Alright, so got a used timer relay from one of Rocky's cars that was in for breaking and fitted it yesterday. This morning, the car was covered in ice, so started the engine and clicked the defroster and.... it turned off after 20 seconds
What the hell. I can only assume that over time, they degrade? They are an absolute bar steward to get to... accessing the relay is done by remove the middle panel of the dash - there's the bottom part, which is parallel to the floor and holds the footwell light, the middle piece which is at a 45 degree angle and then the main part of the dash that faces you, with the velcro glove box. It's the middle one that you can unscrew and then see the relay. However, to actually undo the screws that hold it in, it's typical car design: you need to undo the bottom part of the dash to see the screws as they are screwed in from the footwell facing the back. To actually get to those screws (seeing as our arms only have a couple of swivel points) you need to undo the ECM, that's not enough, also unplug it and try it pull it out of the way past a jumble of wires that effectively hold it in place. Finally you can get to the 7mm screws. ugh. Why not just have the screws on the side that the relay is on in the first place. Would mean you dont have to disasemble half of the dash. Or, why not have the relay behind the dash so you don't have to take the front half off. Ugh. Car designs.
Ok so anyway, i'm stuck now, is the point. I was thinking of taking apart the relay and replacing the components in it - they must wear down with time? Maybe even put in a temporary relay with just a straight forward on off switch, so that i control the amount of time it stays on. Only worry with this is.... is there a risk in doing so i.e is it turning off, because there's a problem elsewhere? Too much resistance somewhere maybe? I go back and forth on this - Shouldn't that mean that each time it would be on for the exact same amount time, as it would reach a 'safety' limit. at the moment, it's on for say 20-30 seconds at start, then 5-10 seconds the second time you push it. The design is 10 minutes at start and 5 minutes thereafter. So it seems to be following that logic where it's on for longer at the start then less time afterwards. If you push the switch a couple of seconds after it's just been on it will turn straight back off, you have to give it a minute or so for it to work, then it stays on for a bout 5 - 10 seconds. Quite keen to get it sorted as when leaving work, i have to reverse out of a driveway, in the dark, with no reverse lights, in a bit of a tight spot, which was a bit of a challenge when it wasn't dark or foggy or icey.
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I will look at the wiring diagram tonight and see how i could go about it and what will be needed. Would be nice to keep the existing switch in place. 
