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Heated Windshield

The Delco-Remy portion of the Heated Windshield system included the Power Electronics Module shown on the right below for switching the high current on and off to the windshield, a control module shown on the left that determined the when the Power Module switched, and a CS-144 Delcotron with three output terminals to the Power Module added.  Also part of the system was a special windshield with a electrically conductive film sandwiched within the glass laminate.  The film was a large resistor which when supplied with current from the DR Power Module heated up the windshield and could melt a 0.1inch of ice off the surface five times faster than a normal defrost system.  The special windshield was the weak link in the system as it was prone to cracking, failure of the resistive film and also gave an orange tint to the glass.  Due to the windshield issues this special order item only lasted several years in the early 1990's. 

The Power Module was assembled in Plant 11.  Gene Phillips Photo

It appears that the DR Power Module takes the non rectified AC off the generator and then converted it to something besides the normal 12 volts DC.  There were three transformers in the unit, which was produced on the south side of the fire wall in Plant 11 near the vacuum department.

ElectriClear was the GM trade name for this product.  Ford called its version QuickClear or sometimes InstaClear.  After the warranty ran out, and if the resistive heating element failed in the windshield, some owners were reported to have thrown rocks at the windshield to get the insurance companies to replace the glass as road damage with the typical low deductable versus having to pay the full cost of the replacement.  This was not a cheap windshield.  The metallic heating element was also known to have also interfered with electronic equipment being used in the vehicle and automatic toll road monitoring signals.