New Discovery

[acdii]

Had the remote start going and started cleaning off the snow. Notice anything? First time I ever saw, didn't even know it did this.

 

[aschulz261]

what is that?

[hybridbear]

Is that defrost around the rain sensing wipers area?

[corncobs]

The car is still getting snowed on ? ;-)

[Waldo]

The lane departure camera has a heating element in it for exactly this scenario.

[acdii]

Yep! I figured Waldo would get it. :) I had rain sensing wipers on the Hyundai Veracruz, but it lacked the ability to keep from icing over. While the Fusion has the defrost ring around the camera, it still managed to ice up a little last night and the wipers stopped working. Needless to say, I said, Wow, good thinking Ford!

[hybridbear]

The lane departure camera has a heating element in it for exactly this scenario.

Good job, Waldo! Do you know what activates it? Does it come on with the rear defrost?

[acdii]

Front defrost from what I see. I had the car running using the remote start which is full defrost front and rear and seat heaters.

[SteveB_TX]

I took a quick look through the wiring diagrams for this and found the heater element power, but could not figure out exactly what energizes it. I will have to dig deeper when I have more time. I knew buying these wiring diagrams would come in handy some day! :)

[Waldo]

From the shop manual:

 

Camera Windshield Defrost Heater

The camera windshield defrost heater keeps the windshield in front of the IPMA clear of frost and ice. The IPMA uses input from the front camera and the ambient air temperature to turn the camera windshield defrost heater on and off. Voltage and ground is supplied to the heater by the IPMA. The heater may be commanded on if the ambient temperature is below 5°C (41°F).

[acdii]

Oh cool! totally independent on the HVAC controls! That makes sense.

[hybridbear]

From the shop manual:

 

Camera Windshield Defrost Heater

The camera windshield defrost heater keeps the windshield in front of the IPMA clear of frost and ice. The IPMA uses input from the front camera and the ambient air temperature to turn the camera windshield defrost heater on and off. Voltage and ground is supplied to the heater by the IPMA. The heater may be commanded on if the ambient temperature is below 5°C (41°F).

Thanks for sharing! That's really cool. I'll have to pay attention now to watch this in action.

[Waldo]

Knowing you guys, you'll probably start developing some kind of aftermarket heating pack that you can put over the sensor in your garage so that it doesn't come on and cost you a quarter of a teaspoon of fuel every 2 years. ;)

[acdii]

Knowing you guys, you'll probably start developing some kind of aftermarket heating pack that you can put over the sensor in your garage so that it doesn't come on and cost you a quarter of a teaspoon of fuel every 2 years. ;)

OK I seriously wished I had not been eating a fry when I read this! Not once in my entire life would I have EVER thought one could shoot a fry out their nose!

[hybridbear]

Knowing you guys, you'll probably start developing some kind of aftermarket heating pack that you can put over the sensor in your garage so that it doesn't come on and cost you a quarter of a teaspoon of fuel every 2 years. ;)

That's awesome!! Are you saying that some of us are obsessed with gas mileage?

Edited December 19, 2013 by hybridbear