The multi-plug connector at the base of the windshield on the passenger side has the wires reversed!

Purple wire and black wire on one side do not line up on the other side...

Windshield does not heat.

Looks like it came from the factory like that..


Suggestions?!

 

Duh - duz that mean that it will make winshield get real cold and frost up even inside the garage? NOT. lol

Here's wiring diagram and connector layout. You could test with volt meter at connector, unplug and read connector toward truck, not wind screen.

If no volts, could be a fuse blown. Check # 8 inside truck.

Could also be bad connection at earth common connection, which is connector C018, pin #8 (they are all black). In an area where leaky sun roof or condensate or fresh air vent can cause problems over time.

If volts are good to connector, could read for resistance on connector toward wind screen. Make one reading, then reverse meter cables. Make second reading. Usually, if the device you are measuring is polarity sensitive, the ohms reading will be way different.

If volts good to connector, attach wind screen and read volts again, to see if voltage still there. This will require psuhing a pin in the wire, or somehow getting to the wire. If you make a hole in insulation it will need to be re-sealed, water gets in this area. Volts could drop away, if connection back thru fuse is "dirty" (similar to a corroded battery terminal). A high resistance connection can read good volts, until you apply an actual heavy load to it. Then volts drop like a stone.

If you decide to reverse wires to cable, use either solder or good quality wet area rated crimp connectors, and slide on some heat shrink tubing before you make up the conection. After testing, slide heat shrink down and "shrink".

 

Thanks... Very helpful!

The photo of the connector (C0246) is what I am talking about. The wires are reversed on the windshield side of the connector.

How could that be?? I thought initially some twit had re-connected it upside down...but no! The clip can only go one way!!

I'm thinking there were too many fumes of some sort at the factory when it was assembled~...

Can these be un-reversed?

 

Yes, but the question is, do you need to? You would want to use a small volt meter to test for volts at the connector with it unplugged, meter connected to connector going toward truck, not wind shield. If you have good volts, great. If not, look at fuses, ground (earthing connection), etc. See attached text from RAVE.

A voltmeter can be purchased at WalMart or other automotive sources, usually less than $20. Don't try to use the amp meter part on this circuit, it draws more than meter can measure (in amps). To review high school physics, "voltage" is the potential to do work, like pounds-per-square inch of pressure. "Amps" is like the flow of energy, similar to gallons per minute. "Ohms" is the measure of resistance to current flow. volts = amps X resistance, so if you have a 2 ohm heater element, and you put 12 volts across it, you will draw 6 amps of current flow. After the first moment or two, where some other factors are at work. Volt meter is handy to have for working on vehicles and things around the house.

 

Yes, but the question is, do you need to? You would want to use a small volt meter to test for volts at the connector with it unplugged, meter connected to connector going toward truck, not wind shield. If you have good volts, great. If not, look at fuses, ground (earthing connection), etc. See attached text from RAVE.

Also, here's a litle history on this:

First seen on the 1985 Ford Scorpio/Granada Mk.III in Europe and the Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable in the U.S., the system uses a mesh of very thin heating wires, or a silver/zinc oxide coated film embedded between two layers of windscreen glass.The overall effect when operative was defogging & defrosting of the windscreen at a very high rate. Landrover (UK) also fitted a similar screen to their Discovery range in the early 1990s some of which were imported to Australia undetected by authorities because at that stage, were not legal in any state. Owing to the high current draw, the system is engineered to operate only when the engine is running, and normally switches off after 10 minutes of operation. The metallic content of the glass has been shown to degrade the performance of certain windshield-mounted accessories, such as GPS navigators, telephone antennas and radar detectors.
"Instaclear" was the introductory name on American models. In early promotional Ford sales literature for Europe, the feature was referred to simply as "Rapid Windscreen De-ice", but the "Quickclear" name began to appear from around 1989 onwards. The system can now be found as either standard equipment or an optional extra on most vehicles produced by Ford or its subsidiaries around the world, but in the U.S. market it was never popular. Besides the original Taurus/Sable, it appeared briefly in the Lincoln line in the early 1990s, and in some Land Rovers as well. GM has produced a somewhat similar system called Electriclear.
One problem with the system is that the heating elements can sometimes burn out, leaving one side of the screen uncleared. As the wires are actually embedded in the glass, total replacement of the screen is the only remedy (as opposed to a rear defogger, which can usually be repaired with conductive paint). Some owners have been known to smash the screen and submit a fraudulent insurance claim for stone damage, as Quickclear screens are expensive replacement parts and many insurance policies offer a low excess (deductible) for windscreen damage.[citation needed] This type of screen is also known to cause serious problems with tollway recording equipment (E-Tag etc.)[citation needed]
Retrieved from "Quickclear - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"

NOTE: I am not suggesting a rock hit your windshield.

 

I haven't used the voltmeter yet (yes I have one). I've used a 12volt power probe that has a light and a needle. When I poke it into the purple wire, truck side, it lights up nice! So there is power to the multiplug...

 

I have like half the elements working on the passenger side, that's it. I wonder if anybody still has all of them working properly anymore.