Need ideas to jerry-rig a defroster

DDCxj · Oct 21, 2008

So, the rod that opens and closes the door for the windshield defroster broke off with the tab from the door in it. So, there is no way I'll be paying $1,000 to take everything apart and replace the heater box and I don't have the time to do it myself. So I need to somehow get air from the vents right above the radio to the windshield so that I can actually see. Any and all ideas are welcome.

I was thinking of somehow running some sort of duct off of the front of the vents and over the dash pointing towards the windshield but I have no clue how I would do this or what I would use.

dial_family3 · Oct 21, 2008

i had the same problem. what i did is rig up coat hanger to hold open the defrost vent all the time. i live in alaska, so defrost all the time is not a big deal. i took out the radio and a/c controls to reach the heater box, which is right behind the radio. you will see a piece of foam where two pieces of black plastic meet, i just reached between the two pieces and placed my high tech coat hanger to hold the defrost vent open. it works for me but when the summer comes back, i will be removing this mod.

Dundy · Oct 21, 2008

get a dc to ac adapter and go buy a hair dryer!!

BAM! INSTALLED!

DDCxj · Oct 22, 2008

reelbigdundy87 said:
get a dc to ac adapter and go buy a hair dryer!!

BAM! INSTALLED!

I think my fiance would get confused. I'd probably end up with foggy windows and her hair blowing into my eyes.

I looked at the problem a little more and it actually looks like there is supposed to be a screw going through the sleeve at the end of the rod which mounts to the door. But if there was, it isn't there anymore. Does anyone know exactly how this is supposed to attach to the door?

If it is a screw, I'll probably be taking it apart again next week and seeing if there is an area of the dash that I can cut out (and be able to mend back together) so that I can get a screw into it for a permanent fix.

RichP · Oct 22, 2008

That hole is the result of the plastic forming process, thats how I fixed it in my TJ. I took a self threading screw a tad bigger than the hole, worked it thru the broken off tab part then screwed it into the broken off part on the door, that was about 2 months ago and so far so good. If I was going to do it again or if I have to do it again I'll use some plastic to metal cycoanlite [special plastic model glue] and coat the threads before I screw it in, just the threads, god help you if you super glue the shaft to the part it is supposed to turn in. The only trick is to examine the plunger at full defrost and get the tab lined up correctly, thats why I screwed it thru the tab and kept turning it till it was somewhat loose, it allowed me to almost tighten it down but still have some play. I gambled on the broken edges acting like teeth once I tightened it down. Maybe I should have used one of those lockwashers with the teeth all the way around. Live and learn and hindsight and all.
On the TJ the vac motors snap in and out on those U shaped mounts so you can get them out of the way, that also allows you to finagle the tab back on to the end of the vac motor shaft.

DDCxj · Oct 22, 2008

Thanks for the info Rich. I guess it's a good thing that when the guy at the shop attempted to superglue it today, it didn't hold at all. This was the first time he has seen this happen and couldn't find a schematic of how it went in so he was trying everything.

-Deano

RichP · Oct 22, 2008

DDCxj said:
Thanks for the info Rich. I guess it's a good thing that when the guy at the shop attempted to superglue it today, it didn't hold at all. This was the first time he has seen this happen and couldn't find a schematic of how it went in so he was trying everything.

-Deano

Just hope he did not superglue the door shaft in his efforts to fix it. The TJ fsm actually has a pretty detailed pic of the assembly. I have not looked at the XJ one.

ParadiseXJ · Oct 22, 2008

RichP said:
That hole is the result of the plastic forming process, thats how I fixed it in my TJ. I took a self threading screw a tad bigger than the hole, worked it thru the broken off tab part then screwed it into the broken off part on the door, that was about 2 months ago and so far so good. If I was going to do it again or if I have to do it again I'll use some plastic to metal cycoanlite [special plastic model glue] and coat the threads before I screw it in, just the threads, god help you if you super glue the shaft to the part it is supposed to turn in. The only trick is to examine the plunger at full defrost and get the tab lined up correctly, thats why I screwed it thru the tab and kept turning it till it was somewhat loose, it allowed me to almost tighten it down but still have some play. I gambled on the broken edges acting like teeth once I tightened it down. Maybe I should have used one of those lockwashers with the teeth all the way around. Live and learn and hindsight and all.
On the TJ the vac motors snap in and out on those U shaped mounts so you can get them out of the way, that also allows you to finagle the tab back on to the end of the vac motor shaft.

Would a pop rivet work in that situation??

RichP · Oct 22, 2008

ParadiseXJ said:
Would a pop rivet work in that situation??

I don't think so, if anything it could split the shaft the door is attached to. As it was I was very careful of the size self tapper I used for fear of doing just that. The only other thing I could think of would be to put a very long threaded rod in there and epoxy it in then have it stick out long enough to put the broken off lever part on and use some nuts or something to tighten it down. The self tapper was easier and it was a long one, 2" or so.

Need ideas to jerry-rig a defroster

DDCxj

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dial_family3

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Dundy

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DDCxj

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RichP

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DDCxj

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RichP

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ParadiseXJ

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RichP

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