Rear window defogger

Has anyone seen where the metal connects the wire to the glass on the rear hatch come off? I had used my remote start and when I had the lift gate up, I heard a "sizzle" sound and then "pop" and then the rear wire with metal connector just hung from the top of the gate. Has anyone else had this happen? Any ideas on where to go to get this fixed? Or is this going to cost me getting a new rear window?

Thank you for any help. I wish I could post a picture of it, but Photobucket is being weird.

Joe

There are ‘kits’ to reattach sold at many autoparts stores and amazon, etc

Don't use anything other that www.frostfighter.com or it will fall off again and make it worse. I tried the lame Permatex product and it's crap. Frostfighter stuff is amazing. It's a thick epoxp paste that conducts electricity and when you get done it looks like factory and works like new. It even repairs the tab area after it's been messed up from using the other lousy products.

Awesome! Thank you for the information! I'll get that ordered and hopefully fixed soon!

Joe

I have to do the same thing, had it fixed at the dealer twice and it keeps falling off. I've just tied the cable up and it's hanging for now...

Solder the tab back on. It won't come off again

SnowDrifter said:

Solder the tab back on. It won't come off again

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It ain't so easy on glass. You have to heat the entire area of the glass up, and it might break. Frostfighter works way better.

Rocket Man said:

It ain't so easy on glass. You have to heat the entire area of the glass up, and it might break. Frostfighter works way better.

Click to expand...

It's actually pretty easy

Park in the sun or toss a heater / work light in the back and warm up the window a bit

***LIGHTLY*** scuff the area where you'll be attaching the tab to. It's a thin coating

Grab your tab, sand it flat

Apply some rosin core flux to the tab, heat, apply a tab of solder. Then while that's cooling, put some flux on the glass where you're going to stick it. Come back, grab the tab, and press it to the glass with light pressure while heating. I've found a soldering gun works better than a soldering iron for this. Once the solder melts, remove the heat while still applying pressure for several seconds more. Boom done

I was an electronic tech and am pretty good at soldering. I soldered the rear window tab and it worked. For awhile. Then when it fell off again it tore the entire pad off with it. I think I got it too hot when I did it. The chances for soldering aren't worth it IMO, especially for someone who's unskilled. Also, the way you're describing it is a good chance for what's called a cold solder joint due to it not being hot enough, which doesn't conduct electricity well. I don't see the reason to risk it when there's a product made that works for everybody every time. No experience needed. No chance of screwing it up. BTW the Frostfighter fixed the entire area where my pad was missing. You can mask it off and use a putty knife to fill an entire area in, to the thickness of the tape. And afterwards it still looks factory. Or chance it with solder and heat.

For someone like me who has never soldered before, I think I will be looking into the Frostfighter option. Thank you to everyone who has given information and suggestions, I sure do appreciate them.

Joe