Toyota Camry Humming Noise After Hitting Ditch/Rear Defroster Not Working After Rear Boddy Work

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

I have a couple of things going on with my 2014 Toyota Camry. My car was in a recent rear end collision and I noticed the other day that my rear window defroster is no longer working. I waited 15 to 20 minutes and still nothing. The side mirror defrosters work fine. One button turns on both my rear and side mirror defrosters. The extent of the rear damage did not go past the trunk lid. They did replace the lid, but I’m not sure why that would make a difference. The rear window was not replaced. There was also some quarter panel damage underneath that required welding. It was working fine before the body work and now it’s not working. Would could be the likely cause? I’d rather fix it myself if it’s quick, rather than spending time taking it back tot he body shop.

The other problem…I was on a road that had a drop off on my passenger side. The lane slightly narrowed for some odd reason for just for a few feet. The front right side tire went off road and the front of my car hit the pavement pretty hard. I couldn’t see any damage underneath, but of course that doesn’t mean there isn’t any. When I was driving to work this morning I could hear a humming noise that only got louder as I drove faster. It wasn’t a continuous hum. You could hear a break in between hums but the breaks were more frequent the faster I drove. I’m not too sure what that is either? A wheel bearing?

2

In order of relative importance, that humming sound is very likely to be from a bad wheel bearing. Repairing this is not something that you should defer, as a seized wheel bearing will result in essentially the same thing as jamming on your brakes full force on just one wheel, with the result that you will very possibly lose control of the car if it takes place at high speed. It is even possible to lose a wheel as a result of a bad wheel bearing. You can expect to pay ~$300 (+) for wheel bearing replacement.

As to the rear window defroster, with any luck one of the electrical connectors that clips to the wire grid in the window has just come loose from the impact. I guess it is possible that a wire was severed by the impact, but I think that a disconnected electrical connector is more likely. This is something that should be readily repairable in a couple of minutes.

3

It was the wheel bearing amongst other things. Thank You for that.

For the defroster, I can’t locate the connecter that clips to the wire grid. There isn’t one anywhere on the window that I can see unless it’s hidden. I couldn’t visibly see one before when it worked either. Thoughts?