Wipers parking randomly

[TV8]

The wipers have stopped parking correctly on the intermittent setting. They stop all over the place, both when switched off and whilst in use. Full settings seem fine.

This all started whilst on a very wet weekend away in Europe and I wondered if it was water in the electrics somewhere as its was the worst rain the car has probably ever seen and it was in it for hours! Until yesterday, when I needed to clean the screen and it happened again.

Is this likely to be the switch or a relay issue?

Any suggestin appreciated.

Thanks

[phillpot]

I'd put my money on it being the park switch, it's attached to the wiper motor in just the right place to sit in a puddle of water.

[davetripletvr]

i would say the park switch, happened on mine. Easy enough to replace it

[N7GTX]

Disconnect the plug from under the motor and spray it with WD40 to drive out any water. If still the same then as above, the park switch.

http://tvr-parts.com/tvr-parts/part-details/tvr-m0...

[TV8]

Thanks everyone. Will give it a try and let you know how it goes!

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

We need to know which type of windscreen wipers you've got. Some time around 1998/1999 the design changed completely, and the suggestion that it's the park switch sitting in water becomes completely incorrect.

Is your wiper motor in the rear-left corner of the engine bay (as it is on earlier cars), or do you have an empty corner there (as I do on a 1999 car)? If yours is the later design then everything is inside the cabin, just above the driver's knees - and it's very unlikely to be water-related.

On my 1999 car, I have had problems with random parking. It turned out to be the fuse for the wiper park and brake lights circuit. On my car, it's a 20A fuse, fourth from the right if I remember correctly - but yours may be different. Of course, if that fuse has gone then you also have no brake lights!

So my recommendation is to forget the park switch if your car has the later wiper design with the motor inside the cabin just forward of the steering column. Instead, check that fuse first before spending money on anything else.

On the other hand, if yours has the earlier design with the motor in the rear corner of the engine bay, then yes - the park switch is a very likely candidate.

[N7GTX]

If it is the earlier one (profile shows a 98) then they do sit in water. The actual motor casing filled up during a thunderstorm and the wipers started doing silly things. Once home, a quick dismantle, drain off, copious amounts of WD40 to drive out any resdiual water and reassemble using some silicone sealer between the end cap and the housing. Still going strong over 12 months later.

[TV8]

It does have a wiper motor on the right hand side. I will have a look tonight. Seems like an easy test....

Thanks

[Bassfiendnoideawhathp]

TV8 said:

It does have a wiper motor on the right hand side. I will have a look tonight. Seems like an easy test....

Thanks

In this case I think you should regard park switches as a disposable/service item - mine lives outside so I guess it gets it worse than a garaged car but I reckon I've changed mine every couple of years.

Phil

[TV8]

I have a tiny garage and have parked it to close to the wall on the passenger side to get a proper look but said item looks relatively dirty compared with other bits under the bonnet, so a clean up or replacement should sort it which is great news.

Thanks everyone

[TV8]

Got to spend some time under the bonnet sorting a couple of things today and the wipers are now working properly! The female connectors into the park switch seemed worse than the male connectors on the switch itself. Hopefully, it will be fine in future.

THanks everyone

[QBee]

TV8 said:

..........The female connectors ........ seemed worse than the male.
Hopefully, it will be fine in future.

Who are you kidding?
That's just the normal story of married life......
I can assure you, after 40 years of same, it definitely doesn't get any better, especially in the connector department.....

[TV8]

Normal story of married life.... last night Mrs B talked about us arranging a party net year for our 25th wedding anniversary. We talked about not having it bank holiday weekend as so many people are away. Prompted by someone elses anniversary pics on Facebook this morning, I realised that I have forgotten about our anniversary...again! So far, I have got away with it!

[QBee]

I am forever safe there.......

Wife 2.0 (let's call her "Lorraine", as all wives of TVR owners of a certain age seem to be called Lorraine) managed to forget our anniversary.....our FIRST anniversary!!
Her face when she saw the card and flowers on the breakfast table is a memory I will always treasure. Not that I remind her.....

Less good was my 60th birthday. Her Dad was staying the previous week. My birthday was 24th of the month, our granddaughter's 25th, our daughter's 27th. Guess which day she decided I should take her Dad back home, on my own, the 350 mile round trip to South Wales? You guessed. Now I always book a trackday on my birthday. Then if she suggests something similar I simply say "sorry, I've got a trackday booked that day".

[TV8]

well, bit of an up-date..

I took the car out over the weekend and whilst enjoying the effortless power, noise and fun encountered a very localised flood and hit it at enough speed to have splashes of water come over the top of the windscreen!!!!

Neither car nor driver enjoyed this and the wipers, which have been used even less than the car lately, are back on sulk mode - cleaning clearly wasn't enough, so new part on order.

Interesting to read this post as I have just literally booked the 25th wedding anniversary party, so clearly becoming more organised...