Wipers stop in random places - relay and park switch done

[taylormj4]

Hi all,
My wipers stop in random places on the screen when using the single wipe (push up and release) function or on intermittent.
I have replaced the wiper park switch and the relay.
Wiper motor is fine.

The fault is intermittent itself, some days it works fine. When it doesn't the wiper stop position is completely random.

Any ideas ?

Matt

[haircutmike]

Disconnect multipin plug at wiper motor, clean up, spray with contact cleaner and reconnect, job done.

Cured mine 3 years ago!

[MPETT]

I had this on an old e30 BMW. The copper tracks that contacts points rotated round and indicate the parked position had corroded/wore out. Needed a replacement part to fix. Not sure if yours has the same sort of internals?

[taylormj4]

Thanks chaps,
both sound like possible reasons for this, looks like another strip down will be necessary, and I'd fully stripped, cleaned and regreased the gearbox and everything too.
That's what you get for doing a top job. If I'd just swapped the park switch and left it all dirty and just slammed it all back in, it'd probably have worked fine !
Cheers.

[taylormj4]

spend said:

You can screw up putting the park switch back in if not careful. Yet if your wipers are parking ok in normal use its more likely a problem with the wiring or timer relay.

Hi Spend,
Could you describe possible screw ups so that I can check I haven't done any of these. Sounds like you've learnt from experience ? Always the best way.
Cheers, Matt

[taylormj4]

spend said:

Not had a problem personally, but there have been reports on here of not pushing the switch home, terminals bent / popping out... as well as incorrect timer relays fitted. Over time quite a catalogue of cock-ups has been recorded on these pages, Daz is not alone Frequently when it comes to electrics folks chuck their brains out of the window and willy-nilly problem solving takes over.

All that I'd say is that personally I'd always remove the motor from the car to fit the switch, much easier to see what you are doing. I've replaced the terminals in the loom connector twice now, once for service and second time as it was easier to feed cable through the grommet when replacing the heat shields. My 'old' car only really suffered from the connector/switch corroding which I fixed and made modifications to drainage + sealing to prevent future problems (>6years ago..).

Hi Spend,
I did remove the whole motor from the car, complete with gearbox, for the same reasons.
Stripped the whole gearbox. Some of the contacts did look a tad corroded. Have pics somewhere, will stick them on tonight if I get the chance. The other odd thing is that the wipe area seems to have increased. The wipers now pretty much leave the screen on the passenger side but still go all the way across on the drivers side, so no room for adjustment. Need to determine if these two faults are related ?
Matt

[taylormj4]

spend said:

That sounds like its just how the arms have been (re)placed on the spindles, eg passenger arm needs shifting a tad anti-clockwise?

Check the park et al works fine before reconnecting the linkage? Done & said all it's just a crank that throws out/in, with a divot in for the park switch The cable, glands & spindles wearing are far scarier due to the access available (not) on TVR's.

Yes, I'd heard about the cutting holes in bodywork access method. Sounds painful.

[SILICONE KID]

How do you take the unit out.I tried removing the nut .Its stops just as it returning back .Mine works fine when its raining hard using the wiper washer or by lifting the wipers off the screen.Where is the relay .Mine is positioned on the N/S inner wing

Edited by SILICONE KID on Tuesday 29th March 12:34

[taylormj4]

SILICONE KID said:

How do you take the unit out.I tried removing the nut .Its stops just as it returning back .Mine works fine when its raining hard using the wiper washer or by lifting the wipers off the screen.Where is the relay .Mine is positioned on the N/S inner wing

Edited by SILICONE KID on Tuesday 29th March 12:34

I undid the nut and then pulled the motor/gearbox across the wing whilst pushing the wipersacross to the driver's side to let the cable out. Then open the gearbox and disconnect the cable from the gearbox. I have pics at home, will post tonight for you if you like.
The delay relay is fitted in the fuse panel.