Beretta.net

Last winter my defroster kept turning off. I replaced the 30amp circuit breaker in the fuse panel and it seemed to work fine, now this winter its turning off again after a short period. I was thinking about replacing the relay and I think I know where it is by it's clicking, under the dash just to the right of the metal dash support, anyone know if it's right there or can tell me where it is? Thanks

Going by the 96 wiring diagram there is no relay, there is a solid state timer built into the switch. It has an Orange input from the 30A circuit breaker(hot all times), A pink input from a 20A fuse(hot during run), a gray input from the interior lights, and then a Black output for a ground and a Purple output that goes to the rear defogger and that's it.

Hmm maybe they changed it on later years, Ill have to keep researching. I can def hear a click under the dash though when the defroster is switched on like a relay. Oreilly and rock auto both list this http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carco ... ttype,3432 . Maybe Ill try to find a used switch too and try that out. Also just looked and those switches are not the same as mine, the wndshield wiper control and defroster are one unit on the left, dome light and lights on right, so maybe there wasnt that solid state timer built in.

There is still a solid state timer, there has to be, otherwise it would just stay on... But there may be a relay on the older models.. Your best bet is to find a repair manual and get a wiring diagram to work off of.

The defrosters are just completely useless. It's been like that on every Beretta I've ever owned, so I've accepted it as feature of this car.

I actually have swapped push-button release circuit breaker to mine, that I can re-engage as soon I push the button back in, but it newer stays on longer than 10 seconds and then pops out..

What actually is the failing part in the design? Not sure.

If its popping the circuit breaker than its quite simple really... It's drawing too much current... Why? well that's the unknown part, might be due to age of the rear window and the defroster gains resistance the older it is, and sometimes others have mentioned tint having something metallic in it and it causes a path for the electricity to go and draws too much that way.

I don't seem to have this issue with my 96, but then again I hardly use it.

In the old days the wires or the connector would get corrosion all over them and tip the shut off(resistance switch).
I saw something on the web about restoring rear defrosters. I should have saved the link.

mine stays on... i mean over 2 minutes for sure the light will stay on in the switch... but the actual defroster lines in my rear window work 1 out of 10 times tried...

It's not blowing the circuit breaker in the fuse box. I timed it it stays on for 2 min then light/switch goes off. Try to turn it on again and it only stays on for roughly a min or less. and with Mn weather its annoying it doesnt stay on. How do you get to the conector on the glass to clean it remove the sail panels?

Mine is also useless... i hate it, lol. It worked perferctly on my GTZ... in my GT i can turn the defroster on and it just stops heating after a minute or so and the light never goes out. When it does not defrost anymore i cant use my power doors anymore so i have to turn the switch off and after some seconds the power doors work again so i can turn back on the defroster and let it heat for another seconds till it turns off again.... but the light always stay on even when its not heating.

this thing really sucks... lol

on my GTZ it worked like yours Dan, it worked some minutes longer than yours i think and i had to turn it on 3 times or so to completly defrost the rear windows but it worked atleast.

on my 95 Z26 there is a ground wire by the side of the driver's seat closest to rocker panel you will have to remove plastic rocker step plate,move carpet back and you should see it,my rear defroster/power door locks ground at this point.both off the same circuit breaker.the ground wire corrodes from the wet carpet leak problem.
clean the wire and replace with a new crimp ring and clean the area where the new crimp ring goes,loose paint,rust,until shiny.add your new crimp ring,and apply some grease to the ring.

I was thinking of running the rear defroster on it's own circuit breaker under the dash,then the power door locks will have there own breaker in the fuse box,and my rear defroster will have it's own under the dash.maybe when the car was new this worked on the same breaker, but after years,it just draws too much power from the rear defroster/power door locks,to be on the same breaker.