Had the need to use my heated front windscreen for the first time this morning and it cleared the windscreen quite quicky but as it did so I noticed that a 1cm strip in the dead centre of the windscreen (top to bottom) was left and cleared about 20 seconds after the rest of the screen was clear.

Does anyone know if this is this normal or have I got some of the heating element faulty ?

The dead centre has no coverage as the screen is split into two circuits, left and right. You can probably see no wires if you look closely enough...

I think any other 'gaps' would be a problem.

Keith.

Thats good then, thanks for the response

Very funny - Noticed this for the first time myself today. I honestly hadn't seen the gap before - I guess that is the result of Jaguar actually using heating elements so thin that they don't get in the way. I always thought that buying a car with a heated windscreen would end quickly with me embedded in a lamp post, cross-eyed.

David

And once more in english for the hard of hearing!

JohnT

Huh?

Has anyone else experienced a glass defect in the heated front screen? I have a minute flaw - adjacent to one filament (just touching) but almost in the middle gap between two filaments. Nothing to 'feel' either inside or outside, but there's a flaw, nonetheless - and it's RIGHT in my centre vision. Anyone had a screen defect / screen replaced under warranty?

Rob

Got this fromhttp://www.ukmot.com

It is the official MOT guidelines for inspection of windscreens. Generally, though, if you can say it is in the swept area of the drivers wiper arm and it is above 10mm then it is an MOT failure. I would push for this under warranty explaining that it is highly likely that the structural rigidity of the windscreen is clearly effected at this point and it is highly likely that it will become worse.

@robbaker: I had a Celica many years ago and sustained a large crack in the window. The Windscreen replacement company were employed at an excess for the mandatory £50 at the time.....

Anyway, as I pulled away following the replacement, I noticed a wavy line about 20mm bang in the middle of my view and thought that it may just need a clean. Despite cleaning inside and out when I got home, the wavy line remained, it could only be noticed if I moved my head slightly... until night time... then it was like being drunk as when cars approached it seemed like they had 6 headlights each and they rotated about this line like a top of the pops effect from the seventies!... The annoying (and dangerous) thing was that I was looking at this ruddy imperfection rather than concentrating on the oncoming traffic all the time.

I took it back and they replaced it with another screen, this looked OK and so I drove away happy... then I noticed that although not as bad during normal light, at night when the headlights hit it I got the top of the pops effect again... this was replaced again the next day but the third one was worse than the first...

In the end they decided that Pilkington had a problem with the manufacture and ordered one direct from Toyota... problem solved!

The purpose of my story is that you should not have to put up with defects in your windshield as they can become very distracting.. and if your focus is on something 18" infront of you, you are likely to put yourself, your passengers and other motorists at risk as now that you have noticed this imperfection, my betting is that you will start to focus on it like I did, albeit for moments at a time....

If not for the reason Mr Pie suggested, go get it changed on the grounds that it is distracting your driving, you may not have realised that yet, but now I've poinetd it out you will! Sorry!

Your defect will be in the plastic film between the inner and outer layers of the laminated safety glass. The heating wires just happen to be in there also. This is a defective windshield covered by warranty, get a new one.