henry Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 Can anyone tell me how to repair my windscreen wipers. Instead of returning to the bottom of the screen when turned off, they have discovered a good ploy to irritate 'her' is to sit at a vertical angle, any help would be most welcome regards Henry (lol) *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W3526602 Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Hi, Do they park properly if nudged? I believe wipers are switched thru the earth return. A system inside the motor keeps it earthed after its switched off, until it reaches the park position where it finds a gap in the earth return, so stops. Yonks ago, the gap in the earth was located in the gearbox cover, and that could be rotated. Sorry, I don't know how they do it now. 602 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Git Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Not sure I can help much either Henry - but let's try anyway, though it will be a bit difficult to describe. As far as the failing memory can recall, the system referred to by W3526602 was a semi-circular electrical contact under the lid of the wiper motor body. It was not continuous, but had a narrow insulated gap which a sliding contact would jump on each return of the wiper blades. While the wipers were switched on the last bit of the contact strip was "live" so the motor kept running and the blades set off on another wipe. When the wipers were switched off, the last bit of the strip was "dead" so the motor came to a stop. After a lot of use some of the copper could be worn away and smeared across the narrow insulated segment of the contact strip, so that the last bit of the strip remained "live" even when the motor was switched off. (It's obviously not as simple as that, but if I do remember correctly this was the cause of a similar problem I had many moons ago.) The remedy was to take a sharp blade and carefully scrape clean the narrow insulated strip to remove the copper debris which was bridging the gap and making an unwanted electrical contact. I doubt if wipers still work on this mechanism, but if you are desperate and have an hour to spare it might be worth having a look inside your wiper motor. Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry Posted August 15, 2007 Author Share Posted August 15, 2007 Hi both, No they don't park properly even with a good shove, so will try cleaning (after finding) the copper. Failing that, it is good old Desira! Regards henry :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philman Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Hi Henry, have you tried taking them off the splines and repositioning them where you would like them to stop? Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Philman - 2007-08-15 10:50 PM Hi Henry, have you tried taking them off the splines and repositioning them where you would like them to stop? Phil. This will not work, as we can assumm there is not actually a problem with the swept area. It is most likely a problem as mentioned with he contact strip for self parking, however I would suspect it is more likely the contact wiper rather than the strip is worn, If very old then what can happen is the grease in the contact area becomes hard and insulates the strip. However 1st decide if there is any self parking action at all, even to the vertical position you mentioned so you can establish all connections to the motor and wiper switch are sound. Jon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Git Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Glad you agree Brambles. It's years since I had a wiper motor to bits, and I really can't remember what I did in precise detail. Perhaps it's a combination of hardened grease impregnated with copper dust? Shall be interested to hear from Henry the result of some judicious scraping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W3526602 Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 Hi, Could it be that there are two dead areas on the earthing thingy? Does a quick "on and off" move the arms to where you want them? Depending on the age and value of the vehicle, against the cost/difficulty of replacing or repairing the motor, I might be temped to bodge things so that everything stops when I switch off, so I can control where the blades park. Or is self-parking a MOT requirement now? My Ducato wipers would stop in mid-screen it the glass wasn't wet enough. I would have to stop and give them a nudge to get them moving again. But if I parked up for a spell (to walk the dog) they were often OK by the time I turned the ignition on again. ?????? 602 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry Posted August 17, 2007 Author Share Posted August 17, 2007 Hi All, Quick update, I phoned a nice helpful chap at Desira who arees that it is a contact problem within the wier motor, somewhere in there is a bit that needs a bit of a clean if i don't find said dirty bit i cough up £150.00 for a new wiper motor, you can imagine that a diligent search is going to take place! I shall update with progress and answer in case this happens to another unfortunate! Regards Henry :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Hi Henry, assuming yours is a Fiat 'van then I'd suggest you check the wiper control relay, I think its usually mounted on the bulkhead at the rear of the engine bay, slightly to the right of centre (as you look from the front). Also worth checking is the self parking feed. Contrary to what 602 has told you they are not switched through the earth. Instead there is, or at least should be, a separate ignition controlled feed that should always be live with the ignition on. This goes via the switch in the gearbox as described by others and if the main operating power is taken away, as in when you switch the wipers off then this feed keeps the motor running until the switch on the gearbox opens. With the ignition on test with a voltmeter that at least one of the wires to the motor is live, if not then there's your problem. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W3526602 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Hi Dave, I won't argue. Seems a similar idea...motor remains live until an internal switch opens. 602 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry Posted August 20, 2007 Author Share Posted August 20, 2007 HELLO ALL, I have checked for power at the motor which was ok, I then folowed the wires back to 2 relays a big one and a small one ! Removed them both put both back in position and hey presto, the wipers work and park where they should do.NB the smaller of the 2 relays must be the park. Thanks as always for all your input. Let us hope that they stay working for a long time to come regards henry (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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