Apparently no US X300s were fitted with the heated windshield/windscreen, but I still wondered what they looked like in bright sunlight?

I would assume that since the glass is crossed by very fine heating wires that one might see them "glint", but wondered how severe this was.

I know that even a slightly dirty or sand chipped windshield can be very distracting when driving into the morning or especially afternoon Sun, so how does the heated windshield/windscreen look?

On a related aside, is the heated windshield/windscreen activated by a separate button on the A/C & heater module, or is it integrated into the defrost function button automatically?

.... kind of makes me wonder if it could be easily (plug-and-play) retrofitted to a US car.

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We no got also.

BUT, my understanding is the "heated" section is low down where the wipers park, to prevent them freezing to the glass,

This could be soooooo wrong of course, but that is MY understanding.

Agreed, those fine strips would be scary to look through.

 

The heated section is fine vertical wires. I had it on my VDP, and currently on my X Type. I never notice the wires, they are so fine they just disappear.

The control is a separate button on the heater panel. The rear defrost button is smaller than a non heated front screen. If you push defrost, both front and rear heated screens will turn on.

Might be possible to retrofit it, there are heavy wires on each side of the screen and relays to supply power. The harness is a separate harness, looks like Jaguar still has the later harness available.

 

I have heated front and rear screens on my 1996 Sovereign. You do not notice the wires at all. there are two operating buttons to the left of the top control panel.

 

My 97 xj6 from canada got it though.
USA models don't but we do? Strange

 

It was part of the cold weather pack, that was an option not available in the USA. The bulk of USA Jaguar sales were in California and Texas, so not much call for cold weather equipment.

 

I'm almost certain that the cold weather package was mandatory in Canada... I haven't seen a single one without it, and I live near Vancouver which isn't exactly cold. However on the current lineup of Jags, it is definitely optional equipment up here. Gotta love those heated seats!

 

Very interesting indeed that the Canadian cars have it as part of the cold weather package. Canadian cars are close cousins to USA cars, so it stands to reason that the heated front windscreen could be retrofitted.

So that makes me wonder what all is missing from a USA spec car to install the heated front windshield.

1) Obviously, heated front windshield glass. (I need to replace my windshield anyway....)
2) Climate control panel with heated windshield button
3) Any updated/different control module, such as perhaps the BPM? If the BPM, fortunately for me I already have a Canadian BPM installed as part of side project to enable daytime running lights.
4) Control systems and panel harness any different?
5) Relays present already?
6) Wiring harness to front windshield already present, or plug-and-play?

Anything else?

Anyone know the answers to any of the above?


What I do know so far according to Jaguar Classic Parts:

- The heated versus non-heated windscreen is only about an $85 difference for the heated glass.
- The harness for the windshield is about $60 and is still available. Not sure if one would need to order two, or if it comes as one harness for both LH and RH window connections, assuming the harness is not already there unused.


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On the late 94 XJ40 VDP, Canadian Spec, you'll find an engine block heater with its associated 110v wiring harness. Probably the X300 has that too!

On my car, that harness is neatly bundled up near the stat, undisturbed and unused for the past 22 years!

You X300 owners are lucky - My Canadian XJ40 has the heated front windshield that's unfortunately NLA - only non-heated replacements are available.

Larry

 

The relays are in the drivers footwell, behind the trim panel behind the hood release latch. Should be 2 there. The windshield is controlled by the air conditioning module, as that feeds the AC panel switches. It's on the climate control wiring drawing, part 2.

The wire from the module to the relay sockets is purple/slate. See if you have that in place. Other wires from the relays for the right side are Brown/purple and white/red (ignition switched ground) and green/pink to the windshield.

Left side: Brown/black, purple/slate, white/red as relay ground and green/slate to LH side of the windshield.

I doubt the harness is in place, but if it is you would see the heavy wires going to each corner of the windshield in the engine bay. Colour as noted above, plus a black ground from the windshield on each corner.

 

I was at the junkyard today and there was a 96 VDP, so I took some photos of the heated windshield.

Relays in drivers footwell: https://flic.kr/p/F88qmF
Heater panel button: https://flic.kr/p/F7WBdU
Left side connector from harness to screen: https://flic.kr/p/FCh14s
Wires in the glass, inside looking out: https://flic.kr/p/FWwYAv

The wires were really difficult to photograph, took a lot of trickery to be able to get my phone to focus on them. Should have brought a manual focus SLR!

As I mentioned before, the only time I can ever see them is if I am specifically looking for them and they are against the sky. Otherwise, they are invisible. At first I thought the car had a replacement non heated windshield and then I looked again and it had it. They are that hard to spot, and I knew what I was looking for!

 

As above, they are actually very hard to see in normal circumstances. Under normal driving, you are looking out through the windscreen, down the road somewhat and so, you aren't actually focussed on the wires. This sort of selective vision applies in pretty much all walks of life, to avoid the confusion that would reign if we saw everything, equally, at the same time.

 

I had a heated windscreen in my 2005 XK8 Coupe. The wires were only visible to me (and to my camera) on dull days:



I was working in safety glass manufacturing when Triplex were developing heated laminated windscreens in the early 1970's and had one of the first prototypes fitted in my 1972 XJ6. The wires were a lot finer in the early ones and heated up a lot faster but obviously compromises had to be made for volume production.

Graham

 

Thanks!

But which connector/harness in the photo is for the heated windscreen?


And yes, very clear now how the heated wires look. Interesting.



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The larger one close to the exposed portion of the bonnet release cable. Should be white, it's just covered in dirt in this photo. Has the green and black wires.

 

Ah well, went and looked in both corners and the white connector for the heated screen is not present. BTW is that white connector where the windshield itself plugs into the heated windshield harness, or is that where the heated windshield harness itself connects to the main car harness?

Not sure if it may be tucked away somewhere or not, but it's not sitting there unplugged on a 1997 US car. So I may have to look around some more.


The photo below is what you provided as an example of what the heated windshield harness white connector looks like:
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Those connectors are where the windshield connects to the car. The glass comes with wires about 10" long and the connector at the end.

 

Thanks, that's what I suspected.

.....sooo, then I wonder where the heated windshield harness (and said white connectors) that I'm missing connects to the main vehicle harness.

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I think at the relays in the drivers footwell. Also at the junkyard was a US market XJ6 without heated windshield. It didn't have the relays, but wiring up to those locations and terminated there.

 

Yep, I'll do some surgery and exploration on the next X300 I encounter at the junk yard to see how the US cars are equipped.


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