Failed Front windscreen wipers 2003 TD5 90

Over a period of about two weeks the front wipers started to fail. First the self park stopped, then the intermittent wipe stopped and finally last Sunday they stopped altogether. The 15amp fuse had blown and a replacement blew when the washer press switch was operated. Another one blew when the wiper switch was moved to the Normal wipe mode. There has to be a short somewhere, but where? I have removed the wiper switch unit and it appears to be OK. Where do I go next please?

I've found the wipers to be the least reliable parts of my TD5.

Maybe there's a short somewhere, but another possibility is that something has jammed and the stationary motor is drawing too much current. I'd unplug the wiper motor (dismantle the dash on the passenger side - it's a lot of fiddling about, unfortunately) and try it again with a new fuse. If it still blows, then it's something to do with the switch or wiring. If not, I'd detach the motor from the wiper mechanism and plug it back in and see if it will run all by itself. If so, it must be the rack and wheel boxes that are jammed. If not, and it's still blowing fuses, it's a a motor fault, or maybe the park switch.

My rack (well actually it's a bit of wire with a spiral thing wrapped round it) jammed in one of the wheelboxes the other day and caused symptoms similar to what you describe.

Brown said:

I've found the wipers to be the least reliable parts of my TD5.

Maybe there's a short somewhere, but another possibility is that something has jammed and the stationary motor is drawing too much current. I'd unplug the wiper motor (dismantle the dash on the passenger side - it's a lot of fiddling about, unfortunately) and try it again with a new fuse. If it still blows, then it's something to do with the switch or wiring. If not, I'd detach the motor from the wiper mechanism and plug it back in and see if it will run all by itself. If so, it must be the rack and wheel boxes that are jammed. If not, and it's still blowing fuses, it's a a motor fault, or maybe the park switch.

My rack (well actually it's a bit of wire with a spiral thing wrapped round it) jammed in one of the wheelboxes the other day and caused symptoms similar to what you describe.

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Thanks for your reply. I've already dismantled half the drivers side dash to get at wiper switch so I might as well complete the task!!!! . Haynes has been quite helpful on the matter -so far!