Problem with rear defroster

[Guest hoamskoold]

The rear defroster on my '98 Legacy Outback doesn't seem to work. In fact, the light doesn't even come on when I hit the switch on the dash. How do I go about fixing the problem?

[BigMattyD]

Is there a fuse in the fuse panel that is dedicated to the rear defroster? If so, I would check that first.

 

 

Matt

[Tiny Clark]

The fuse could be bad, but it could also be the relay (in the fuse box) that controls the defogger.

 

The switch supplies a ground to the coil of the relay, which in turn supplies the 12 volts thru the fuse to the window grid.

 

The 12 volts for the positive side of the relay coil comes from the ignition switch.