No window demister or heater fan suddenly

Mosser · Post by **Mosser** » 22 Feb 2005, 04:00

Help, my rear window demister and heater fan have both stopped working, it has been intermittent recently and tonight i had to take my son to the hospital and i couldnt defrost my car properly, i have done a search on 'window demister heater fan' and it returned one post that said it might be the ignition switch but didnt say how to fix it,
Can i just take the ignition switch apart and clean the contacts ?, or is it time for a new ingition switch or relay ?
Any help is appreciated as my twins arent very well at the moment and my car needs to be relied on to get them to hospital quite regularly at the moment

Richard Gallagher · Post by **Richard Gallagher** » 22 Feb 2005, 04:07

You are looking at a new ignition switch it would appear. You may be able to take the switch apart and clean the contacts (always worth a try), but if visiting a breakers be aware that there are two types. If I recall correctly, one switch is white, the other black. If you want an early (Black) one then I can help you out.

Mosser · Post by **Mosser** » 22 Feb 2005, 04:13

Thanks richard, i will take it apart tomorrow and see 1, if i can clean it, and 2, what colour it is, if i cant clean it and let you know and take some pictures just in case any more info is required

Post by **RichardW** » 22 Feb 2005, 12:59

You need to put in a relay, there is probably enough meat left to switch a relay, just not the high current of the fan and HRW. IIRC take the lower steering cowl off, and there should be a brown plug, separate this, and wire the relay across it. Peter Mann, who posts occasionally has piccies and a wiring diagram I think.
(Edit: Not very well worded that - you could change the ignition switch, but this only fixes the symptoms, not the underlying problem, and also means removing the steering wheel to get the upper column cover off. The relay is easier, and will prevent problems in the future. If there is not enough left in the ignition switch for the relay, just take a switched live from elsewhere. Always make sure you start and stop the car with the fan in low or off, and the HRW swtiched off.)

Stuart McB · Post by **Stuart McB** » 22 Feb 2005, 17:54

Sorry for this but... all fues OK? (sorry for asking the obvious).

Mosser · Post by **Mosser** » 22 Feb 2005, 18:29

Heh!, all fuses ok, it was the first thing i checked, thanks for suggesting it though, it could be easily overlooked