Rear hatch defroster

[neilca]

The rear hatch defroster is pretty well scraped off my window. It only works on two of the heater strips. Anyone replaced the defroster?

[micahfelker]

Unfortunately I think the only way to do so would be to replace the entire rear window, since the defroster wires are a part of the window pretty much.

 

I could be wrong though, but based off of what it looks like on my rig and the ones I've taken apart at junk yards. I don't think there's any way to separate the wires from the glass.

 

One thing you could try is get another rear window at pick n pull and hook up the wires and everything and see if it works on yours. Not ideal, but may be worth a try.

Edited February 3, 2018 by micahfelker

[vagabond]

unless they have changed, the defroster lines are like a paint,there are repair kits but mainly for broken sections.your best bet is find

one at pick and pull, if you have volt ohm meter check at the male spades at the top of the glass if you have continuity all the lines are good

[Slartibartfast]

^+1 on the repair paint. Looks like a pretty easy job provided the traces aren't completely gone. If they are, see what the wreckers want for a rear window, and hope it's better.

 

But with the way they're wired (the one on mine, anyway), a simple check from one spade to the other just tells you if any of the lines are good, not if all of them are good. The lines are in parallel, not series. The article I linked has a test for finding broken traces.