P38A Heated Windscreen

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oakey

oakey

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Mull of Kintyre
1996 4.6 auto
Anyone know if the heated bit can be repaired? Mine is only working on about half of the drive'rs side
Ta
 
Don’t know but I’m getting a new heated one fitted tomorrow so I can have a nose about and take some pictures of it before it goes in.
 
Nah, there's only 2 elements, drivers side and passenger side. The feed is at the bottom left and right sides and the earth returns go to a stud bottom centre of the screen under the scuttle panel. Might be worth checking the earths but pretty sure you'll need a new screen to get it all working.
 
2017-12-18 15.05.01.jpg
 
Heated screens are a great asset in winter & I can't understand why they are not standard (or at least an option) on all vehicles. We have a Ford as a daily driver & in my experience when the elements fail (twice in our case)l sod's law dictates it's always on the driver's side. The windscreen fitter will/should check the continuity of the circuit before fitting the new 'screen.
 
For a long time, I believe ford owned the patents and wouldn't let anyone else use it. It is becoming more common now, I had a Toyota avensis as a rental car last week and that had heated front screen.
 
I believe patents expire after twenty years. Both sides are powered separately via relays 4 and 5. one side is switched first by relay 5. Then a ground through relay 15 switches relay 4.
 
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Took mine apart the other day hoping it was just a relay or bad connection that was stopping the driver's side operating. Unfortunately, the element is high resistance :-(
 
I've heard the Ford story many times but I believe it to be bull****, why? because when I was a Green-Line (originally London Transport & latterly the National group) coach driver in the early '70's I drove AEC coaches fitted with heated front 'screens & my first RRC, built in '93, was equipped with a factory-fitted HFS.
 
I've heard the Ford story several times & frankly I don't swallow it. During the early '70's I was a Green Line coach driver (you have to be a certain age to remember the famous routes & the coaches displaying yellow & black blinds) & drove AEC's fitted with heated front 'screens. My route, if anyone is interested, was the 724 Romford to Staines via Heathrow airport.
 
Think Ford held a patent for "quickclear" screens but would have thought it may have run out by now, this is different from others such as Concorde which had a very thin layer of gold film applied; shop freezers use a metal oxide that has a current passed through them on the doors to stop them misting up
 
Yes, Ford had a patent filed in the early 80's for their "quickclear" system which is now expired although they do still have a trademark which doesn't expire.
In other words, yes other heated screens have been available but were a different design. Now you can copy ford's system legally but you cannot call it quickclear.
 
It's true they are a great addition making cold mornings a doddle. It's also true they aren't common. Honda don't have one. A few others don't either but many petrol cars warm up very quickly anyway. The Ford ones can be a bit feeble on very cold mornings. P38 ones are powerful though. I prefer the remote control webasto heaters ala Rover diesels and others.
 
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