very poor engineering design on Mazda's part. I had a 96 Legacy that had the same exact idiotic front defogger design - vent only in the center - and the same exact defrosting problem.

If you're handy with CAD software and have access to a 3-D printer, you can probably create some kind of a deflector that would fit over the existing vent and direct some of the air to the sides. And then sell it on ebay

 

Lat month I had a somewhat similar situation, it might have been snowing, maybe raining, but as I was driving my windshield was becoming increasingly more foggy, hence more dangerous. This is with the AC on of course and I toggled between re-circulating and fresh air and still the issues persisted. Luckily I had I microfiber towel to wipe it down, before just continuing to hit the front defroster button. This is the first ever car I have driven that required the use of windshield defrost to keep the windows from fogging.

 

Totally agree!!! Massive design flaw on Mazdas part and should be a safety recall. I have a 2021 CX-5 and the single center defrost vent is horrible, I live around seattle so my windows are always fogged from the rain, and I only get center defrost with barely any effect directly in front of my view, super dangerous especially driving at night, double that if you have tinted windows. I pretty much drive with the defrost always on, even internal circulation doesn’t work, windows always go back to being fogged up. I filed a safety complaint with NHTSA which is who issues safety recalls. I recommend anyone who has this issues do the same! Maybe we will get our cars fixed. I posted the link below

https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#index

 

Why not post a link to this thread on Mazda's Twitter feed? Gets more visibility then.

 

2016.5 CX-5 GT, here. Winters where I am don't often get much colder than 0ºF, and only for a few days tops. Mostly it's in the high single digits to high twenties, though humidity can exacerbate fogging on the windows even during winters.

I wish Mazda would have two large vents along the base of the windshield, to improve the coverage.

What I do is, basically:

1. ~3-4mins of warm-up and defrost, then scraping the windows; then keeping the heater+defrost blasting for the next 20mins while driving ... after which, all frost and fog is gone. I then moderate the temperature setting on the heater, but keep the air blasting and the rear defrost on.

2. Twice each year, at the start and end of the winter season, I deep-clean the exterior of the windshield and all windows, then do several applications of the Rain-X Glass Water Repellent product.

3. Several times each year, ideally once per month, I give the interior of all windows a good cleaning, then apply the Rain-X Glass Water Repellent product. Not so much for water repellency but more for the reduction in fogging on the interior surfaces of the windows.

4. And I use the Rain-X all-season washer fluid. (Along with a good cleaning and use of 303 Aerospace Protectant on the blades, it also helps keep the blades working well throughout the year.) The washer fluid combined with the Rain-X treatment throughout the year seems to provide pretty good anti-ice and anti-fog abilities. Still have to scrape the initial hard stuff off, yes, but visibility from edge to edge is the rule and not the exception, since I've done this regimen.

Can't say this will cure all ills in, say, sub-0ºF temps, but it couldn't hurt.

 

As GAsierra mentioned above. Cleaning the inside of your windshield really helps with keeping the inside glass from fogging. I don't agree with applying the Rain-x to the interior, but I guess it can't hurt.

 

Interior glass application of the Rain-X product does seem to reduce the incidence of fogging, though. Also seems to make it slicker, which I'm assuming would mean reduced tendency of stuff (including moisture and dust) to stick to it. Seems to clean more easily in between applications, as well. At least, in my experience. Probably, a skiing-related anti-fogging product designed for goggles and whatnot would be preferable, but it's a simple wipe-down and easy to do since the Rain-X is already being applied to the whole exterior window surface.

It's funny how much general gunge can get onto the inside window surfaces, if not regularly cleaned. Just from a simple visibility standpoint, avoidance of glare from odd angles of the sun, etc, it's useful.

Wipey, wipey.