[Deepdivedave]

Hi All, I'm a new owner of a captiva. This is the first morning I've had to deal with frost. I activated the front windscreen heater to no avail, in fact the blow heaters seemed to do the job before the windscreen heater even gave any indication that it was functioning!! Any body got this feature as I'm not sure mine is working ! What sort of time do you have to wait when working? Thanks for all replays.

David

 

[Newbie]

I though only Ford had that option? I have a Captiva 2010 LTX and I thought it was just a demister type button?

 

[Aussie Ed]

Newbie, You beat me to it. I think you're right. I have a 2012 LTZ and there is no heated windscreen (ie no heated electrical wire filament). The Mode button will shift heat options to different areas such as feet only, feet & screen etc. There is also a heated rear window and outside mirror defroster button.Unless Davids model has a brand spanking new speci I dont think there is a heated screen.

Maybe the series three will have this function?!

 

[Newbie]

Aussie Ed that is the one thing I miss from my oldFord, as in the winter I never had to use DeFroster or a Scraper

 

[Big Al]

I had to have a chipped windscreen replaced this summer the replacementscreen had heater elements at the bottom with terminals, the fitter connected two cables that wherethere from the loom but as my LTX does not havethe heater function I was going to look into it to see if I could get it working but never got round to it. If the Windscreen shape will only fit the captiva and antara I wonder if it is the antara that has the heater function?

 

[jonnybgood]

The new Captiva definitely has no heated windscreen, I checked with the salesman when I bought mine. What is does have is a demister button which sets the blow heaters up to provide maximum concentration on the windscreen. Works fine in my opinion, probably not as quick as a heated windscreen, but as I've never had one I don't really know.

 

[Andyk]

No heated screen on the Antara

 

[evo 370]

If you look at your windscreen you will see that the heating element is only at the bottom of the screen. They do not heat the screen but when activated via the rear screen switch, the heater element does heat the wiper blades and hence stops them from freezing. When I bought the car I asked what the lines on the screen were for, the garage told me they were the radio aerial, knowing this was wrong I read the hand book and found it was for a heater, which in my car's case works. I wish it had a Ford type heater, however only Ford companies eg Mazda have these.

 

[Aussie Ed]

Thanks Evo, I'll have a look and give it a try. Didnt think I had any heating element bottom of my screen. I'll have a look tomorrow in the daylight. The handbook is not overly helpful it just says your vehicle 'may have' a heated front screen. 'May have' keeps all options open!

 

[K.L.Richards]

There is NO heater element in the windscreen. The screen demist button, only redirects the in car heating to the screen, thereby temporarily changing the heating/air con settings.
The cable connection refered to on the screen is for the automatic wipers. The top of the screen has an area (behind the internal mirror) which senses water droplets, and if the wipers are set to auto, they will wipe. Also, depending on the speed the water builds up in this area, will depend on the speed the wipers will wipe.

As for the the opening post saying it didnt work, it will only clear the screen as fast as the car warms up. If the car is cold, then all the button does is fire "cold" air to the screen.

 

[chev#1]

Sorry, Must disagree about the heated screen.


Later MK.1 and MK.2 models do have two strips running across down where the wipers park. This is for the heater part of the screen.



Ford own the rights to a full heated screen, I had one in a 1989 Orion Ghia!



The heated screen part I know about, because I had ny screen changed and saw the new one go in!!

 

[Big Al]

My replacement screen definitely had the heaterstrips and the wiring connections, but to confirm this Ihave checked the wiring diagrams, and yes it is there and comes on atthe same time as the heated wing mirrors, only on a low rated fuse compared to the rear screen and will probably only raise the temp just above freezing to stop the wipers welding themselves to the screen.

 

[jegrugby]

Hi Guys,
If I read my manual correctly, apart from the windscreen there is an electricheating element within the air supply tubes to give a fast warm up - mine warms up exceptionally quickly. Must play havoc with a low battery!

Not sure that is relevant to the conversation, but a point of interest.

JEG Rugby

 

[Big Al]

Jegrugby have you got a captiva or one of the more cosseted luxury models, because looking at the captivamanual I can not see any in line heater coils, or in fact any wiring going to any heaters

 

[bigiainw]

My 2008 LTX doesn't have any elements in the screen, but i agree with Jegrugby, mine heats instantly in the morning and the screen clears really quich if the heat is up high enough.

 

[jegrugby]

Jegrugby have you got a captiva or one of the more cosseted luxury models, because looking at the captivamanual I can not see any in line heater coils, or in fact any wiring going to any heaters

Hi Big Al Mine is a 2010 LTZ, and the manual has a section called Auxiliary Heater (diesel only) which describes an electric heater.


I cant prove it is actually there though.................

Cheers



JEGRugby

 

[Big Al]

Don't forget its the freezing action of the air-con which takes the moisture out of the air for the screen demisting. I bet you have got the couple of heating bars at the bottom of the screen Ian you can not really see them because they are masked by the shadowing round the edges of the screen andI don't think they help with demisting just there to stop the blades freezing to the screen.

 

[Big Al]

Right JEG, that probably explains it, I was looking at 2008 LTX manual yours is the more up to date luxury cosseted model.

 

[Big Al]

Jegrugby,foundthe heater unit

, not in the tubes but in the air conditioning unit its self. It re-heats the air after passing through the chiller unit [which removes the moisture]. Only on the diesel though presumably because with being slower revving the enginetakes longer to warm up so gives the demisting a hand.

 

[Big Al]

To prove to my self that this front screen heater really works last night I lifted the wipers off the screen knowing there was going to be a frost. This morning I went out to the car with its frosty screen startedthe carturned off the heater and just turned on the rear screen defrost. In a few minutes seeing the rear screen defrosting went to check the front, in the dark shading at the bottom a 40mm strip had melted the full width of the screen.

" I do hope it has not been confusing with talking about two different matters in this topic, one being the heated front winscreen bars, and the other being the auxiliary heater for the front screen demist, sorry."

Edited by: Big Al