Hi All

My 02 Doblo has lazy wipers. If they are on "intermittant" they work for a few minutes maybe 10 and then stop working. I then have to turn them up to "speed 2" and back up again quickly and they usually work then. Its a pain and the problem is growing especially now that the weather has become colder. They don't like to be disturbed in the cold ( a bit like the driver!!). I'm not going to my local dealer as he is a robber. Anyone ideas?

I have had the same problem happen to me, but I only have to switch them off or onto 1 speed and back and they work again. I find it happens more if you haven't used them for a while and then use intermittant and they work for a while then stop.

I wouldn't imagine it's a wiring fault as such, as once you move the stalk it works again, but more of a relay fault as there's probably a timed relay there somewhere for the intermittant function. Perhaps these are not of good quality or perhaps have loose connections. Judging by the clicking sound you get when they are on it's somewhere behind the dash, possibly with the fuses in the bottom right fuse compartment. Mine doesn't click when it goes faulty so this suggests that the fault is before or is the relay rather than with the wiper mechanism itself.

I'll see if I can find it tomorrow and see if the connections are loose etc.

Theres is no wiper relay.

Thanks for that.

2 years ago the passenger side wiper stopped altogether and I returned it to the dealer where I bought her. The problem was rectified by a new wiper assembly motor being installed. I since found out the "official fix" from Fiat Ireland is to drill out the passenger arm and fit a split pin when the polyurethane bush wears out. If you break the drill bit a complete new assembly must be fitted. So hard luck to the lads!

Another spiel they spilled me was my current wiper problem is caused by the wiper motor assembly being full of grease and the grease leaks out onto the wiper contacts and causes things to go a bit haywire....smells of something!!

I think they are wired in some unusual manner as last Friday I used the up stroke to clear the windscreen and the wipers jumped a few inches and stopped. They wouldn't move no matter how much I moved the switch or pleaded / ordered them. Later on it dawned on me shut down the engine and restart and bingo!! So I think there must be some sort of controlling relay of some sort which locks out??It wouldn't be the same would it?

It certainly could be... It's as if they're controlled by a mini brain rather than a good old fashioned relay. I thought though that the ECU only controlled fuel injection in the Doblo's but I could be wrong and it controls other things too. Hmmm, anyone else have any ideas?

T14068 how are the wipers controlled?

alfavan said:

Another spiel they spilled me was my current wiper problem is caused by the wiper motor assembly being full of grease and the grease leaks out onto the wiper contacts and causes things to go a bit haywire....smells of something!!

Click to expand...

They are correct/telling you the truth o' customer of little faith!

To be honest I wouldn't have believed that! But there we go

So T14086 how are the wipers controlled?

Controlled by wiper motor.

T14086 said:

They are correct/telling you the truth o' customer of little faith!

Click to expand...

Yes I have little faith...!!

My van is the extra cargo carrying capacity vehicle and should sit on rear tyres of at least a 92 load rating. Mine came with 88's and so failed her first DOE ( safety test ). Fiat said it should be on 88's and so an investigation began. The nice lady from customer care said the dealer should have replaced my tyres with the correct ones as a matter of good faith, but they told her to bog off The correct tyres ( the same ones as my spare!!??) are only available in Pirellis as Goodyear / Dunlop don't import them into either Ireland or the UK. So my faith in my dealer has been demolished. I now drive 30 miles to another one ( for parts only ).

Anyway TI14086 how does the wiper motor actually control the speed / intermittant operation of the wipers? Is there an on-board speed control circuit? Ozzie is right about the click around the clocks....there' something in there and I don't fancy going in there after it....!!

alfavan said:

Anyway TI14086 how does the wiper motor actually control the speed / intermittant operation of the wipers? Is there an on-board speed control circuit? Ozzie is right about the click around the clocks....there' something in there and I don't fancy going in there after it....!!

Click to expand...

That makes the two of us then

Well how are you going to fix the problem if your not going to look?

Two points...
1. The concept of the wiper motor grease getting onto the contacts is quite possible. I have heard of this on a number of different cars.

2. The ECU on the Doblo seems to control everything! When we had trouble wth the headlights, recently, I was told that the message from the switch goes via the ECU to the relay, rather than direct. I suspect that this is so the fitters don't have to look at anything, as the records of what has ahppened are stored by the ECU adn are available via 'the computer'

OK I think the first place I'm going to look is the wiper motor. There are only a dozen or so screws holding the splashguard on. That's easy.

That sounds familiar about an ecu controlling various parts. I think Fiat call them "body computers". When my van was new the alarm gave trouble, :bang: but eventually I traced it myself to a defunct battery from new. But during the hunting process the clock and the trip computer used to reset themselves on startup every other day. The dealer reset the body computer as he called it, behind the plastic panel which joins the floor to the door seal on the driver's side. So maybe there is a relay on a pcb buried in behind the clocks which supplies the wipers with supply controlled by an ecu.

First things first have to get back to health before pulling the Doblo apart

T14086 has already stated that there is no relay. Why should there be? The parking function is controoled mechanically by the wipr moter, so all it needs is a pulse or flow of current to start it. This can be done at minimum cost from the body computer.

I spent much of my still young life on Landrovers, and they use wiper relays (relays that when powered send power out at intermittant intervals, or when powered on function 2 or 3 they go at 1 or 2 speed respectively).

And I won't be taking the dash apart as I don't have time, but there's definately something there that clicks, possibly the sounds from the wiper motor coming through but then you'd hear the motor technically too. The clicks cannot be heared from the engine bay really either so there must be something behind the dash

We have moved on (thank god) from Land rovers,car technology has (& still is) advancing at quite a rate.Techs who have spent a few years away from the trade are struggling to 'get back into it'....anyway;


Obadiah...summed it up nicely, 'The parking function is controled mechanically by the wiper moter, so all it needs is a pulse or flow of current to start it'

The click you are hearing Ozzie is just the contacts in the switch.

So to sum it all up.... Depending on the posistion of the wiper switch which in turns sends the control signal(s) to the electronic timer device on the windscreen wiper motor.

So T14016 do you think the dealer was right? Maybe it just is grease on the contacts which would cause the poor wipers to go nuts

You could be right maybe I am a customer of little faith...!!!

Well if it will restore your faith then YES.

The 2 spring contacts also have to be 'tweaked' for better contact.

(p.s. its T14086 not T14016)

Thanks T14086 sorry I got your number wrong, I was trying to remember it while I was typing the last response and somebody called me.

I will definintely check that out later on in the week, once I'm back on my feet

Thanks T14086777657489938465647383... Lol sorry couldn't resist

Nah your advice is certainly much appreciated and well used throughout the forum, a credit to you is due

There we go alfavan, no need for us to go rummaging behind the dash after all