Technical Loom or rear motor?

[FrustratedInA500]

Hi all,

When I purchased my 2010 500 1.2 last July it had the standard boot loom issue which includes: the rear wiper swiping and not returning to the stop position when turning on the ignition on, unable to open the boot from the handle switch.

I crimped in a replacement repair section (silicone wires) by Febi and all was good...until this week.

I have now noticed that once parked over night, in the morning I'm starting to get back the issue of the wiper swiping sporadically and randomly stopping when turning the ignition on. It will return to stop after (normally) pushing the stalk forward with the rear washer. There are no other issues but I have noticed the the new Febi loom has "flattened".

Looking at this post, there is talk of a potential fault in the rear wiper motor.

Have other people experienced this? Or am I kidding myself and likely going to have to accept that after 6 months I'm going to have to replace the loom section again!

 

[Ralf S.]

The free option is to examine the loom again. It's possible that one of the connections is becoming loose or detached. It's unlikely that the wires have cracked again so soon.

If it all looks good, then you can try testing the circuit at the motor plug. If that checks out then it's the motor that's not doing its thing.. but if the circuit is weak or sporadic (cuts out early) then the problem could be a relay, if for example the previous wiring issue caused it some stress and it's now starting to fail.

If you can't isolate the problem specifically then a second-hand motor is probably easier and cheaper to fit yourself than paying for some diagnostics.


Ralf S.

 

[irc]

Do you have the brake pedal pressed when you start the car?
I investigated similar symptoms on a 500 which turned out to be a faulty earth - the wiper moved when started but only if the brake lights were on... I didn't fix it myself, so I didn't find out which earth (I don't normally work on 500s, mostly just 169 Pandas) but possibly worth a look?

 

[John202020]

Crimped not soldered?
That could be the issue?
Repaired ours about 5 maybe more years ago using test meter wire still going strong
It's possible the motor got damaged prior to you getting the car because of the loom?

 

[FrustratedInA500]

The free option is to examine the loom again. It's possible that one of the connections is becoming loose or detached. It's unlikely that the wires have cracked again so soon.

If it all looks good, then you can try testing the circuit at the motor plug. If that checks out then it's the motor that's not doing its thing.. but if the circuit is weak or sporadic (cuts out early) then the problem could be a relay, if for example the previous wiring issue caused it some stress and it's now starting to fail.

If you can't isolate the problem specifically then a second-hand motor is probably easier and cheaper to fit yourself than paying for some diagnostics.


Ralf S.

Took your advice and went with the 'free option' today. Bloody freezing, but as soon as I had the loom out the car 3 of the crimps let go.

Nipped the ends off and soldered them back together with heat shrink. Tested all the other crimps which looked to be holding fine.

Will see how I get on but at least I found a few issues which would definitely result in the issue I was having.

Thanks again!