Check your heated mirrors

[jlex]

Just got the car out the other week from its winter hibernation. After taking a ride around, I noticed the outside (heated) rearview mirrors on my '85 Carrera were blazing. The day was warm & the defroster switch was off. Turns out they may have been blazing away for years whenever the ignition was on & no one knew it.
My natural suspicion was the relay in the engine compartment that controls the rear window defrost unit. Pulled it, but had no effect. Wiring diagram suggests the power may come directly through the dash switch. Until I have the time to pull the radio & fiddle with the switch, I just disconnected the wires that plug into the heater elements of the mirrors.
Moral: check your mirrors if they have this feature... you could be wasting volts or burning up the elements without knowing it.
regards,
jlex.