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Ok thanks Rick. Sorry, should have gone all the way back in the posts. As you have said in your posts this is a recurring problem. My 2011 had the window replaced under warranty already and it is gone again. I have owned it since new and don't recall it ever shutting off on its own. Like you I will keep looking for a solution. Don't think Ford will....
My rear defrost stopped working, 2011 FX4 with 80k, full warranty. Took to dealer, they first advised they could not find a problem. I picked the truck up and took video of the problem and sent it to the service rep. He advised it needs a new rear glass, not covered under warranty. Cost...about $900-$1000. Also was told that they replace about 5 of these a week.
I elevated to the service manager then to the general manager. They all advised not covered under warranty, but suggested that I call Ford as well as the warranty company. He said sometimes Ford will offer to pay a small percentage, but he did not think that this was possible. Asked if the manger or the service department could facilitate this, they advised no.
After 10 calls, 10 emails I finally got to the resolution department, got a case number. The resolution tech agreed that the glass did not "break" which is excluded, but rather a manufacturer defect in the glass. I got an OASIS code to get this approved and provided that information to the dealer. Not sure why I had to do the work for the service dept, but I did.
Got a call yesterday, they are covering the problem. Got out replaced today, new glass, cost me my $100 deductible. The glass vendor that installed the glass also verified that they replace a lot of these for the service department and he was told not a warranty item.
The moral of the story is, don't let the dealer just brush you off with a denial, do your homework, push back and get this issue covered. Take good notes if every call, follow up with an email. Don't yell, stay cool,but let them know you are not going away. I wonder how many customers that the service department sends away advising this is not covered and the customers end of paying out of pocket.
If anyone is having this problem and getting nowhere with the service department, IM me and I can get you the OASIS code to help get this covered.
Last edited by VASkinsfan; 01-14-2016 at 08:27 AM.
What would happen if you simply jumped the two (or 3 if you truck early) wires that the window plugs into behind the back seat?
Grey plug on the left (yellow and black wire)
Somewhere in this post, it was mentioned that you probably could but you have to add a resistor to lower the voltage going back. You seem to have the same set as I. See my previous pics. With winter here, I just haven't had time to play with some more.
I thought I had the same failure you all are describing, as the switch on the dash did not illuminate last week when ice was covering the rear glass and mirrors. Then I read the part about the rear glass position sensor, so what the heck, i opened and closed the glass and lo and behold, the light now comes on.
Thanks for leading me to save the trip to the dealer and the likely fight about getting them to honor the warranty.
I thought I had the same failure you all are describing, as the switch on the dash did not illuminate last week when ice was covering the rear glass and mirrors. Then I read the part about the rear glass position sensor, so what the heck, i opened and closed the glass and lo and behold, the light now comes on.
Thanks for leading me to save the trip to the dealer and the likely fight about getting them to honor the warranty.
Keep an eye on it, mine did the same thing, sporadic problems then it quit.
Sorry for the long post, it wasn't my intent. Mine is doing the same thing. No indicator light, but the heated mirrors do work. Deciding it's not worth 800 for a new rear window since the Pacific NW weather is mild.
After testing by connecting a test wire to the window grid and the large black wire on the passenger side I was able to get the defrost to work, however the wire started getting hot within a couple of minutes and I suspect it would overheat the window and potentially crack the glass. So I came to the same conclusion as others. The only way to fix this is a new window.
While doing the test I also measured the voltage from the yellow wire on the passenger side. This is the wire that controls the LED on the dash. I measured 7V coming out of the yellow wire.
To get the dash indicator to work I needed something that would output approximately 7V DC when the button is pushed. I decided I would test a 12V USB adapter, the output is 5V. I tore apart the USB adapter found the ground and 5V out. Soldered 3 wires to the adapter. One for 12V in, one for ground and another for 5V out. Then connected the 12V in to the large black wire being used to power the defroster. the 5V out to the yellow wire and lastly the ground to a good grounding source.
When the button on the dash is pushed it sends a power signal and 12V to the large black wire. This turns on the USB adapter and sends 5V to the yellow wire and the indicator light turns on.
The USB adapter was under 5.00 and a cheap solution to get the indicator to work. At least now I know when the mirrors are being heated.
Hi Rick, do you have pictures? That's exactly the sort of solution that I was looking for. Was there a particular USB adapter that you got? I don't want to spend the 800+ to replace the rear window as I don't really need the rear window defroster but I do use the mirror defroster a lot. I guess I got really used to just using the mirrors. What year is your truck? On mine I don't have a yellow wire.
01-05-2016, 08:41 AM
