Wiper Problems

Hey guys,

Thanks for all you replies to my first post and advice in relation to a few niggling problems I was having.

Today I took her out to drop my wife off at her works Xmas do and everyhting was perfect. She started up first time after 2 weeks in the garage and had no issues. She (the car) then complained of wanting fuel so I did the dues and put £83 of unleaded in her.

I drove off the forecourt in the pi**%ng rain and the front wipers stop dead. I can hear the motor completing its normal cycle but the wipers won't move. They do if I manually move them.

Can I please have some help on what to do as its 4 degrees and raining outside and I have my wife to collect tonight at some point.

Looks like I may have to use her Clio if I cannot fix it tonight!

Please, please help me on this one!!

At least I have a curry to cheer myself up in the meantime!

Right then an update into what I have managed to achieve so far in the rain and wind.

I took everything apart and tightened the screw where the arms move. This then enabled the arms to move freely so I put the wipers on without the plastic bit to see if it had in fact cured the problem.

It did to a certain degree. The wipers will clear the screen fully but they seem to turn towards the bonnet first, before doing a wipe cycle and stopping in the middle of the screen.

I have taken a photo to show.

For tonight I have given up as I am now soaking wet and in limited light did what I could as a temp fix.

Please post some replies.

Thanks

Will it not cure it if you remove the wiper arms without moving the spindles and putting the wipers back in their parked position ?

Hi v8kenny

I have tried this as best I could out in the rain. Once set in a normal position, if I switch them on, they will move towards the bonnet first before moving to clear the screen. If switched off they come to rest in the mid position as the photo shows.

Then if they go on again, they move towards the bonnet and back. I don't know what to try next.

Is there any reason for them to move to the bonnet first? I thought they should clear the screen first, then rest there!!

It's all in the timing

So do I continue in the morning and keep fiddling with the position bustersbus?

stefan.nadiya said:

So do I continue in the morning and keep fiddling with the position bustersbus?

Click to expand...

Sniggger

fnarr fnarr.

stefan.nadiya said:

So do I continue in the morning and keep fiddling with the position bustersbus?

Click to expand...

Ye know what they say.... the more ye play with it, the better ye become
TBH, ye just get a feeling when tae flick it off at the right time

Ha Ha!!! Seriously guys ....... ........do I just keep messing about and eventually I will get it set right or do I need to replace the motor??

stefan.nadiya said:

Ha Ha!!! Seriously guys ....... ........do I just keep messing about and eventually I will get it set right or do I need to replace the motor??

Click to expand...

My wipers were hit and miss tae start with, but then it is a defender, and they've never stopped where they should've. So like ah said, it's all in the timing and ye get tae know when the wipers are at a certain position when tae flick them off

stefan.nadiya said:

Ha Ha!!! Seriously guys ....... ........do I just keep messing about and eventually I will get it set right or do I need to replace the motor??

Click to expand...

Aye your best bet is to try try and try again, you'll get there, unless anybody knows a better way.

I have tried an taken everything apart and had a look at the motor. Whatever I do it always turns about 1/4 towards the bonnet when first switched on. Does this mean my motor needs replacing?

The linkage arm /bracket from rack to the motor is out of sync.

Only you can see by how much.

Is it a park switch problem? I believe they are adjustable, but don't ask me how.

The fact that the wipers move at all probably means that the motor is OK
As already said the linkages have moved/slipped somewhere or are out of sinc. - look for shiny bits on the arms/brackets to show new movement anywhere
Are the splines for the wiper arms/ spindles ok or are they very worn looking ?

I am taking the car up to my dads tomorrow evening as his garage has a lot more room in it to work in, more tools than me, plus better light and warmth!!

What are the 'splines' mentioned in the last post?

I can't see anything until I remove the cover on top of the motor with a very large spanner that I don't have so will update you guys how I get on late tomorrow evening.

From speaking to my dad today he sugegsted they were out of sync too and upon his ideas he thinks about 30mins work or so. Does this sound about right?

Thank You all for your sugegstions in the meantime.

Once you have access to the motor it,s a ten minute job.
Take the wiper arms off,switch the wipers on and then off so as they are in the park position.The link arm between the motor and the rack should be at
90 degrees or in a horizontal plane (in line with the rack)
tighten up the nut ,and swich on the wipers,and watch where they stop.
If you are not sure put the nearside one on and pull the blade rubber away from
the screen so if it does go past it won't hit the bonnet.Watch and see
the position it stops in and if necessary adjust.To adjust it means undoing the nut and moving the linkage arm.Its not difficult. I,ve just put a Disco
one in my Range Rover.
When you've done it you'll wonder what the dilema was all about.

Well after the initial panic I have managed to fix it with the help of my dad. All in all it took about 15 minutes of fiddling about with the arms to adjust them to the proper park position. Once these arms were in place I tightened the nut and adjusted the blades to suit. Now I can drive in the rain! The longest job was putting the plastics back at the bottom of the screen and screwing it all together with the 20 or so screws!!

Only a few bulbs on the dash to change and the dreaded blend motors and I'm pretty much sorted.

Thank You all for your input on helping me get sorted after panicking!!