Rear window defroster

Just to share thought and a repair I did.

My rear defroster grid was not working in the tail gate window and finally got to look at it today. I understand their are a few relays associated with the system but I started with the obvious, broken grid strip on the window. As all seemed okay I then noticed the terminal connector on one side of the window was broken off from the grid and still attached to the plastic wire connector.

I then cleaned the metal conector and the grid strip with sand paper and got out my not so trusty electric soldering iron and applied a bit of new solder to the metal connector that attaches to the window. With not too much problem I resoldered it back on to the grid strip and the defroster now works good.

PS. Any grid stips in the window can also be repaired if they are broken with a product from most auto retailers. You get a small bottle with a small brush and you paint the broken part of the grid with a special electrical paste. This now makes the electrical contact complete and the grid will work again. I have done this on several vehicles over time and seems to work well.