Ford's Quickclear Windscreen Technology
#2
![Default](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
I wonder if the super hot heat would have issues with cracks in the windshield? I know JLR uses elements in the windshield but not to the level of the demonstration in the video. Super expensive windshield replacements though.
Other early systems like the HotShot in GM cars had issues because of the electrical part of heating up the liquid to shoot onto the windshield. Interestingly, my friend's company has a more mechanical system to heat washer fluid and then spray it onto the windshield.
Other early systems like the HotShot in GM cars had issues because of the electrical part of heating up the liquid to shoot onto the windshield. Interestingly, my friend's company has a more mechanical system to heat washer fluid and then spray it onto the windshield.
#5
Lexus Fanatic
#7
![Default](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
On the contrary, it works brilliantly well, very quick and efficient. I've had a couple of cars with it and on frozen mornings you just press a button and you're ready to go while the neighbours are still scraping.
Expensive to replace though and for a long time only on Ford products as they held the patent.
Expensive to replace though and for a long time only on Ford products as they held the patent.
Trending Topics
#8
Lexus Fanatic
![Default](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
On the contrary, it works brilliantly well, very quick and efficient. I've had a couple of cars with it and on frozen mornings you just press a button and you're ready to go while the neighbours are still scraping.
Expensive to replace though and for a long time only on Ford products as they held the patent.
Expensive to replace though and for a long time only on Ford products as they held the patent.
#9
Lexus Champion
![Default](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
It's been around in Ford Crown Vics and Mercury Grand Marquis cars since ancient times. Like since the early 90s, believe it or not. Problem was the expense of replacing the windshield at some point due to rock chips and cracks. The filaments were actual real gold filaments as the heating elements, just like in airline jets from the 1960s, where this tech was lifted from.
Other manufacturers have used variations like heated windshield washer fluid and nozzles, or just using conventional heating elements like the rear defrost system and locating them at the base of the windshield to help the wipers. It's great tech. Every winter about four or five times after temperature shifts I find my car coated in a layer of ice like it rained on it and froze solid.
Other manufacturers have used variations like heated windshield washer fluid and nozzles, or just using conventional heating elements like the rear defrost system and locating them at the base of the windshield to help the wipers. It's great tech. Every winter about four or five times after temperature shifts I find my car coated in a layer of ice like it rained on it and froze solid.
#10
![Default](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
Two comments:
(1) Just curious, what language was this fellow speaking? As a USA West-Coaster, youch. I really had to listen carefully. It would be fun to have this guy talk with a Scotsman and see if they could understand anything at all, even though they were speaking, in theory, the same language.
(2) Cute dog. We had an Aussie a few decades ago, very smart, could do the dishes and flush the toilet. Okay, I made that last bit up. But still a very smart dog. We could exercise her by just standing 100 feet apart, and she would run circles around us, trying to herd us together, I guess.
(1) Just curious, what language was this fellow speaking? As a USA West-Coaster, youch. I really had to listen carefully. It would be fun to have this guy talk with a Scotsman and see if they could understand anything at all, even though they were speaking, in theory, the same language.
(2) Cute dog. We had an Aussie a few decades ago, very smart, could do the dishes and flush the toilet. Okay, I made that last bit up. But still a very smart dog. We could exercise her by just standing 100 feet apart, and she would run circles around us, trying to herd us together, I guess.
#11
Lexus Fanatic
![Default](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
This type of technology, with small embedded wires, is safer on the glass than pouring hot water on it, which can easily cause cracks or shattering.
My 2006 Subaru Outback had a form of it....but not for the whole windshield. The press of a button electrically heated up the lower part of the windshield, around the frozen wipers.
MattyG is correct, BTW, that this feature has been on some Ford products for decades.
My 2006 Subaru Outback had a form of it....but not for the whole windshield. The press of a button electrically heated up the lower part of the windshield, around the frozen wipers.
MattyG is correct, BTW, that this feature has been on some Ford products for decades.
#12
Lexus Champion
![Default](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
I only vaguely remember reading about this option. I looked it up and found this. If it is offered with thin wires embedded in the windshield, I could see how it may be illegal -- it could hamper forward visibility since the wires would be so much closer to the eye than the rear window defroster.
Source: Wikipedia
Quickclear is a European trademark used by the Ford Motor Company for its electrically heated windshield technology. Instaclear was the name used sometimes in the United States.
