Hi guys,

Now the winter is setting upon us, I've noticed my rear defroster doesn't do anything.

The button is pressed and the light illuminates on the button, and when I push it, I can hear a relay clicking on. From this i 'assume' there is power and the fuse appears ok. Non of the bars clear any frost or mist which leads me to believe that the whole screen is not getting power.

I've heard that the contacts corrode in the tailgate from somewhere but for the life of me can't find this info again.

Can someone advise me what to check next and how to go about gaining access to the wires in the tailgate so I can get my multimeter on it. I don't want to use force and break clips etc if there is a simple method about removing it!

Same here and front screen heating not working either. That post about getting to the corroded connection under the rear spoiler was something like: open the rear hatch and remove three bolts and then open the glass section only and remove three Torx bolts being careful to avoid scratching the edge of the roof. I can't find post as something has changed on search facility and can't seem to use Boolean technique??? Good luck. I've checked fuses and all OK. Charging battery with trusty CTEK in case that helps. Too chuffing cold to spend more time on it today! 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

Thanks for that info. I'm going to try and dismantle the upper tailgate area either tomorrow or Monday. I've got the use of my dads garage so I'm not outside in the cold!

It's not a major issue but as we are going away into Eastern Europe over Christmas and New Year, it would be nice to get it working as normally it's very cold and icy over there and I like to have everything functional.

Good luck! Just had a quick check and there are 3 bolts visible with main tailgate open and 2 biggish torx bolts visible with the glass section open. After charging the battery with CTEK smart charger yesterday and pulling and checking all the fuses my heated front screen mysteriously worked this morning: all the frost started melting and sliding down the screen after about 30 seconds or so . No such luck with the rear screen heater; can hear a relay click when switched on but no heat so guessing there is a break in the live feed somewhere. 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

Thanks for checking for me. I haven't had chance to do anything with it today. We spent the day out in it and from when I got in this morning, the front heated screen was a god send. Mine had been stood for 3 days but after about a minute and half it cleared and during the warm up I could see the steam coming from it. Also the fuel burning heater was working as I got a bit of smoke/steam from under the car too.

Once I drop of my lad at school, I'll nip up to my dads and spend the morning investigating to see what I can find.

I'll let you know tomorrow at some point

My heated rear screen does not work and the upper window doesn't release. Fuses ok. Tailgate opens and wiper/washer works. Anyone experieced similar? Local (non-franchised garage thought "relay" although they've not looked at it. Warranty out by 1 month and I'm not too keen on the £110/hr labour charge at the local dealer to go troubleshooting....

NDR, your tailgate release switch is probably corroded. Common problem. Remove the rubber cover and have a look at the switch underneath. These are known to create a short and drain the battery over night.

Back on topic...my rear demister and rear quarterlites aren't demisting. Fingers crossed it's a fuse!

Kav, the rear quarterlights don't demist. Those lines are aerials, not demisting wires... 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

Thanks mate - I'm a sausage

I might be suffering from the corroded connectors then, will have a look this weekend.

In Bobby's gallery - Removal of rear spoiler.
http://www.rrsport.co.uk/gallery/albums/us...emoval.pdf 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

Nice one Paddi. There is also a video on YouTube (link is in definitive how to thread)...

&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DuYh-dQYEimY%26feature%3Dshare%26list%3DPL8B8F797C102C869E&gl=GB

Ok, mine is all sorted

Here's the steps I took to troubleshoot:

* Checked fuse F13 - was ok

* Turned on rear screen and checked voltage across the elements - no joy

* removed spoiler

* Checked the connector (The screen one is the one with the thick black and brown wires). It was really stuck and hard to pull apart.

* Once I got it apart, I did a continuity 'bleep' test on the wires going to the screen (male bullet connectors) and they were ok.

* I looked inside the female end of the connector and saw that one of the ports was black and the other was a shiny copper. They should both be shiny copper.

* Used a small screwdriver and scraped the black away then sprayed WD40 into the connector.

* Put it back together and turned it on.

* Checked voltage across rear window elements - good voltage across all elements

Sorry I didn't take pictures but it's pretty straight forward once you get the spoiler off as per the video I linked above.

The screen defrosted in no time this morning

Thanks for that kav

I was meant to look at it last week but never got chance. I've got a night shift to work today before a few days off so hopefully, fingers crossed I can spend a few hours fault finding this week without the worry that I'm limited with time to go to work etc!

Kav - thanks for posting that. Fingers crossed mine is the same problem. Was going to give it a go over the weekend but 'quick' job of replacing my number plates turned out to be a three hour hassle and ran out of time 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

Every time I tell the missus it'll be a quick job, she goes and puts on the 'sex and the city' omnibus because it never takes me less than 5 hours

This fix shouldn't take you more than an hour (tea breaks included)