Technical Wiper Motor Problem

[kevian]

Hi guys (n gals)

After some major help from you guys, i've been able to sort my sister's timing belt out.

However, as i was driving it over to her house in a state of euphoria, i tried to clean the windscreen. Like a prat, i think i had fastened on the wiper blade on the incorrect side, because as i turned the wiper on, it tried to disappear down the front of the car. So i simply turned of the wiper and thinking what a prat, never mind i'll sort it when i get to her house.

As i was driving, i could smell a horrible burning, and thought it was the timing belt casing i had put back on was rubbing on one of the pulleys. When i got to a set of traffic lights, i could even see a small amount of smoke appearing from the bonnet vents near the windscreen, having no tools, i battled on. At the end of the journey, i examined the belt housing but could not see any binding and on closer inspection could smell the burning coming from what i thought was the wiper motor.

We've since replaced the wiper motor with a supposedly working one from a scrappy but no joy.

Is there any way i can in the 1st instance make sure the 'new' motor actually works, then try and fault find the rest of the wiring, from the stalk outwards i suppose.

Thanks again.

Kev

As the saying goes, pride comes before a fall !!!

 

[custard]

well running power to the motor directly is how to test its working independently of the uno wiring

 

[kevian]

well running power to the motor directly is how to test its working independently of the uno wiring

How do i do that matey?

Sorry for being thick, but i have no idea?

Cheers

Kev

 

[custard]

well uno boys may know which wires in the connector are which.
really you need a multi meter to test the connector for power.hold for an uno driver to see if they know which wires need connected to test the motor

 

[M@nticore]

check your fuse first, this is where most people make a mistake when diagnosing a problem, they seem to forget about fuses, then check that your wiring to your wiper motor is ok.
also check your supply to your motor, switch on the wiper inside the car and check for 12v with a multi meter at the wiper motor plug.
then there is no reason that the motor should not be working.

you can get the wiring diagrams in the haynes manual.

 

[kevian]

All Fuses are ok.

 

[alexGS]

kevian, sorry to hear of the new problem, but don't give up, it's a minor compared with the cambelt

I'm surprised that a motor-burning amount of current was allowed to pass without the fuse blowing! It makes me wonder whether the switch on the dash has also failed - quite possible. So, what you need in the meantime is that test of the motor. If you look at the wiper motor, I think you will notice two wires plugged into the back of the white box that contains the self-park relay. The wires are green and brown. I could be getting confused with the Tipo rear wiper motor, but hopefully they are similar.

Anyway, if you can find the two wires leading to the actual motor itself, you will be able to hook 12V to them (I find a jump-start pack is very useful for electrical testing, being a convenient high-current source!). If it is still not clear, then perhaps remove the cover from the wiper motor gearbox and keep looking. You should be able to trace the circuit also at this stage, and figure out which wires in the plug should be 'live'.

Also bear in mind that there are at least two different designs of wiper motors, and I think I have had the case where one type has not worked when plugged into a car fitted with the other type. The most obvious difference is that some Unos have intermittent+one speed and other Unos (70 models and Turbo) have intermittent+two speeds. I think the plugs are different, but may fit (just to confuse the issue). So you really have to start by testing the motor itself, and then work out the wiring.

The Mk2 Uno, incidentally, has the wiper parked on the left side, while the Mk1 had it parked on the right side. Though, I guess you found this out the hard way...

Cheers,
-Alex

 

[kevian]

Hi guys, i've read the haynes manual, but being thick, i'm struggling working out which wires i need to use to 'hard wire' the motor. Being a total beginner, i was hoping to see a RED wire and a BLACK wire. However, there are 4 or 5 wires, coming out of the motor, BLACK - LIGHT BLUE - light blue/red - light blue/black and maybe light blue/yellow.
Can anyone enlighten me which wire goes to positive and which to negative?

Thanks very much

Kev

 

[Kyriakos_Greece]

As i was driving, i could smell a horrible burning, and thought it was the timing belt casing i had put back on was rubbing on one of the pulleys. When i got to a set of traffic lights, i could even see a small amount of smoke appearing from the bonnet vents near the windscreen, having no tools, i battled on. At the end of the journey, i examined the belt housing but could not see any binding and on closer inspection could smell the burning coming from what i thought was the wiper motor.

Wow, I had the same experience. Wiper works for a while then stops. Motor still runs. Fuse never blows. Motor catches fire. I $hit my pants.

You should consider changing the fuse with a smaller one, unless you have the right one according to the user's manual.

 

[Peterg]

Wow, I had the same experience. Wiper works for a while then stops. Motor still runs. Fuse never blows. Motor catches fire. I $hit my pants.

You should consider changing the fuse with a smaller one, unless you have the right one according to the user's manual.

At least when it catches fire it should be raining so the fire should not last long and the faster you go the wind could put it out too, lol

 

[Chas Uno]

At least when it catches fire it should be raining so the fire should not last long and the faster you go the wind could put it out too, lol

 

[kevian]

Well, i've sorted this one out all by my lonesome, so a big pat on my back which is hard to do by itself

A volt meter was a great help as i was able to test for power at the connector, so i knew power was still getting to the motor.

I tried the old wiper motor again and although it didn't work it made a noise, so power was getting to the motor. Still the new motor wouldn't work, so with nothing to lose, i disassembled the new motor, cleaned all the mechanism and reassembled. With having very little DIY mechanical knowledge and even less electrical, i didn't expect it to work ever again. Well......i wasn't suprised as still no action.

This time, i tried the new wiper motor for electrical continuity, between the black wire and the light blue/red wire, not even a flicker, however, the circuit board on the old motor did have continuity. So i swapped the circiut boards over and hey presto, my sister has now got a fully working wiper motor again.

Incidently, water had got into the old motor.

Kev

 

[alexGS]

Excellent work - sounds like you found the best possible solution to that problem - making one good unit out of two is usually the best strategy when you have spare parts.

To get a pat on the back, sit behind a cow.

I really liked reading your post: "With having very little DIY mechanical knowledge and even less electrical, i didn't expect it to work ever again. Well......i wasn't suprised as still no action."

I can vouch that even the having of 'DIY mechanical knowledge' and 'electrical' does not assure the chance of any 'action'!

-Alex

 

[peterdt0260]

Hi Kevin, I have similar wiper problem to yours. I want the wiper switch to connect to wiper motor using 12v and earth. Off the 3 pins on motor. Please advise