connectors on the backglass. no damage to the defroster grid. is there an inline fuse in the lift gate that i might have missed, or could the switch be bad and still light up?
Tony. You checked the connections properly. One is power, the other is ground at the connectors. Did you look at the wiring harness where it goes through to the tailgate? This is a common place for wires to break from repeated opening/closing of the gate. The switches are usually reliable. Any fuses for the circuit should be either under hood or dash. Your owners manual should show you where. If you have anymore questions or need advise give me an e-mail. UPDATEThere is a technical service bulletin regarding this problem. It involves the diagnosis of the grid. It has a different grid power distribution. Bulletin # 04-08-48-001B
You won't get power to grid because it goes to ground. You'll have to unplug it at the connector near the grid and read the grid with an ohm meter. If it's open, you may be able to see where its damaged. Sometimes when you clean or scrape frost from the inside glass, or maybe when you loaded something the grid got damaged. . The grid can be damaged pretty easy. Your favorite auto supply will have a repair kit for your defroster grid. You won't see wires go from the body of the car to the components of the tail gate.There is a pressure connector that makes this connection. On one side there will be a plate with dividers on it. On the other side you'll see the pins that are spring loaded. They line up and touch each other when the tail gate is closed. They stick out about 1/4 inch. You can clean this plate with a pencil eraser. Do the same with the pins. Use a little di electric grease on them. This is where the tailgate components are grounded. These components are activated by switching the ground. That's why you won't read power at the component.
