I've noticed that too. On cold mornings when there's frost even when the button isn't lit the heater lines appear on the rear windshield. If it really is stuck on all the time I'd like it fixed but that said my old Cadillac did this on purpose when it knew it was cold outside. Who knows if this luxury feature has trickled down to cheaper cars like some other things. (auto lights, auto wipers, climate control)

 

Has anyone noticed their rear defroster staying on? I am thinking that it may turn on when the heat is on, and the button for it is for the mirrors? I can't tell in the warm weather. I'll have to try "warming" up the car with no heat to test it I guess. I would also think the button would time out after a while and shut it off like the Silverado[confused]

I've noticed as well and would like to know if it is by design or not. Now that I use my remote start some mornings I see the defrost lines even though it is not on. I've also had it on for a while and it never seems to turn itself off as my past cars have. That being said, it is a weaker defrost than in my past cars so maybe I just haven't had it on long enough to reach temp and turn off.

 

That is what I'm thinking. Either that or they wired them wrong at the factory. I'll have to wait for the bad weather to come before I can see if the mirrors are doing the same thing.

 

I have this too. But, tbh, I like this feature/flaw because I'm going to turn it on regardless when I get into the vehicle.

 

Hi, on most Ford cars I've had with A/C the rear screen will turn on automatically when the A/C is on and when you first start up the car if the temp is below a certain level, however it should be on a timer.
Chris

 

I have this too. It's on even when the A/C, front defog, and defrost button are all off. Outside temperatures fairly low, but no reason at all for it to be on. Inside temp set to ~24C. No idea how to make it stop but I have a feeling it isn't intentional. Defrost wires burn up and need to be replaced (whole new rear glass) if left on all the time.

 

I don't have my car yet, but could it be possible that there is two levels of heat? Maybe a lower level that is on permanently whenever it's cold outside, and when you turn the system on it bumps up to a higher level? Anything in the owners manual about it?

 

It is possible there are two levels of heat. I tested the button today to see if I could hear a relay sound (on most cars you can), and there was no sound at all. This isn't conclusive by any means, but it does make me wonder if it's either a bad relay/design or the car has decided it's always on under certain temperatures.

I'm not entirely sure, but it seemed like my mirrors were also defogging, which is part of the same circuit as pointed out above.

 

It appears that the defroster will continue to be on until you turn it off manually or the car is turned off. This is not a problem unless you go on a long trip and forget to turn it off after it finishes defrosting. I don't think it will burn the heating element out either but they should have made it turn off after a period of time like most other cars do. Too much current through the element for prolonged periods might cause a problem but the focus doesn't seem to be pumping much current through those elements. Mine seems real wimpy in the defrosting department compared to other cars I've owned so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Here is the quote from the manual on the the rear defrost:

The rear defroster control is located on the climate control panel and
works to clear the rear window of fog and thin ice.

The engine must be running to operate the rear window defroster.

Press R to turn the rear window defroster on. An indicator light on the
control will illuminate when active. The rear window defroster turns off
automatically after a predetermined amount of time, if a low battery
condition is detected or when the ignition is turned off or to the
accessory position. To manually turn off the rear window defroster at any
time, press the control again.

If your vehicle is equipped with both rear defroster and heated mirrors,
the same control will activate both. Refer to Heated outside mirrors in
the Driver Controls chapter.

 

I agree. i've only used my rear defrost twice to clear spotty frost and it took forever to clear... my 'o1 focus clears it it just a couple minutes....i think the '12 focus' rear defrost isn't up to the job.

 

Its not supposed to stay on but it won't hurt anything. The Escorts had a 2 way button (not sure if all or just some) and my 2000 Protégé had a 2 way button. I left it on year round.
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Rear Defrost

I have an SEL build on August 4th that also has the same issue. Rear defrost always on. Not sure of the heated mirrors, sometimes they feel warmer than the windshield and sometimes not. Thank heavens it is still hovering around the 32F mark in Sarnia Ontario (Port Huron Michigan). Waiting to see when the temperature really drops as to what the "heated mirrors" do with or without pushing the switch.

As winter sets in, there should be more opportunities for my fellow Focus owners to weigh in on this issue. Appears that the switch is not wired in (except for the indicator light). The blessing is that it is failed in the "on" position.

Otherwise, just love the car, especially after the transmission TSB update!

 

I put the defroster on this morning with the fan on 3. I didn't press the rear defroster button and the window heated up pretty good and cleared the frost. When it was milder out about a week ago I put the defroster on to clear the rear of fog and it seemed like it was less power. I'm thinking it is not a problem but it knows enough to defrost or defog on its own.

 

Completely_focused, doesn't the owners manual comment that it will turn off after a pre-determined amount of time mean that it will go off automatically, even on a long trip and even if you do nothing?

 

It doesn't usually freeze here and my car is parked inside but I used the rear defrost once to clear fog - it went on when I pressed in the button (winter package has heated mirrors too) and seemed to go off when I pressed it again to toggle off.

 

Rear Defroster Issues

Thank heavens it is still a mild winter. I have yet to verify if my heated mirrors are always on, however the rear defrost is, whether I push the button or not. Once I push the button, it also stays on until I push it again, regardless of the time.

