E30 Zone

Im having some agro getting the rear wiper and washer bottle to work on my touring. when i press the buttons nothing happens with either of them, no noise or nothing. is there a special relay or fuse hidden somewere?

The fault can lie in a variety of places, but if neither of the two buttons are working I'd hazard that the motor has rusted up. All the info is out there to fix it if you use the search button

cheers mate

Does the switch work?

i have no idea! it lights up thats all i know im sure iv got one somewere il have to h try it

If the switch lights up when you push it, then the relay (K9) and fuse (26) are both OK.
Pull out the switch, unplug it, and link the brown wire on pin 2 to the brown/black on pin 8 with a short piece of wire, and the ignition on.
This should make the washer work.
Find the rear wiper control module in the LH boot side compartment, unplug it, and link the black/yellow wire on 53 to the purple/red wire on R, with the ignition on.
This should make the wiper motor work.

thanks Brian il try that in a bit

if you need a motor i have one £25 posted

i have got the water jets working but the fuse blows when i try the method for the motor. i think its kaput tbh town325i il contact you when iv got the money as i wanted that airfbox aswell

Take the cover plate of of the gearbox, and see what things are like in there. The screenwash water goes through a small rubber seal between the fixed and moving parts of the spindle, which can leak and fill the gearbox.

Brianmoooore wrote:If the switch lights up when you push it, then the relay (K9) and fuse (26) are both OK.
Pull out the switch, unplug it, and link the brown wire on pin 2 to the brown/black on pin 8 with a short piece of wire, and the ignition on.
This should make the washer work.
Find the rear wiper control module in the LH boot side compartment, unplug it, and link the black/yellow wire on 53 to the purple/red wire on R, with the ignition on.
This should make the wiper motor work.

After a bit more help on diagnosing my rear wiper problems.

Starting with the switch, Only the wiper switch lights up when pushed, but both light up with headlights on. I bypassed the switch as described and the washer works. Does this just need a new switch or can it be repaired?

Regarding the rear wiper control module, my wires/numbers don't match up with what is described above! I've taken some pictures of what I found...





Can anyone help me identify what wires to connect to test the wiper motor?

Cheers!

Brianmoooore wrote:If the switch lights up when you push it, then the relay (K9) and fuse (26) are both OK.
Pull out the switch, unplug it, and link the brown wire on pin 2 to the brown/black on pin 8 with a short piece of wire, and the ignition on.
This should make the washer work.
Find the rear wiper control module in the LH boot side compartment, unplug it, and link the black/yellow wire on 53 to the purple/red wire on R, with the ignition on.
This should make the wiper motor work.

After a bit more help on diagnosing my rear wiper problems.

Starting with the switch, Only the wiper switch lights up when pushed, but both light up with headlights on.

That's as it should be.

I bypassed the switch as described and the washer works. Does this just need a new switch or can it be repaired?

This is not testing just the switch, and the switch is unlikely to be faulty. What is the problem you are having?

Regarding the rear wiper control module, my wires/numbers don't match up with what is described above! I've taken some pictures of what I found...





Can anyone help me identify what wires to connect to test the wiper motor?

Cheers!

That's because you've found the lamp filament check module! Keep looking for the wiper module.

Right, thanks to another excellent post from Brian that I've just found out that the module in the pic is the lamp check module and not the one for the wiper!

Will get back out there tomorrow when it's light.

LOL @ Brian! I found a post from you back in December last year that's explained it!

The exact problem is that I have no wash or wiper from the switch. It has worked, but died a few weeks ago. Before it died, I had the problem of it parking in random places and also working of it's own accord when the switch wasn't pressed.

Test from the other end: get the plastic panel off the inside of the tailgate, and you'll easily see the motor housing. It has a simple plug (four wires) going to it. Pull out that plug, note which one is the brown wire (earth) and connect a test lamp or multimeter across the brown and one of the other wires.

Now press the button, and look to see if the test light/meter is showing anything. If you get a positive result, you know that everything except the wiper motor is ok.

As I don't have a multimeter (and can't find my soldering iron!) I've just tested the wiper module as per Brian's instructions, I can hear a click when I cross the pins but no wiper motor.

Is it worth me rebuilding the wiper motor?

Hello there
I had this prob a few months ago....the light on the wash/wipe switch was glowing but not doin much(no noise etc,)! I took a chance and bought a new motor (found on side of rear washer bottle) and totally resolved problem!! Hope this helps, Mike

5six7eight wrote:Is it worth me rebuilding the wiper motor?

It's worth taking it off the car and testing it directly, even if this means giving it a brief 12V across the terminals to see if the motor kicks.

It's a very simple unit to unmount (three bolts on the inside of the tailgate, and the nut holding on the wiper arm) and there's 8 screws holding the back cover on, giving access to the gearbox. It'll be filled with 20-year-old grease, so it's a messy job, but if you can get the gears inside turning then it's probably salvageable.

I'm going to take it out and have a go over a few evenings this week. Will keep me out of trouble. Still need some ideas on how to fix the washer though?

the washer is dependant on the motor; as the wiper arm sweeps, it opens and closes the circuit to the washer (so that you're only spraying water on the upstroke of the wiper, not the downstroke... or is it the other way around?) If the wiper is jammed, then the washer pump circuit won't work either.

You should be able to test the pump; it's only got two terminals on it, so a quick jolt from a 12V battery will let you know if it still spins or not.

The pump is good, I tried it using Brian's method.

I'm planning on taking a few pictures of the motor as I take it apart, hopefully they will be of use to someone else in the future.

5six7eight wrote:The pump is good, I tried it using Brian's method.

This bypassed both the switch on the dash, and the switch inside the motor gearbox. Of the two, by far the most likely to be the problem is the one in the gearbox, which is often a rusty mess as a result of screenwash water leaking into the gearbox via a failed O ring on the back cover.
Easiest way around this is simply to bypass the switch. The only downside is that you will use twice as much rear screenwash as you should.

Brianmoooore wrote:

5six7eight wrote:The pump is good, I tried it using Brian's method.

This bypassed both the switch on the dash, and the switch inside the motor gearbox. Of the two, by far the most likely to be the problem is the one in the gearbox, which is often a rusty mess as a result of screenwash water leaking into the gearbox via a failed O ring on the back cover.
Easiest way around this is simply to bypass the switch. The only downside is that you will use twice as much rear screenwash as you should.

Thanks Brian. I'll see how the motor rebuild goes and what I find in there. I can live with using up a bit more screen wash if need be.

Sorry to butt in, but I have the opposite problem - the rear wiper works (on either button IIRC) but there's no sign of life from the washer pump. I don't even get the Dog Shower effect I had in my old touring due to a split pipe. Are there any funky multimeter/12V tests I can do to narrow things down?

Did you try Brians method of connecting two of the pins by the switch? IIRC, this will prove the pump works (or not!)

"Pull out the switch, unplug it, and link the brown wire on pin 2 to the brown/black on pin 8 with a short piece of wire, and the ignition on. "

Damn, that's the one isn't it. Thanks!
I'll give it a go.

Brianmoooore wrote: Of the two, by far the most likely to be the problem is the one in the gearbox, which is often a rusty mess as a result of screenwash water leaking into the gearbox via a failed O ring on the back cover.

I managed to fix the failed o-ring problem by using a piece from a tight fitting drinking straw on the shaft where it sits in the 0-ring it added enough diameter to seal the o-ring but still allowing everything to work as it should.

I know it sounds like a bodge but there is no way to replace the o-ring. This worked twice too I bought a replacement from Ebay with the same problem as the micro-switch in my original had died.