Headlight washer system, help please

Wed Dec 14, 2011 5:52 pm

Hi, ive had my first e30 for about 2 week now and its my daily run about / project. Its an 325I SE 4 door if that makes a difference? The light wash wipe system wasn't working so i had a look today, found a split pipe and washer motor wasn't plugged in so i did them too problems and now the jets work but the wipers don't? both motors are plugged in but i don't have a clue what wire does what to check the feed? any help much appreciated

Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:23 pm

It's very common for the output shafts of the wipers to seize in their spindles. The cure is to remove the motors, strip them down completely, clean then out, re grease and reassemble, fitting new rubber seals to the front of the output shafts. They'll be good for another twenty years then.
You say the headlamp washers now work? They are entirely controlled by one of the headlamp motors (the one with four wires), so with a wiper that doesn't move, the washers should either not work at all or work continuously.
Welcome to the zone, on behalf of the management, BTW.

Wed Dec 14, 2011 11:58 pm

Oh right I'll get them stripped down at the weekend, I did try move the wipers by hand and they are solid. Yeah the washers spray for about a minute when the windscreen washers are operated? Thank you for you help it's really appreciated. I'll post back if the problem percists. Thanks

Thu Dec 15, 2011 8:52 am

Hayden0 wrote:Yeah the washers spray for about a minute when the windscreen washers are operated?

This shouldn't happen. I wonder if someone's been rearranging the wiring?
Anyway, first thing to do is to rebuild the motors. They have internal overload protection, so won't have burnt out as a result of being powered up when seized.
When you've reassembled them, connect the brown wire to the negative of a 12 volt battery, and the black wire to the positive. Unless they are part way through a cycle, nothing should happen.
Touch the red wire onto the battery positive as well for about half a second, and the wiper should start up, complete its cycle of several wipes, then park itself.
The fourth wire on one of the motors is the feed to the washer pump, and should go live at the beginning of the sequence, then go dead after the first couple of wipes or so.