I have a 2006 Kia Sportage and am having troubles with the rear hatch window. Initially it seemed that the metal prongs on the rear window that “plug in” to the control box when the window is closed would get gunk on them causing the window wiper, defroster, and upper brake light to not work (or only work intermittently). After cleaning with alcohol wipes, the problem would be fixed for a week or so. However, now, no matter the cleaning, the issue will not fix itself.
Oddly, if I turn on the rear wiper blade and go around to the back window and press the window in where the “plug” is located, I can make the wiper work. This leads me to believe that a problem with the “plug” or the gas pistons that hold the window open/closed. After speaking with a mechanic, and demonstrating the problem, I asked if the pistons could be worked on or if the plug (male or female end) could be replaced. The response was an “I don’t know because I’ve never dealt this this sort of problem on a Kia.”
Can anyone offer any advice on how to fix this? Houston can be quite rainy at times and I would love the use of my rear wiper blade and brake light.
The gas pistons hold the window up. It sounds like a connection problem to me too. You could clean both sides of the connector and then apply some dialectric grease, bulb grease to the pins. More than likely it’s a broken wire from opening and closing the window.
I found your problem I think. There is a safety switch for the rear wind and one for the rear door. Either switch will kill the wiper and defroster. So pushing on the rear window activates the switch and it all works again. Adjust or replace the rear window switch and you should be good.
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Wow thank you. This is some great stuff. I will def give the dialectic grease a try. As for the electrical diagram you provided, that is honestly all Greek to me. If you had a picture from like a Chilton manual that pointed out the piece i needed to replace i would def see if i could do it.
I’d start by replacing the air struts and flushing out the connections with a contact cleaner with lube.
The air struts can be ordered over the internet or many can be purchases off-the-rack at most parts stores. The contact cleaner can be purchased at any Radio Shack or similar store. Maybe even a big-box hardware store, I don’t know. It can be bought with or without lube.
I have to comment; that seems an odd setup. If it’s physically possible and you’re handy, you could connect the devices and their body circuits with a highly stretchable cord like the old rotary phones used to have between the handsets and the bodies. You could probably buy the interfacing connectors and attack them to the cord on the kitchen table, then unclip the existing connectors, plug the cord between them, and cap the holes where the plugs were clipped in.
I’m just trying to think out of the box here for a permanent solution.
