can anyone help me with this - I am not sure how much heat the windscreen "wiper" heater is meant to give out and actually how it is intended to be used.

it was -4 c this morning and I switched the wiper heater control on from cold start to attempt to clear residual ice as I drive away. After a short time - 5 minutes or so - I checked the heat at the bottom of the windscreen but it was quite cool - and the heat from the engine heating was then starting to come through anyway.

Is that area designed to get hot quickly, and are you meant to put the controls to manual - screen - fan to high, to blow the hot air up to the screen to de-ice ?

thanks
Roger

The windscreen wiper heater will only heat the small area where the blades are parked...look for the filament in the screen.
I never bother and just de-ice the screen if needed.
Inside, to demist the screen use the one button with a windscreen icon (left of the rear screen heater ?) to set the fans upto the windscreen.
Hope that helps.

Agree with mraines. This is just to de-ice around the wipers. Otherwise gotta scrape ice off or use de-icer. Think lexus should adopt the quickclear screens that work so well with f f f. Fords. (would never buy a ford just for that though!)

thanks for that - good point about heated windscreens - i was told by someone [ maybe at the dealers] that Ford has the [unique] licence for fitting heated screens - the other point was the expense, but if blessed Ford can fit 'em ----- ????

roger

Yes, Ford has the rights to the heated screen with a full element to melt the ice over the entire screen and it works really well.

I wonder how much a ford heated windscreen would cost compared to conventional? For that matter what would an IS rain sensor replacement screen cost?

I had an IS220D purchased only weeks after the car was introduced. I now have a IS250C and I can honestly say I have used the wiper heater only a few times and even then it didnt appear to do much. In my opinion this function is a total waste of time.

AGREED.. bit like the electric rear sunblind on the SE-L !

MW70 - totally agree, it didn't block the sun out but after overtaking some idiot on the motorway hogging the middle lane, rolling up the blind made them aware of your dissatisfaction ! :-)