Rear compartment light

[mjadair]

after changing the lifts for the rear deck lid, the light for the rear compartment doesn't come on when it is open any longer. It does come on when the doors open. Where is the switch for this light? Seerste issue, the attach point for the rear defrost came off of the glass, how can this be repaired?

[phoenix_iii]

It uses the right strut for ground. When the ground is broken, the light comes on. I used aftermarket struts and had to disconnect my rear right because of this... I wonder if that disabled my defroster too... =(

Also, left and right are not identical. I think the plastic capped one is on the RIGHT.

[Rasta Monsta]

"They" say it cannot be done, but I have used off the shelf solder to reattach two defroster clips. As for the strut, the right hand one is the switch, and the new ones I got didn't ground very well until I hit the area with a bit of conductive anti-oxidant.

[phoenix_iii]

Use silver solder for soldering electronics, not the typical resin solder.


Conductive anti-oxidant? You mean like anti-seize that conducts? Who makes that? Permaxtex?

[jcommin]

Got a similar problem. The rear light doesn't come on with the hatch or doors. The front light (over the mirror) works fine with the doors but not the hatch. This is maddening. I know it is a bad ground. I'm getting 12VDC to the rear light. I ground it (physically to the car) and the light works. I'm convinced it is the hatch but for the life of me, I don't no where to look because I don't understand the role the hatch plays. The electrical diagrams don't help much either.. My struts are new - it is not the struts.

[hpservertech]

Look at the struts again. On the passenger side there is a connector at the body. It should have a tab on the inside of it that connects to the strut rod when it opens. Sometimes they dont make a good connection. However on aftermarket ones, they aren't always there.

[bud9344]

The Left side strut(plastic tips) is for the pos. of the rear defogger and the rigt side strut (metal tips) is connect the ground fo rthe defooger and also to ground the rear compartment light


Left connection for the positive side Rear defroster



Right side is grounding the Defroster through the strutt.
The wire is connected to the switch on the sturt shaft


Closed hatch break connection to the ground.

Hope this will clear up the way the hatch strutt work

------------------------------------------
Bud

[bud9344]

The Strutt

[jcommin]

You guys are the best.

Checked out my struts and lights again.

I got the deck lid to work. I had it wired wrong.

Looked at my struts. There are mounted correctly and they are in the right location.
hpservertech: I looked at the right strut contact aqnd guess what - it wasn't making contact. As soon as I pushed the contact onto the strut rod the lights worked just like there supos too. Moved my hatch up and down and the lights go on/off. I am happy.


Thanks to all. I can cross this off of my list of things that make me nuts.

[anotherblack944]

Originally Posted by mjadair

the attach point for the rear defrost came off of the glass, how can this be repaired?

Not being too keen on the solder approach.. I picked up some conductive defroster adhesive from the FLAPS. Worked like a charm!