I stopped by the dealer and was told that due to the holidays, they could not get me in until early January. Not a big deal if having them on all the time does no damage. However, looking through the owners manual, I see that there is a 30 amp fuse guarding the defroster as well as another power module, both in the engine compartment. If it is drawing that much power, it is no doubt affecting the gas mileage due to the load on the alternator.

Is there anyone out there that has noticed the issue and has taken it in to be troubleshot or fixed?

Thanks

 

Now that we have had frost and snow I have also found out that my rear defrost is on all the time even though the light is not on for it. The mirrors don't seem to be on all the time, unless the button is pushed. Definately another glitch with this car.

I am sure over time the heating elements will burn out from being on all the time. Also, it hurts fuel economy because the smart alternator has to put more load on the engine to provide the power to the defrost constantly.

We need to report this to FordCustomerService and also get our dealers involved to see how large of scope this is affecting.

 

I don't think it's always on (at least in my car), but it is definitely on when I start the car because I can see it doing it's job on snow/condensation before I've cleared the snow off but it does seem to turn itself off after a bit. I think this is supposed to be some sort of courtesy feature and I'm wondering if it's linked to the thermometer reading?

 

Hi, all the fords I've ever owned in the last 4 years have had the rear screen heater come on automatically when the temperature fell below a certain level. I believe it is linked to the CC...
Chris

 

Hopefully somebody wll get some feedback from Ford on this. Window was half cleared this morning before I even thought to turn it on. Seems odd that they would just run it when cold or just forever--the defroster is not cheap to run in terms of energy cost.

 

Mine has turned on only a few times by itself with no indicator light, each time it was cold outside and window was wet. Pretty sure it only happened when my heater was on and probably on the "auto" setting. (Nobody has stated that the rear defroster was on when climate control was off but please clarify if this actually happened). I checked later and window was cool so it doesn't run all the time. Seems like another cool feature of the smart focus.

For anyone who thinks it stays on all the time please take a long (15min or more) drive and get out and touch there back window to confirm it actually stays on. And please state if this is happening with or without climate control on, I assume the heater is on though.

 

I will check next time with the climate control off. I do know the heated side mirrors are not activated until you press the rear defrost button.

But your suggestion on touching the rear glass to see if it's warm will not work. It doesn't get warm enough to know by touch.

 

mine does this as well.

 

I was going to post about this issue as well.
My defroster seems to be on in cold weather, tho' the side mirrors do not de-ice unless the dash button is pushed.
For the issue to be this common, it has to be by design rather than by accident. I would like to hear what Ford has to say.
Moon

 

If it's by design, it should be spelled out in the owner's manual. Here is what is written in the 2nd (newest) printing of the 2012 Focus owner's manual:

REAR WINDOW DEFROSTER
The rear defroster control is located on the climate control panel and
works to clear the rear window of fog and thin ice.
The engine must be running to operate the rear window defroster.
Press to turn the rear window defroster on. An indicator light on the
control will illuminate when active. The rear window defroster turns off
automatically after a predetermined amount of time, if a low battery
condition is detected or when the ignition is turned off or to the
accessory position. To manually turn off the rear window defroster at any
time, press the control again.
If your vehicle is equipped with both rear defroster and heated mirrors,
the same control will activate both. Refer to Heated outside mirrors in
the Driver Controls chapter.

 

This is kind of off-topic, but I'm pretty sure my car's front defrost turns on when only my leg heat vents are selected. Is this normal? It's more like it seeps out as opposed to actively blowing, though. There's definitely a difference if I turn on both leg and defrost, so I think it does it to prevent fogging due to the cold outside temperature.

I noticed this because I could hear air coming from the windshield vent when only the leg vents were on and the fan speed was all the way up.

 

In my last two Ford cars (Mondeo - European models), front and rear defroster would come on automatically when below 4 degrees Celsius.
It is also written in the manual of the new Focus that when temperature is below 4 degrees Celsius and the temperature for the washing liquid is below 65 degrees Celsius (that means that you have not driven the car before), they will turn on automatically. However, in my Focus Titanium with Winter Pack it does not (or at least the light indicators are not on).
I need to specify that it is an European model (from what I have read here there are some differences from European and American models).
I will be going to the dealer next week to check it out.

 

I guess it never crossed my mind until this morning but I realized that my car is always set to auto for climate control. Is anyone seeing this behavior not set in auto? Don't know if it is related. This morning was about 34F when I got in to drive to work and sure enough it was clearing the light layer of condensation as I drove and I didn't turn it on.

As far as the auto shutoff I have still never seen this happen. My drive to work is about 25 min and it does not auto shutoff in that amount of time. My next longest semi-regular drive is to my in-laws and that is about 1 hr 20 min. I'll have to turn it on as soon as we head out there next time and see if it ever shuts itself off in that time interval.

The other thing I notice is that even though it seems to be turning on automatically the light indicator on the button is not lit. If, though, I hit the max defrost button the light indicator on the rear defrost button does come on.

Like everyone here, I would love a definitive answer from Ford. If this is set to automatically come on at certain temps then what is the point of the button?

 

I have checked mine whether the rear and front defroster are turned off automatically after a while. Good news. At least in my car, the system turns them off after about 10-15 minutes for the front defroster and about 20-30 minutes for the rear defroster.

 

It won't cause any problems with the rear defroster on all the time. The Escorts and Protégés had two position on/off switches. I never ever turned off mine in my Protégé.
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