First seen on the 1985 Ford Scorpio/Granada Mk. III in Europe and the Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable in the U.S., the system uses a mesh of very thin heating wires, or a silver/zinc oxide coated film embedded between two layers of windscreen glass. The overall effect when operative was defogging and defrosting of the windscreen at a very high rate. Landrover (UK) also fitted a similar screen to their Discovery range in the early 1990s, some of which were imported to Australia undetected by authorities, because at that stage they were not legal in any state. Owing to the high current draw, the system is engineered to operate only when the engine is running, and normally switches off after 10 minutes of operation. The metallic content of the glass has been shown to degrade the performance of certain windshield-mounted accessories, such as GPS navigators, telephone antennas and radar detectors.
"Instaclear" was the introductory name on American models. In early promotional Ford sales literature for Europe, the feature was referred to simply as "Rapid Windscreen De-ice", but the "Quickclear" name began to appear from around 1989 onwards. The system can now be found as either standard equipment or an optional extra on most vehicles produced by Ford or its subsidiaries around the world, but in the U.S. market it was never popular. Besides the original Taurus/Sable, it appeared briefly in the Lincoln line in the early 1990s, and in some Land Rovers as well. GM has produced a somewhat similar system called Electriclear.
One problem with the system is that the heating elements can sometimes stop working, leaving one side of the screen uncleared. If this is the result of burn out, total replacement of the screen is the only remedy as the wires are actually embedded in the glass, (as opposed to a rear defogger, which can usually be repaired with conductive paint). The problem is sometimes caused by the power cable coming loose from its mounting near the base of the screen. The loose cable then catches on the windscreen wiper mechanism and fatigues over time. The remedy is then to reattach the wire to the foil at the base of the screen, but this can be problematic since the system requires such high current (~30 amps). Some owners have been known to smash the screen and submit a fraudulent insurance claim for stone damage, as Quickclear screens are expensive replacement parts and many insurance policies offer a low excess (deductible) for windscreen damage. This type of screen is also known to cause serious problems with tollway recording tags unless the tag is placed in the correct area behind the rearview mirror.
First seen on the 1985 Ford Scorpio/Granada Mk. III in Europe and the Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable in the U.S., the system uses a mesh of very thin heating wires, or a silver/zinc oxide coated film embedded between two layers of windscreen glass. The overall effect when operative was defogging and defrosting of the windscreen at a very high rate. Landrover (UK) also fitted a similar screen to their Discovery range in the early 1990s, some of which were imported to Australia undetected by authorities, because at that stage they were not legal in any state. Owing to the high current draw, the system is engineered to operate only when the engine is running, and normally switches off after 10 minutes of operation. The metallic content of the glass has been shown to degrade the performance of certain windshield-mounted accessories, such as GPS navigators, telephone antennas and radar detectors.
"Instaclear" was the introductory name on American models. In early promotional Ford sales literature for Europe, the feature was referred to simply as "Rapid Windscreen De-ice", but the "Quickclear" name began to appear from around 1989 onwards. The system can now be found as either standard equipment or an optional extra on most vehicles produced by Ford or its subsidiaries around the world, but in the U.S. market it was never popular. Besides the original Taurus/Sable, it appeared briefly in the Lincoln line in the early 1990s, and in some Land Rovers as well. GM has produced a somewhat similar system called Electriclear.
One problem with the system is that the heating elements can sometimes stop working, leaving one side of the screen uncleared. If this is the result of burn out, total replacement of the screen is the only remedy as the wires are actually embedded in the glass, (as opposed to a rear defogger, which can usually be repaired with conductive paint). The problem is sometimes caused by the power cable coming loose from its mounting near the base of the screen. The loose cable then catches on the windscreen wiper mechanism and fatigues over time. The remedy is then to reattach the wire to the foil at the base of the screen, but this can be problematic since the system requires such high current (~30 amps). Some owners have been known to smash the screen and submit a fraudulent insurance claim for stone damage, as Quickclear screens are expensive replacement parts and many insurance policies offer a low excess (deductible) for windscreen damage. This type of screen is also known to cause serious problems with tollway recording tags unless the tag is placed in the correct area behind the rearview mirror.
#13
Lexus Fanatic
![Default](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
I only vaguely remember reading about this option. I looked it up and found this. If it is offered with thin wires embedded in the windshield, I could see how it may be illegal -- it could hamper forward visibility since the wires would be so much closer to the eye than the rear window defroster.
![Uhh...](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/1387914497.gif)
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
BlueCrabby
Automotive Care & Detailing
2
01-02-14 04:04 AM