2008 KK - Rear Window Defroster - Warranty Denied ? - PICS

Huntyeraws · **Posted:** Sun Dec 05, 2010 3:00 pm

I am coming on 3YR warranty anniversary date on my 2008 KK. I had my annual state inspection performed at dealer the other day. I noticed a couple of weeks back when it got cold and damp that my rear window defroster wasn't working. Prior to that I noted 2 element stips were not working but decided to wait until I could get it it for warranty service so I had them look at it while it was getting inspected.

I received a call at work from dealership that they would REPLACE the entire rear window for this element problem under warranty. They would have to order it. After work I showed up and they indicated that they tried to call me back a short while ago but couldn't get a hold of me. The service rep told me that Chrysler was NOT going to warranty the damage afterall as "it had a pattern to the damage and was clearly damaged". I was truly disappointed as my last Jeep GC I owned for 12 years had no issues and this was not my fault. Then he tried to charge me for initially and hour of labor for diagnosis then dropped to 1/2 hour and I told him "WHAT?!" :furious:

I told you that it didn't work and wanted it repaired under warranty, you said it was and now you are telling me that it wasn't and are charging me?! He promptly dropped the charge. I went to my vehicle - popped the rear glass open and inspected it - sure enough there were "patterns" in the elements but there was evidence of the elements SHORTING as well as DELAMINATING from the glass surface! This to me is suggestive of a manufacturing DEFECT (I perform failure analysis on microelectronic and mechanical devices and am a trained microscopist with over 19 years in failure analysis) I went back and showed him the defects and he agreed with me that these didn't just look like "opens" but were shorts and he had never seen the window elements just delaminate off of the window before. To me, this is a component defect. It appeared like there was either a contaminant on the glass surface when the mask was applied, contaminant in the element metal application or too thin of a metal laydown which couldn't handle the current. The service rep indicated that I would have to call Chrysler and complain to them. :banghead:

Here are a couple of pics I just took....what do you think?

I will be calling Chrysler in the AM.

Here is where element strip is clearly breaking and delaminating off of the inner window surface - this is suggestive of an adhesion failure - note there is other damage to the one on the upper right

Here is anothe element where there is clear evidence of an electrical short - note the "shotgun blast" and thermal damage from the short around the wire - this clearly is not an "OPEN" that occurred from an abrasion that just scratched the window element! Definitely a SHORT! There is another short in the adjacent adjacent element to the right.

devlish · **Joined:** Thu Sep 30, 2010 10:50 am **Posts:** 163

looks like someone hit it with a razor blade, are you the original owner? did someone try to clean off some residue from the glass with a razorblade??

in the pics it's hard to tell... but it looks more like something cut it and caused it to delaminate, not just peel up on its own.

Huntyeraws · **Posted:** Sun Dec 05, 2010 4:54 pm

No - I have owned it since new. All of the the traces no longer work. No razor blades were used. How does one explain the shorts? Note that trace has delaminated around the short too in the other photo.

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Sun Dec 05, 2010 10:37 pm

Out of all the cars I've been around in garages when working or doing inspections, i've never noticed anything particularly like that

i've seen the contacts at the edge of the windows do it, but in the middle? no, not without visible damage to the window itself such as a 2x4 shifting in transit and a staple in the end holding on the bar code tag taking a gouge out of the plastic layering on the window

what i'm saying is, to see that occur, i would have expected to have seen physical damage to the window in the vicinity of the break

push for replacement of the entire unit due to unacceptable performance or defect

Huntyeraws · **Posted:** Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:55 am

Thanks for the feedback JeepinJarhead03, there is no physical scraping to the window tint evident.

JojosJeep · **Posted:** Mon Dec 06, 2010 8:19 am

I can not see the pics because they are blocked at work, but I will say that my dealer has replaced/fixed a few things in my Liberty and other vehicles purchased through them things that were clearly my fault while under the bumper to bumper. For example blown speakers with an aftermarket radio sitting in the dash and a bent muffler from off roading. Are you dealing with a 5 star dealership? Seems like sometimes they give a little easier to hold on to their rating.

Huntyeraws · **Posted:** Mon Dec 06, 2010 10:10 am

I called service advisor this AM to make sure that calling Chrysler/Jeep was what they wanted me to do. They reassured me to go ahead and he agreed with as to the observed failures. I did call Chrysler/Jepp and have a case open. I also sent the service advisor an e-mail indicating that I was satisfied with the dealerships assessment of replacing the window under warranty but disappointed with Chrysler/Jeep denying the claim. I also sent him the images of the shorts and delamination to which he thanked me and said that he would forward to service manager as they will most likely be contacted. Now I wait.

2008 KK - Rear Window Defroster - Warranty Denied ? - PICS

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