Will do.
Okay, next question
I've not had a poke about but is the wiper motor easy access and clear in sight or hidden under anything ?
Also the Live feed, is that easy to spot ?
short answer, no.
Looooong answer, the motor is located under the scuttle panel (The black plastic thing under the windshield) To remove the panel you need to remove the wiper blades. Remove the 13 mm nuts and give em a good yank.
The panel is held on by a number of screws along the bottom, 2 screws under caps on the corners and a number of plastic clips. Undo the screws, slide a hand under the plastic and carfully pull it away from the windscreen, the plastic clips should come loose with a bit of force. I suspect the propper way to do it would be to slide the panel out of them (The scuttle panel is 2 pieces btw) but I haven't been able to do it like that.
The red arrow indicate where screws are. Not marked are 2 more screws just out of shot to the bottom, and 2 screws next to the windscreen underneath a little plastic cover (Prise that off with a small screwdriver or knife)
And a shot of the underside of the scuttle and what's underneath
The motor unit itself is held on by 3 allen key bolts (Size 6 I think). One by the motor, 2 at the ends of the frame. The motor is covered by a plastic cover. Have some plastic bags or something on hand to replace this, mine was so old and brittle it fell to pieces as I pulled it off.
Note, in this pic the wipermotor is NOT in the park position as I mounted the crank wrong the previous day. (And wipers don't work well if they try to wipe the bonnet
)
The motor is switched with 4 pins. The outer pin on the side with 2 pins next to each other is the ground. The motor is switched on the different setting by putting +12 volts on one of the other 3 pins.
To troubleshoot, pull the plug off the motor, switch the wipers to intermittent. Get a multimeter and measure between the ground and the other pins on the plug. One of them should give 12 volts. Switch the wipers to low speed and repeat, a different pin should now have 12 volts. Switch to high speed and measure the last pin, this should now have 12 volts. (Note, every time only one pin should give 12 volts, the others should be 0.)
If one setting doesn't give 12 volts to any pin there is something wrong inside the car.
Reattach the motor and use the single wipe function (Pushing the wiper stalk up) to let the motor make a cycle. Listen for the relay on the motor switching. It should give a loud clear click-click as it starts the motor and starts moving. After the park contact inside leaves the contact pad, the relay switches off, which causes the second click.
If there are no clicks at all the relay is probably broken and you'll need a replacement motor. If there is only one click something is wrong with the motor or the park contacts.
The contacts and relay are located in a white housing on the motor. By bending open the locking tabs you can remove the electronics box from the top and open up the contact disc and contacts. Open this up and check the condition. It'll probably be filled with grease (This is like this from factory) so wipe away all excess grease and clean the contacts. Check for damage or excessive wear. I used some contact spray on the contact arms to make sure I got good contact and that they were clean. If everything is ok, close everything back up and hook it up to the car to see if this has solved the problem.
If this hasn't and the motor might be failing there is the option of dismantling the motor itself. This is not that difficult, but take your time. Make photo's and take notes so you can put it back together (See comment about mounting the crank the wrong way under the 3rd photo :bang
The motor is held onto the wiperframe by means of 3 hex-head bolts on the crank side (10 mm wrench) First remove the crank by taking of the nut (13 mm) and giving it a wiggle and a yank (Same as the wipers). Then undo the 3 nuts.
The motor housing is held to the gear casing by means of 2 "C" shaped clips which are held in by 2 small allen key bolts from the top (Gear casing) Remove the bolts and slide the C clips out of the casing. You can then pull the casing off the motor. (Pull straight up and be carefull. The brush housing and rotor with shaft stay attached to the gear casing and the rotor is attracted by the permanent magnets on the housing.)
Clear out the motor housing of any dirt and debris. keep it with the opening pointing down as much as possible. There is a bearing at the top and you don't want grid and dirt falling in there.
Check the brushes for wear and make sure they can move freely in their housing. It is easy to check this by moving the brush housing plate around. The brushes should stay in contact with the commutator at all times. Clean any dirt or grime. Also check each of the 3 wires and make sure they are still connected. (They go to a contact next to the brush, the brush is then connected to that point with a small piece of braided copper)
Check the commutator for wear, chips or bad spots and give it a good cleaning as well. (spray some contact spray on a cloth and use that to wipe it for a thorough clean)
If everything looks good and moves freely it is time to put it all back together again.
Once you've got the motor assembled and back on the frame (The crank goes on with the crankpin on the motor side, in line with the connecting rods) mount it on the car and check that it works. Make sure it is turning in the right direction. If it works screw the frame into place and put the plastic motor cover back on or improvise your own. Then put the scuttle panel back on. Reattach the wipers, before tightening them down, align them with the alignment marks on the windscreen.
(Srry, crappy pic again)
On my brava there were 3 marks, one in the centre for the driver side wiper, and 2 further out to the sides for the off-side wiper. MAKE SURE THE MOTOR IS IN THE PARK POSITION before aligning the blades on the appropriate mark and tightening the nut.
You should be all done now.
PS: While you're under the scuttle, clear out all the grime and leaves from under there. There was quite a collection in my brava
