trick to replacing heated windscreen relay?

Tugela

Well-known member
May 21, 2007
4,754
561
Seattle
1993 RRC: I press the heated windscreen button, the button illuminates, I hear a click behind the dash, the light goes out on the button, and that's it.


I have a replacement relay for the heated windscreen and spent 20 minutes trying to remove the kick panel to find the relay. I couldn't get very far - the panel looks like it runs behind the steering column near the steering wheel. I removed the lower screws and pried it back a little, but didn't want to stress 25-year old plastic too much. I can't pinpoint the location of the relay. I also have a crack running diagonally across the bottom of the windscreen, crossing some of the filaments. Would that affect functionality of the heated screen?

Any suggestions for gaining access to the relay?
 
Last edited:

kk88rrc

Well-known member
The panel is easy to remove. There are the 2 lower screws which you know. There are also others up top. One on the far left side and one on the right by the dash dimmer. The last ones are behind the vent on the left side.
 

Tugela

Well-known member
May 21, 2007
4,754
561
Seattle
Thanks for the diagram. The hangup seems to be in a piece of the panel that runs behind the upper steering column, right behind the steering wheel. It's like the panel wraps continuously behind the shroud that covers the stalks, light switch, etc. I can pull the panel out from the bottom a few inches and create a gap large enough to stick a few fingers through with a flashlight, but the panel doesn't want to move any further than that. I can peer through a gap by the upper left vent and see a lot of wiring and relays, but I can't actually make enough space to manipulate anything back there.

Looking at your diagram it appears that I am missing the screws concealed by the vent louvre. That might help. I'll give it another go this week if it's not dumping rain.
 

kk88rrc

Well-known member
Yeah once you get those last screws out it should slide right out. You will have to unplug the dimmer & pop out the bulb check unit once the panel is dropped.
Reinstalling takes a bit to get everything lined up nicely.

Been raining tons here too. Finally was able to plant my garlic this past Sunday.
 

Blueboy

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
3,205
459
Back in the USA; Rockwood, PA
How did you make out? Just had mine replaced with dash out for the heater core / blower repair. BTW, the relay I purchased didn?t work and another one had to be bought. Make sure it works before putting it back together.
 

Dangeruss

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2007
104
1
Ontario, Canada
Can't help with the relay question, but I have 2 D2's with heated windscreens. One is cracked across the bottom where the PO let the wiper arm snap down without a blade. That one defrosts like a picket fence. The other one is cracked along the top and doesn't suffer such issues. I got a price for new (Piikington) glass on the one I plan to keep driving and it's about half of what it was 10 years ago .
 

Tugela

Well-known member
May 21, 2007
4,754
561
Seattle
Got the kick panel off, the screws in the vent were the trick. Now I can't find the relay. I push the dash button for the front heated windscreen and hear the click, but I can't find where the relay itself is located. Nothing under there looks like my replacement relay and the space is too confined for me to get a good look up in the spaghetti of wiring. My copy of RAVE lists the "heated front screen timer unit" as #184 on the electrical diagram (list is on page 153 of my version) and "heated front screen connection" as #209, but the electrical diagram itself is only conceptual and doesn't identify the actual location of the relay.



A Google image search isn't turning up anything, either. Either my copy of RAVE is missing a lot of content or my brain is missing a lot of processing power.


I'd appreciate a photo, a treasure map, or some useful directions to help me find the relay. It's not that big of a space and it has to be in there somewhere.
 

Tugela

Well-known member
May 21, 2007
4,754
561
Seattle
OK, I found the location for the relay by feeling around for what was clicking. The relay that clicks is different from the replacement part I have, which is why I was confused - I couldn't see anything that matched my replacement part.



The replacement part is like this, PRC 6796 with 5 pins:


s-l225.jpg



The relay that clicks is a smaller, black Hella relay labeled 003 510-48 with 4 pins and looks like this:


iu



So I suppose I have the wrong part and the PRC 6796 is for a different model year?
 

Blueboy

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
3,205
459
Back in the USA; Rockwood, PA
Trust you had a good Turkey Day.

If the relay is clicking isn?t it working?

In the end my problem wasn?t the timer relay and the original was actually working.

It was The heated front screen relay which is black.

The timer unit relay is grey.
 

Tugela

Well-known member
May 21, 2007
4,754
561
Seattle
If the relay is clicking isn?t it working?

In the end my problem wasn?t the timer relay and the original was actually working.

It was The heated front screen relay which is black.


The black relay is what is clicking. I push the button, I hear the relay click, the button illuminates for a second and then goes dark, and no heated windscreen at the end of it all. I do have a crack in the windscreen so if the filaments are damaged and causing the system not to work then perhaps the problem is not under the dash. I have access to an intact heated windscreen from a donor vehicle and plan to have that installed at some point.
 

Tugela

Well-known member
May 21, 2007
4,754
561
Seattle
Were you able to find the grey timer relay?


No, I couldn't find it. Most of the other relays were labeled. There was a row under the steering column and what appeared to be another row behind them that I couldn't see. I'm not finding a schematic in RAVE that shows what's what and where it's located.