To RjION --

humpf. In your neck of the woods, I wouldn't doubt that a bit .... LOL

 

Good observation. Didn't consider that the break could be on the ground side. I'll check that too.

/When it dries out that is...we've had nearly 4 inches of rain in the last 48 hours with another inch or two on the way tomorrow.

 

Looks like the relay was good. I replaced it and the defrost still doesn't heat up. I'll check the electrical a bit more carefully and report back.

 

Anything?

 

Sorry - it's not at the top of my to-do list at the moment. I hope I'll have time tomorrow afternoon to check out the grounding issue and maybe a few other things. Look for an update on Sunday.

-T

 

OK...I had some time to spend in the car with the volt meter. I checked for 12v to ground from both leads into the rear defrost. I got nothing. I then checked for continuity from both leads to ground. I got it on the passenger side but not on the driver side. I figure that is the cable from the battery that runs through the relay. So the break is somewhere on that side.

I attached some short wires to each of the 4 connectors on the relay and extended up up an inch or so. This allowed me to check voltage across the relay. With the ignition set to ON I could hear the relay engage when I pressed the dash button for the defrost. With that ON I checked for voltage. I get 12v to ground from the relay when it is on. So far so good. However that is where things run aground. I don't know exactly which wiring bundle the 12v cable to the rear defrost goes through. I suppose I could detach the box engine compartment and manually trace it but I may muck up other connections if I do that.

That leads me back to the original question. Does anyone know what route that wire would take? Would I be able to access it from any other panels (or under the car) Where I could test it again?

Not having looked at the repair manual before is this something that it would have in it?