E30 Zone

I know this subject has been discussed a million time on here but I need to work out what's causing the wipers on my E30 to not function correctly.

Intermittent makes them wipe on the constant setting and if you push the stalk down it doesn't do a full wipe - they stop when I let go of the stalk.

I need to work out if this is likely to be a dirty/duff motor or simply the relay? I'd rather avoid removing the motor if it's just going to end up being the relay. Similarly I'd like to avoid trying to get hold of a replacement relay if it's going to be that the motor needs cleaning!

Thanks in advance.

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... per_faults

Check out this link - may be of some use

Cheers, yes i've seen that but am reluctant to go down the route of ripping the motor out if it's likely to be a knackered relay so I was wondering if there's any way to tell if it's the relay of the motor at fault

Can you 'cross plug' the relevent relay with a known good one?

I was hoping to be able to get some info to indicate whether it'd be relay or motor before i went and spent any money I might just get hold of a know good relay and start there though...

Can't you just swap two round? Don't know where it's located personally, but if you're just testing the wipers, you won't suffer if you temporarily put a potentially duff relay in another position.......???

I think it's function specific i.e. only that kind of relay will do so couldn't use another one. It's the rectangular one at the top of the fuse-box by the way.

Fair enough.

It`ll be the motor. You dont need a new one, just remove the motor and remove the backplate and clean the contact plate. The Reason your motor stops on single swipe is its not getting a constant 12v supply during a full cycle because of the bad contact on this plate. The link above shows you what you need to do.

Cleaning up the motor is going to improve the operation of your windscreen wipers regardless of whether the relay is duff or not, anyway. I'd try that first before stressing about relays. The fact that you have some kind of movement on them suggests to me that the relay has not completely failed anyway

JJ26 wrote:The Reason your motor stops on single swipe is its not getting a constant 12v supply during a full cycle because of the bad contact on this plate.

Cool, that makes perfect sense, I'll whip it out tomorrow and clean it up

Cheers all...

aj_mckay wrote:

JJ26 wrote:The Reason your motor stops on single swipe is its not getting a constant 12v supply during a full cycle because of the bad contact on this plate.

Cool, that makes perfect sense, I'll whip it out tomorrow and clean it up

Cheers all...

This problem is baffling me as it goes. I don't understand how cleaning a motor will help this issue. surely if the motor wasn't getting a 12v supply then the wipers wouldn't move at all in full cycle. On mine I get the same as you AJ, if I select intermittent then the wipers constantly wipe without stopping, and if I push the stalk down the wipers operate for a long as I hold the stalk down and then they stop when I let go of the stalk . I'm thinking it could be the relay not providing the correct timed cycles. I could be wrong though

@rallye_turtle: My advice to you, having fixed mine yesterday, is to take the motor out and check it!!

I thought the same as you before I took the motor out and saw the state of it. I was corroded to sh1t! (See below piccies) As soon as I saw inside I thought "ah, there's the problem!".

This was taken through the scuttle vent before I managed to wiggle the motor out - filthy grimy greasy mess!


After I managed to coax the motor out through the vent and after a quick rub down...



I forgot to take a photo' of the finished article but I basically went at it till all the black shit was gone. It was left a shiny metal surface with the only blemishes being a few pitted areas where the corrosion was really bad. Greased it up an stuck it back in.

I honestly thought it would need replacing as it was so badly corroded inside but I gave it a clean anyway (as I'd gone to the effort of getting the bugger out) and a rub with some emmery cloth until it was relatively clean, re-greased it and gave it a try. IT WORKED!

So, I'd definitely recommend having a look at the motor before you go and spend money on replacing a relay. It's not difficult, just a little tricky to get to. The article on the link further up this thread is very very helpful so have a look at that if you haven't already.

With regards to understanding why a dirty motor would cause the wipers to behave like that, once you look at the motor and understand how it works it will become clearer.

it's ALWAYS the motor nowadays
Just be glad you havnt got a 24v up against the bulkhead!

Interesting, I'm gonna check this out for myself now. I wonder what the state of my motor is gonna be like. Very annoying problem

Bob_S wrote:it's ALWAYS the motor nowadays
Just be glad you havnt got a 24v up against the bulkhead!

Yeah, I got annoyed with the stupid strut brace on mine - ripped it off and it's now sitting in the garage. Probably as much use in there as on my car though to be fair...

rallye_turtle wrote:Interesting, I'm gonna check this out for myself now. I wonder what the state of my motor is gonna be like. Very annoying problem

Yes it's very annoying but very satisfying when you fix it, and best of all it costs NOTHING

Great news, well done mate! It's good to see some results and 'I've fixed it' comments on these threads. They are all too often incomplete.

toby wrote:Great news, well done mate! It's good to see some results and 'I've fixed it' comments on these threads. They are all too often incomplete.

Well said! It's a whole lot more useful when people post the solutions to their problems...

Feeling that too, I'll load a pic later on so people can see what's salvageable. I also managed (somehow) to get the motor to come out through the vent hole in the scuttle rather than having to pull it through where the sound deadening is, contrary to what it says on the guide in the Wiki...

Ziggy wrote:

toby wrote:Great news, well done mate! It's good to see some results and 'I've fixed it' comments on these threads. They are all too often incomplete.

Well said! It's a whole lot more useful when people post the solutions to their problems...

It would be great if this became a moral obligation after receiving advice, even if it isn't productive, to report back.

It obviously adds to the value of the content on the forum and is even more helpful to others in the future.

photo's now added to post further up^^^

Excellent news, aj. Must do this bit of maintenance to mine at some point

LOL!!!! Just removed my wiper out this morning and well wasn't expecting the following:-




After a bit of scrubbing and a dremel:-



Bolted all back into place and the wipers work perfectly, i'm so so suprised. And what pleasure it is to have wipers that work properly.

Yep, looks to be even WORSE than mine was but just shows what's salvageable with a bit of effort nice one...

Finally got round to taking my motor out for a nosey today having suffered stuttering intermittent wipe since we got it!

Surprisingly little corrosion in mine at all except for a slightly grubby ring of grot near the centre of the disc. Gave that good seeing to with some sandpaper and bunged it all back in.

Works a treat. I agree it is brill having wipers do what you tell them. Thanks for this super thread, its rare to get a fix at zero cost.