Prior to having the windshield replaced, the right side electric windshield defrost didn't work. The guy at the windshield place showed me the plug and you could tell it had gotten very hot. I'm thinking that there must have been a short on that side in the glass.

It's been a couple of months and I noticed this week that the right side again is not working. The connection is way the heck up in the corner behind the glove box I think so 80 million screws to get at. But I'll bet the plug will look the same so I'm wondering what would you think is causing it. Are there separate relays for each side that maybe one is stuck. The switch is working fine, goes on for tops 5 minutes then switches off. The rear actually stays on a bit longer.

Any thoughts....bearing in mind I don't have a multi tester. I can rebuild an engine but the electronic unless very obvious like blow fuses or hit and miss wiring issues usually stump me.

 

Sidewalkman, if you are wanting to get it fixed for good, what I would suggest is seeing what a new heating element would run. It is possible that the element is simply running a bit on the low side of the resistance, allowing the element to run hotter than it should. It can't be pulling too much heat as it is not blowing the fuse (you don't mention that). Keep in mind that each of these elements pulls about 25 amps (50 amps total). So, any wire pulling that kind of current is going to be getting warm.

If you don't want to replace the heating element or can't, then what I would say to do is to get your hands on the wiring, cut back the wiring about 2 feet from the burned area, and then replace that wiring with some 12 or 10 gauge wiring. I would suggest soldering the wires together and then placing some heat shrink over the solder joint to insulate it (granted, electrical tape will do to, make sure you have 4 layers of tape covering the joint). The 12/10 gauge wiring will handle the heat a little better since it has more surface area to dissipate the heat. I would also recommend looking at how much room is in the area. Odds are, the area there is somewhat cramped and that is what is leading to the overheating of the factory wiring. As for fixing that, you can try drilling a small hole that would blow in that general direction (say a 3mm hole). This won't be enough to affect the air coming out of the dash vents, but will provide enough airflow to help push any heat that may be building up in the area.

If you need some other ideas, let me know. I will see what I can do for you.

 

THat's the weird thing, the element was replaced with the windshield, the plug on the windhsield side was of course new. The car side looked cooked (the female recepticle was discolored) but the wiring behind looks fine, just looks like it gets hot (kind of chrispy but not broken).

So it's not the element, and after the element was replaced it worked for a couple of months, no doubt I can undo the 50 milions screws and get up there and clean the plugs again and get another couple of months but obviously there is something causing it. I don't have a schematic so I can't see if there are relays involved.

 

sidewalkman, the left and right side electric defrosters work in parallel. So, if your left side is working, but your right side is not, then I know that the relay is working just fine. It has something to do with either the fuse leading to the right defroster, the wiring associated with the defroster, or the heating element itself. Based on past experience, it is looking like the heating element is toast or the wiring associated with the element is toast (I would be leaning towards the wiring this time). Unfortunately, the only way to really prove this one is to get up into the dash and see what the wiring looks like.

I wish the answer was better, but that is about the only option I can think of if you want it to work again.

 

I was afraid you were going to say that. I know it's going to be a nightmare getting up to the plug.