Ghost in the wipers?
Discussion
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.
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.
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.
I've connected it up again and will see what happens once it's fully charged.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
My trusted local independent was the first place I went to. He was honest enough to admit that he didn't feel confident in tackling the issue and that he expected he would get no help from AM.
The bulk of the cost is nine hours labour because of the position of the wiper motor. At main dealer rates of £180ph it was never going to be cheap.
Having challenged them on the oil, they have since come back and said they got the reading wrong and that it only needs about half a litre, which they will top up for free. I'm sure they can afford to.
The bulk of the cost is nine hours labour because of the position of the wiper motor. At main dealer rates of £180ph it was never going to be cheap.
Having challenged them on the oil, they have since come back and said they got the reading wrong and that it only needs about half a litre, which they will top up for free. I'm sure they can afford to.
The latest:
Vehicle returned from the dealer on Friday. Firstly they had to replace the wiper motor. Once this was done the engine fault light came on, which was traced back to a faulty accelerator pedal. New pedal and sensor assembly fitted. The headlamp wash pump then played up (replaced) followed by a problem with the horn.
The common denominator with all of these problems is that the components are controlled through the engine bay fuse box. the technician's best guess was that water must have got in somehow - they are not watertight. So, a new fuse box fitted.
All well and good, but just returned from a short drive and I have two error messages "DCS Service Required" and "Traction Control Temporarily Off". From reading previous threads these seem like common problems. Hopefully the dealer will just have to reset after running a diagnostic.
Hopefully!
Vehicle returned from the dealer on Friday. Firstly they had to replace the wiper motor. Once this was done the engine fault light came on, which was traced back to a faulty accelerator pedal. New pedal and sensor assembly fitted. The headlamp wash pump then played up (replaced) followed by a problem with the horn.
The common denominator with all of these problems is that the components are controlled through the engine bay fuse box. the technician's best guess was that water must have got in somehow - they are not watertight. So, a new fuse box fitted.
All well and good, but just returned from a short drive and I have two error messages "DCS Service Required" and "Traction Control Temporarily Off". From reading previous threads these seem like common problems. Hopefully the dealer will just have to reset after running a diagnostic.
Hopefully!
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