Ghost in the wipers?

Ghost in the wipers?

Author
Discussion

Thunder Road

Original Poster:

24 posts

110 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
quotequote all
A little bit of light rain yesterday and the wipers on my '06 V8V came on automatically. Only two issues with this; 1) the vehicle doesn't have rain sensing wipers, 2) I was in the kitchen at the time, looking out onto the drive.

The car was locked, the key was in the house, and when I got into the car the wiper stalk was in the off position. I turned the ignition on and switched the wipers on and off, which stopped them going, but I suspected it wasn't the end of the problem. I was right...

This morning I went out to the car and the wipers were stationary in the up position - they'd obviously decided to do their own thing, again. They now won't budge, despite trying every combination of ignition on/off, wipers on/off, holding down 8-2 and 6-2 on the stack, but they still won't restore. Has anyone experienced anything like this before? What would cause the wipers to go off spontaneously in a locked, parked car? Any suggested fixes, or am I likely to be looking at a burned out wiper motor?

Any help appreciated, thanks.

Jon39

12,782 posts

142 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
quotequote all

Sounds as though this could be included in a magic act.

My only suggestion is to press that 'electrical equipment reduction button', near the fusebox, before locking your car. See if the wipers operate on their own then.


Thunder Road

Original Poster:

24 posts

110 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
quotequote all
Do you mean the battery disconnect button in the boot? Tried that, then reconnected via the button behind the driver's seat, but still no joy.

abanks

118 posts

95 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
quotequote all
I would suggest you get the battery voltage checked. I have heard of this in Jaguar XK's caused by low voltage battery.

Thunder Road

Original Poster:

24 posts

110 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
quotequote all
I'll give that a try, although all the other electrics appear to be working okay. It's a low mileage car and usually plugged in to a CTEK battery conditioner when not in use, although I haven't hooked it up for a few weeks as it's been on a couple of long runs recently.

I've connected it up again and will see what happens once it's fully charged.

Thunder Road

Original Poster:

24 posts

110 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
quotequote all
Still no luck. Left the car on charge all day, just took it for a long run. Thankfully it didn't rain as the wipers refuse to shift from the vertical position.

Any other ideas welcome...

abanks

118 posts

95 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
quotequote all
Sounds like you may have a stuck relay. Need to find the relay that controls the wipers and pull it. That may reset it or if it's faulty replace it.

Thunder Road

Original Poster:

24 posts

110 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
quotequote all
I thought I might have found the problem - checked fuses 32 & 33 (slow and fast wiper motors) and both had blown. Replaced them, but the wipers are still dead. D'oh!

Excuse my ignorance, but will I find the relay?

steveatesh

4,893 posts

163 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
quotequote all
Thunder Road said:
I thought I might have found the problem - checked fuses 32 & 33 (slow and fast wiper motors) and both had blown. Replaced them, but the wipers are still dead. D'oh!

Excuse my ignorance, but will I find the relay?
I've only experienced a wiper failure once (on a Mercedes) and it was the nut holding the wiper mechanism to the motor shaft that had come loose, locking the whole thing at the same time (don't ask me how, it was just the prelude to a frightening 45 minutes stuck on a motorway hard shoulder with no escape boundary because of where it was).

So maybe that or maybe a failed motor. Or of course a relay failure.

How about a local auto electrician to find out?

agaton12

33 posts

101 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
quotequote all
Have you checked if the new fuses you put in have also blown?
If the fuse blows the relays are working.

abanks

118 posts

95 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
quotequote all
Just looked in workshop manual. Wiper motor relay is R4 located in Engine compartment fuse box. Pull it out give it a little tap to release it and put it back. If it's faulty try a replacement.
Good Luck

Thunder Road

Original Poster:

24 posts

110 months

Monday 2nd May 2016
quotequote all
The new fuses haven't blown, so tried replacing the relay. Still nothing, so I can only assume that it's the wiper motor that's gone, unless anyone has any other ideas?

