2014 JK. Earlier this summer I bought a soft top my Wrangler. I took the hardtop off, stored it in the garage for several months. Earlier this month, I swapped the tops back (Pennsylvania winter and all) and reinstalled the hardtop. The rear defroster now will not work. The rear wiper and washer do work. The fuse is good for the defroster. The red light comes on the rear defrost switch..

But no warmth. Any suggestions?
Thanks.
Mike

 

Have someone listen at the TIPM for the relay to click when you push the rear defogger button.

If it clicks, see if there is 12 volts present at the rear window connections.

 

pop the rear glass up and look where the wire connects to each side of the glass for the defrost. bet one of the broke off the glass

 

Ha, you guys are so smart. One of the wire connections is broken. Whats the fix? Solder? Adhesive that conducts current to run the defroster? warranty claim?

 

Silver bearing solder is the best way, I have done both of mine, Google it and there is a nice write-up on it, make sure the glass is warm though

 

Yours broke off the same way as shown in the OP's photos? How did you solder that back on?
Googling as you suggested brought up many hits for soldering a spade tab back on, but nothing looked like what the OP is dealing with.

Conductive epoxy may work in the OP's case.

 

Yes sir. just like his you have to pop the little contact out of the black cover and solder it back on, the epoxy crap fails pretty quickly. Here ya go I'll do my best to explain it.

Clean the surface with alcohol and sand the little table you removed from the cap to make sure it's clean. Now apply a little bit of flux to the tab and a different spot just above\below where it was attached. Now take a blow dryer and warm the glass up but not super hot. Next make sure you pencil point soldering iron is good and hot and have someone hold the little table to the window with a pick or something and heat the edge of the tab and apply the solder and it will stick once the flux is hot, don't try and get it too hot you just need enough heat to melt the solder. Then work your way all the way around the tab. 😉 It should stay for a long time if you solder it right.

 

OK, thanks. It's just soldering a tab back on once the round cover is removed.

 

Sure is, kind of a bitch to pop the lil bastard out of the cap. Use a good strong pick and have someone there to catch it cuz if it flies you might not ever find it lol.

 

So it is December in Pennsylvania.....would you remove the entire rear window and solder it on the bench? Or try to do it in place, working over your head in a snowy driveway?