Technical Common wiper problem, but different

[isdajesse]

Hello there.


I own my Grande Punto for almost a year now.

Almost nothing is wrong besides the common problem of the rear wiper not working. And besides that my rear window heater does not work.


Although it is a little bit different for me.

A few weeks ago I got stranded on the side of the road with my engine not starting.


After a few days if fiddling around we discovered a ground cable connected to the starter motor was corroded.


In order to get my car to the garage where my friend works we had to "kick start" the engine by putting in gear and towing it the first few meters. And then release the clutch.


I could drive to the garage from there. Be it with a few error lights on the dash.


The weird thing is. While my car was driving without starting it with the key.. My rear wiper and heater did work!


Could someone explain this to me? I already fiddled with the wiring loom of the trunk and checked the fuze.


I hope some has the answer.

 

[bugsymike]

Hello there.


I own my Grande Punto for almost a year now.

Almost nothing is wrong besides the common problem of the rear wiper not working. And besides that my rear window heater does not work.


Although it is a little bit different for me.

A few weeks ago I got stranded on the side of the road with my engine not starting.


After a few days if fiddling around we discovered a ground cable connected to the starter motor was corroded.


In order to get my car to the garage where my friend works we had to "kick start" the engine by putting in gear and towing it the first few meters. And then release the clutch.


I could drive to the garage from there. Be it with a few error lights on the dash.


The weird thing is. While my car was driving without starting it with the key.. My rear wiper and heater did work!


Could someone explain this to me? I already fiddled with the wiring loom of the trunk and checked the fuze.


I hope some has the answer.

Purely a guess, some kind of "back feed" due to damaged/broken earth wire.
Years ago we had a customer with a broken earth wire on a Ford Cortina and the choke cable started to get hot being the only metal bridge to the engine when starter turned.
Often when rear lamp units earthing fails, pressing the brake pedal can bring on indicator lamps etc.

 

[AndyRKett]

You may need to clarify this, did the heater and wiper work before the car was tow started? Has this problem only appeared after the starting problems?

 

[isdajesse]

The heater and the wiper did not work/do not work when starting the car with thw key. They only worked that one time when my car started and drove when we tow started it. So as of now, now that my car starts with the key again they do not work.

I thought it was clear. Hope it is now.

 

[AndyRKett]

The heater and the wiper did not work/do not work when starting the car with thw key. They only worked that one time when my car started and drove when we tow started it. So as of now, now that my car starts with the key again they do not work.

I thought it was clear. Hope it is now.

if it didn't work and only worked that one time you tow started it, then there is likely a body computer issue. Maybe the starter when it is used is causing some electrical spikes which are feeding back into the body computer and killing the affected circuits. This is not going to be a straight forward repair.

I'd probably hook up to MES and see if I can activate the heater and wiper from within MES to make sure its not a switch issue.