The good news: It was the relay.

The bad news: It's the same relay I already replaced with a new one in 2004, bought here at fastlane. On the original, the blinkers started malfunctioning periodically. I replaced it with the new one, and everything worked fine.

But me, being the pack rat, DID NOT THROW AWAY the old bad relay. I found it, swapped them out, and - ahem - the rear defroster started working again.

I am going to retest with the newer relay, just to make sure it was not a bad contact... Fortunately, it's only about $65. The bad news is I expected it to last longer than six years...

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Henry Bofinger
1989 560 SEL (black/black)
2001 Audi TT Roadster (silver/grey)