Rear Demister Terminal Dropped Off

[fiish]

Hi,

The rear demister/defogger on my 08 Yaris stopped working over the weekend, and when I had a look over it I found that one of the terminals has detached from the glass, severing the connection completely. What can I do to fix this?

My car is still in its warranty period, is this something that would or should be covered, and therefore worth asking Mr T to fix?

Thanks. :)

[mrpj]

It's probably worth asking but I suspect they'll say it's been knocked off by something in the boot or when the inside of the window has been cleaned.

[Cyker]

Should be covered by the warranty unless there's evidence if it being scraped off or otherwise damaged...

[fiish]

They seemed to take the POV that I had somehow knocked it off with something, and said the whole rear windscreen needs replacing. Quote was north of £300 so I am going to get a few more quotes, although I am not encouraged by Autoglass's £400+ quote :( Feels like a lot particularly as there is nothing else wrong with the glass itself.

Also considering a DIY repair to the connection, figure that if I botch it it doesn't change the requirement to replace the whole glass. Anyone have experience reattaching detached terminals?

[Madasafish]

You can reattach the terminal to the window with a suitable glue and make anew electrical joint with a window heater reapir kit: paint on electrical connection.

Total cost under £10.

[Madasafish]

You can reattach the terminal to the window with a suitable glue and make anew electrical joint with a window heater repair kit: paint on electrical connection.

Total cost under £10.

[junebug1701]

When 2 of the lower elements quit working on my RAV, the Toyota dealer replaced the entire screen under warranty. But the terminals are hidden by plastic trim on the RAV4:

If you end up having to repair it yourself, I would suggest attaching the terminal to the glass using the same adhesive sold for attaching a rear view mirror to the windscreen. After that dries, restore the electrical connection with the kit sold for repairing broken heating elements. The kit comes with a tiny bottle of conductive paint which can be used to connect the terminal to the element.

[Geoff Peace]

They seemed to take the POV that I had somehow knocked it off with something, and said the whole rear windscreen needs replacing. Quote was north of £300 so I am going to get a few more quotes, although I am not encouraged by Autoglass's £400+ quote :( Feels like a lot particularly as there is nothing else wrong with the glass itself.

Also considering a DIY repair to the connection, figure that if I botch it it doesn't change the requirement to replace the whole glass. Anyone have experience reattaching detached terminals?

There are adhesives available which claim to be electrically conducting, how good they are I cannot say, the widow will draw around 8 amps whether the adhesives are up to this is another question, you could always contact the manufucturer and ask.

Regards Geoff Peace

[fiish]

Thanks for the advice, hopefully I can get around to the shops to buy the glues and paints this weekend to attempt the repair. Given what you have said about the potential current draw it sounds as though the conductive paint after glueing the terminal back to the glass might work better, although I can imagine that being a more involved job.