Advice Please - Freelander 2 Wipers Stuck On

Hello,
I recently purchased a 2009 Freelander 2 Td4e and found this great forum when searching for a solution to a problem with the wipers.

The Problem - On 2 occasions (so far!) the wipers would not turn off, even when the ignition was switched off and car locked. The only way to stop them was to pull the fuse. This has happened twice so far, and when I returned the fuse (after about 4 hours) they have stopped. At the moment they are working ok again, but I suspect the issue will recur, and would be grateful for any thoughts.

Additional information - The variable speed of the wipers never seemed to work as there was no change to the speed by adjusting it. The car has a rain sensor/auto wipers option, which seem to work fine as they are activating when they sense rain. However, when the wipers would not turn off, changing into the auto/rain setting made no difference and the wipers continued at a fast speed.

I appreciate that it is hard to diagnose 'over the internet' but would be grateful for any information that could help to rule out the 'simple' options first ........

Could a faulty relay cause these symptoms? I found the wiper relay in the engine fuse box, but is there another relay for the intermediate speeds and if so, could that be a cause of the symptoms (and where is it located!)

I have read a lot about the 'park' sensor causing wipers not to switch off, but as the wipers speed was not changing, could this still be the problem?

Would a bad earth prevent the wiper's speed to be altered?

Will this type of fault show up in a fault codes?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance,

Gary

HI Gary.
It could be a few causes Duff circuit in the park control relay, dampness in the wiper relay, remove relay and replace or dry out ?
There is a switch inside the wiper motor which tells to Central Junction Box (Body module) when the wipers have reached the park position. When they do, the power is cut.
Two things to check: for corrosion or damp ?
- wiper ON/OFF relay (R11, Battery Junction box)
- park position switch (pin 3 of the wiper motor)

hi, i had the same problem and was pointed in direction of relay, by a kind soul on here .relay was very warm so just banged it and it stopped .
been fine since, touch wood.been meaning to get replacement, but you know how it is.

Hello Arctic2 and Ian Mitchell,

Thank you both for the informative replies. The problem hasn't re-occurred, and at the time of it happening I wasn't sure which relay operated the wipers - I never thought of putting my hand across them all to see if any were hot !!
I have taken out the relay and no sign of corrosion or damp on the outside. I didn't have time to get to the wiper motor yet, but I will have a look tomorrow.

The car has a 3 month warranty, but I thought I would try the 'simple' options first so appreciate your advice - exactly what I was looking for. In case the problem doesn't come back and I can't find an obvious cause I have booked it into the garage for further investigation while still under the warranty. It will go in next week, and I will report back on the findings.

Many thanks,

Gary

Hello Folks,

Just giving an update - the car was in the garage today and they could not trace the problem. Also, nothing was showing in the error codes. The problem hasn't happened again, so it is going to be a case of waiting to see if it happens again.

Thanks for the replies and suggestions.

Gary

cheers for the update gary. mine hasnt either. hope it doesnt but you never know what will happen with a freelander.
anyway .
still wouldn"t swap it for a draughty old tratter.

ian mitchell said:

cheers for the update gary. mine hasnt either. hope it doesnt but you never know what will happen with a freelander.
anyway .
still wouldn"t swap it for a draughty old tratter.

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Hello, I have something similar with my 2007 Free2 that seems to be getting worse (is that a sign of something?)

The automatic rain sensor seem to only function irratically, but manually activating the wipers sometimes doesn't work at all.. small panick with the stalk in all directions and eventually the wipers work (usually full speed).

This is a very annoying fault, but my local garage just talks about replacing bits bit by bit without any real idea what is really causing the problem.

Has anyone else had this problem and fixed it? I image that it is the control block on the stalk, but want to be fairly sure before replacing an expensive part.

Cheers

Rouretan said:

Hello, I have something similar with my 2007 Free2 that seems to be getting worse (is that a sign of something?)

The automatic rain sensor seem to only function irratically, but manually activating the wipers sometimes doesn't work at all.. small panick with the stalk in all directions and eventually the wipers work (usually full speed).

This is a very annoying fault, but my local garage just talks about replacing bits bit by bit without any real idea what is really causing the problem.

Has anyone else had this problem and fixed it? I image that it is the control block on the stalk, but want to be fairly sure before replacing an expensive part.

Cheers

Click to expand...

t
hi.Rouretan.luckily my problem has not returned.so haven't had to look too much into it.
so.cant help you any further. but I'm sure somebody on here with some knowledge of the problem
will be along to help soon. mine did stop with tapping the relay.that was really warm though.
hope you get yours sorted ,electrical gremlins are so annoying.

Unusual for here had lot's of rain and my rear wiper came on on it's own and wouldn't turn off.
Somehow water got in the tailgate mechanism, perhaps the quality control people had a day off when mine was built !
I used the John cleese method of threatening with big stick or in my case large spikey cactus, been fine since.

Stuart hall said:

Unusual for here had lot's of rain and my rear wiper came on on it's own and wouldn't turn off.
Somehow water got in the tailgate mechanism, perhaps the quality control people had a day off when mine was built !
I used the John cleese method of threatening with big stick or in my case large spikey cactus, been fine since.

Click to expand...

My wiper has actually become worse as I have to fiddle with the stalk for about a minute before they will do anything now.

I asked my local bloke, who said that he could start changing bits: stalk, motor, control box... (he didn't inspire me with confidence).

I then asked LR the same question, and they started talking about diagnostics and investigations at €160/hour...

Has anyone had this problem before and can be a bit more sure about what needs replacing?

Rouretan said:

My wiper has actually become worse as I have to fiddle with the stalk for about a minute before they will do anything now.

I asked my local bloke, who said that he could start changing bits: stalk, motor, control box... (he didn't inspire me with confidence).

I then asked LR the same question, and they started talking about diagnostics and investigations at €160/hour...

Has anyone had this problem before and can be a bit more sure about what needs replacing?

Click to expand...

Did yer fix it or does yer still need help?

No, it is still the same..

I h Ave a 2010 Freelander, and the wipers have stayed on when switched off, and the key removed.
I took the fuse out to stop them, hoping the fault will be corrected by the morning, but would appreciate any advice.

I had the problem only once even with fob removed it was still working , so I removed relay
it was very hot, so tapped it with a spanner and replaced it. twelve months later and it still works.
oh s**t just tempted fate

When a Freelander 2 is switched oft there's some circuits still powered like the alarm. There are some others that switch oft after a bit, which may then stop the wipers working. Relay contacts stuck on are quite possible. It would be good if the next person who has this fault could remove the relay and measure the contacts to proove the normally open contact is stuck in the on position.

I will try and remember that if it happens again. cheers hippo.