Bought a used hard top. Should I purchase the wiring harness from quadratec and install it myself or should I just go the dealership, since they have to "flash" the computer.

 

I did mine myself and had the dealer flash it. I went to the dealer first and asked them if I bought the harness from them how much would they charge me for the flash. They charged me 40 for the flash.

 

We got the dealer harness and my husband installed it but we have not had the computer flashed yet. The wiper, and washer works, but the defrost does seem to work, but it's still hot out here. Does the computer flash only activate the defrost? Or is there some other magical reason I'd need to have it done?

 

you have to set or"tell"the computer that you have a hard top, then the defrost will work.

 

yes, i added the hardtop post sale and the dealer flashed mine...they said it changes the computer to sense the added weight is a hardtop and not regular cargo and adjusts the computer/engine power accordingly....whatever that means! and yes, you will never get the rear defroster to work without the flash. anyway, that's what they told me

 

I bought the harness from Qtec and had the dealer install it $150 for the install I thought it was worth it since they had to flash it anyway.

 

Now I know why my defrost does not work, was just about to take it in.. When I purchased my Jeep from the lot it was cheaper than the exact same one next to it, both came with a hard top. but my sticker did not list it. They must have changed it out with another Jeep. and not had time to re flash or change the price to reflect the hard top, although the wiper works. So after they flash it, looks like I might have received a free hard top which is what I wanted.

 

MAke sure you get a price on the kit from your dealer first. Their list price is about the same as Q-tec's, but most times they'll give you at least a 10% discount, especially if you bought it from them. Even without a discount you won't have to pay shipping at the dealer, which wil save you some bucks.

 

I think there was a lot of swapping of tops. We tried to order it as a hard top and they got so backlogged, the only way to get the order in was to order as a soft top. (Of course this was after their original order for us came in as a 2-door).

So they switched our soft top with a hard top on the lot. They ordered the harness for us as part of the deal. Took them forever to act on putting it in, so I had to go down and demand it from them. Which is why we had to put it in ourselves.

 

By my post above you can see I did my own and got the dealer to flash it. If you do it on your own make sure to look at the pin numbers on the harness connectors because it is hard to distinguish the orientation on the instructions. The first time I had 2 wires in the wrong locations and had to go back and change them. But everything is working great now.