Rear wiper not working

I have read the relevant threads. I have a Defender Tdi 90 300 1997 hardtop. When I bought it the seller told me the rear wiper worked occasionally. I looked at it and the drive shaft coming out of the motor was rusted solid, I couldn't move it. I bought a new motor and fitted it. It still doesn't work. The rear wash works OK so I think the round push/turn switch (part no. MUC1367) is not the problem. I checked the fuse which also feeds the indicators, fuel and temperature gauges and it is OK. I have had problems with the indicators failing and the gauges reading low but replaced the relay and they seem to be OK now. There is no relay for the rear wiper. I've checked the wiring loom inside the rear door and it looks OK. The wiring loom under the rear cross member looks OK. I cleaned the earth on the rear door. I don't know if the rear heated window works. There are no fuses behind the rear wash/wipe and cigar lighter panel.

I've run out of ideas. I suspect the wiring loom behind the fuse panel or in the chassis is damaged.

Any ideas or is it time to give up and book it in for testing ?

Hi Sofasurfer,

Rather than posting in the intro section again, why not post in the proper section for the 90?

In fact lets ask if @blue beasty can be nice and move it for you.

Ref the issue you have , have you checked for 12V at the motor when it should be getting it?

Cheers

Moved.

As above if you've not got a multi meter get one, you'll be able to test the switch and the wiring between the switch and the motor for less than the price of half an hour of a mechanics time.

Blue Beasty,

Thanks for moving the thread, I'm still trying to figure out the forum's workings. I had thought about a multi meter, I'll get one from Halfords

Check the wiring as it comes out of the chassis at the rear, I just brought another 90 and i couldn't get the pennant live in the back to work. Had a look under the rear and boom typical bodge job fix of twist and tape where it's failed at the rear loom

IIRC the rear wash/wipe is not a fail, only an advisory.

IamRobbie said:

Check the wiring as it comes out of the chassis at the rear, I just brought another 90 and i couldn't get the pennant live in the back to work. Had a look under the rear and boom typical bodge job fix of twist and tape where it's failed at the rear loom

Click to expand...

Iamrobbie,

Thanks, I crawled under the back, it had a new rear cross member, there was lots of tape and loose wires. I undid the tape but couldn't see any obvious problems. I had it treated with Dinitrol last year and that had made diagnosing wiring issues difficult, the loom looks like tree branches after a fire

Oldseadog said:

IIRC the rear wash/wipe is not a fail, only an advisory.

Click to expand...

Don't think it's even an advisory, certainly has never been on mine and I've not had mine working for years!

I know it's OK for the MOT but it's the only bit of the Defender that doesn't work properly. At the moment!
I should have left it alone. So far I've bought a new motor, rear wiper arm, rear door card and searching for a multi meter. However, I'm learning a lot

I bought a Fluke 101 as it had good reviews and did what I wanted. It arrived this morning and was faulty, couldn't do a continuity test or read the voltage of a new 1.5v battery, both sockets were dodgy. Could you recommend a basic meter for under £50?

Very strange,

Flukes are normally very good, I have one that has been faultless for years, Anyhow.
I have purchased as "car" meter, a cheapie £12 unit from Amazon that also does amps.
Multimeter, Crenova MS8233D

Works well.

Cheers

Neilly,

Just popped out and got one, it works. Hurrah!
I bought a Fluke because I was wary of the cheapy meters, how wrong can I be? Thank you

Neilly and Blue Beasty,

I printed out the circuit diagrams and used my multi meter to work from the dashboard switch back to the wiper motor and found a bad connection. Everything works. Hurrah. It took about 4 hours but saved me a garage bill. Thank you very much

Just about any solid-state multimeter would have done, although I still use the Fluke that I got as an apprentice, over 50 years ago!
Anyway pleased to hear your wiper works, and thanks for the update.

Oldseadog,

I think I was unlucky with the DOA Fluke, the eBay seller has agreed a refund so no problem

Got a similar issue here. Touch the rear wipe button & you can hear the delay relay clicking in the rear door. Seems to be power at most places so thinking possibly motor & delay relay change...

My rear wiper motor was rusted solid where water ran down inside the door, it obviously needed replacing. Check the plugs on the wiper wiring loom before you buy any spares. Got the refund on my duff multi meter yesterday, no problems

Sofasurfer said:

Oldseadog,

I think I was unlucky with the DOA Fluke, the eBay seller has agreed a refund so no problem

Click to expand...

They are almost bomb-proof, except that if you blow the internal fuse iit costs around £15 for a new one!!

The Fluke reviews did mention one or two that were DOA but I thought I would not be unlucky enough to get a duff one, that's why I don't bother with lottery tickets

it not working ,,,was a fluke