Dear Tom and Ray:

I have a question about rear-window defrosters. If I put some kind of window sticker over those little wires on my rear window, will it do any harm to the defroster or will it melt the sticker? Is it OK to put one or two in the corner of the window and cover a small section of the wires? -- Angelica

Ray: It depends, Angelica. There are two kinds of rear-window defrosters. Well, three if you count the mother-in-law in the back seat with the rag.

Tom: There are two electric rear-window defrosters. The most common kind is actually embedded in the glass. If you have that kind, you can put whatever stickers you want on the inside or outside of the window without harming the defroster or the stickers.

Ray: But some (old or cheap) cars have an aftermarket rear-window defroster in which the wires are threaded through a piece of clear, sticky tape, which is then stuck onto the inside of the rear window. And I'd be reluctant to stick anything else on top of that.

Tom: Because of the relatively small amount of heat produced by these things, I doubt that the sticker or the wires would damage each other. The problem would come if you ever wanted to take the sticker off, because then you'd probably ruin the defroster.

Ray: And while you might not think you'll ever want to take that sticker off of your rear window, the Dukakis for President people thought the same thing back in '88.

It's amazing how many bad driving habits and wacko theories have been passed down from generation to generation! Tom and Ray set the record straight in their booklet "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It!" To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1996 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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