Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting rear window defogger on all the time

1998 zetec
Does anyone know where the relay or timer is located?
I can not turn it off or on, when the battery is connected, the rear window defogger is running. This occurs even when the switch is in the off position. Pushing the button does nothing at all.

I fixed it, the timer control module located on the bottom of the inner fuse box had gotten wet when I cleaned the car using a garden hose.

Glad you fixed it, did it work after drying out, or did you have to replace it?

It worked after it dried out.
Also after reading up on this part, it controls the intermittant wipers, door lights, rear defrost, etc...
I took it off and carefully pried off the cover, cleaned off the backside of the board, let it dry and it works.
I really should have not soaked the inside of the car with the hose, but it was totally filthy. I just had to clean the headliner, etc...
I also created a low resistance circuit in the air bags and the air bag diagnostic module gave me the 5, 5 beep warnings and the proceeded to burn out its 2 internal fuses. This is the blue box located under the lighter behind the cupholders. So after reading up on this, I bypassed the one blown fuse and it works again. Nasty that ford did this to the circuit board, put in 2 fuseable links covered with a white and black plastic part that is designed to not be repairable. There are 2 fusable links in that module. I suppose I could replace it with a used part from the yard, but its working and I created the low resistance by getting it soaked with water. The fuseable link burns out to prevent an accidental deployment of the airbag if there is a fault in the system. Does anyone know the rating of this link?

I would replace the module. Be sure to disconnect the battery, I seem to remember the airbag has capacitors in a different module that will hold power a while.