What remains a mystery is why the wipers would just go off in a parked, locked vehicle. Bizarre.

abanks

118 posts

95 months

Monday 2nd May 2016
quotequote all
Just a thought, did you close the bonnet when you tried them, they are disabled when the bonnet is open to avoid contact ? Also what MY is your car, I think post 2006 they have a wiper service position. Maybe they are stuck in service mode.

Thunder Road

Original Poster:

24 posts

110 months

Monday 2nd May 2016
quotequote all
Yep, I closed the bonnet each time I changed the fuses and replaced the relay. If the wipers are stuck in the service position they should restore when I hold down 6 & 2 on the stack, but no joy.

It looks like a trip to my friendly local mechanic first thing - hopefully it won't rain. If I take it to my AM dealer I'm sure they'll tell me it needs a new wiper motor (c£700) and possibly a replacement linkage. Chuck in a few hours labour and I'm probably looking at a £1,500 bill.

rickyf1

43 posts

116 months

Monday 2nd May 2016
quotequote all
same happened to me a few years ago - went out in the morning to find the wipers running even though the car was locked...turned out to be water in the fuse box. Fuse box replaced under extended warranty.

Thunder Road

Original Poster:

24 posts

110 months

Monday 2nd May 2016
quotequote all
At last! Someone who's experienced the same problem.

I haven't noticed any water damage in the fuse box, but I'll get it checked out when it goes into the workshop tomorrow. Thanks.

abanks

118 posts

95 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
quotequote all
Any news on the diagnosis ?

Thunder Road

Original Poster:

24 posts

110 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
quotequote all
Not yet, although the situation got more comical (if I can call it that, considering the potential expense).

On Tuesday morning I was running it down to my friendly local garage when the headlamp washers decided to activate, purely of their own accord. Cue foamy detergent being sprayed all over the bonnet and windscreen, obliterating my view of the road - the wipers still being stuck. To make matters worse I was driving past a school at the time, with dozens of children and parents crossing the road. I had no choice but to stop the car and wait for the washer reservoir to empty itself before cleaning the screen and continuing on my merry way.

When I explained the problem to the independent technician he just shook his head and admitted that he wouldn't know where to start. He could replace parts bit by bit with no guarantee of pinning down the problem and the certainty that Aston Martin wouldn't give him any help.

So, off to my franchised dealer who took it in on Tuesday afternoon. Still no word from them, which is par for the course, but still not the level of service you'd expect. I'll give them a call this afternoon and update later.

Thunder Road

Original Poster:

24 posts

110 months

Monday 16th May 2016
quotequote all
An update, for anyone who's interested.

The car has been with the main dealer for almost two weeks now and they have diagnosed that it needs a new wiper motor. Even with my limited knowledge I could have worked that one out, but of greater concern is that replacing it is simply addressing the symptom, not the cause of the original problem, which still seems to elude them.

As replacing the wiper motor is not cheap (the part is £665 but nine hours labour to fit brings it up to c£2,300) I will insist that if the fault reoccurs and the motor burns out again, it should be replaced at the dealer's cost as they didn't rectify the original fault. Reasonable I think?

Another issue that troubles me is that the Vehicle Health Check they've just sent me reports that the oil level is on minimum and the car needs either an oil service or at least a two litre top-up. This I find surprising as the car has covered no more than a few hundred miles since the same dealer carried out a full annual service, including complete oil replacement, earlier this year. The car has no visible leak - there is no spotting on the garage floor where it is kept overnight.

Does anyone have any ideas of what could have happened here? Surely the best part of half a gallon of oil can't have just evaporated into thin air.

Thanks.

BravoV8V

1,858 posts

173 months

Monday 16th May 2016
quotequote all
£2300???!?

Personally, I'd be looking for a second opinion (from a reputable independent). It also sounds like they didn't put in enough oil the last time. (Incidentally, have you had a look at the dipstick yourself?)