Technical Wiper stops working

[Didge3]

Wiper randomly stops working whilst driving, starts up again randomly. Sometimes it'll work for miles, sometimes it'll stop after only a few hundred feet, it pretty much always starts up again after a few minutes or so (but those few minutes can be a bit interesting to attempt to drive in).
Only started doing it today but has been doing it on and off all day :bang:

I had an issue where it completely died before, got the hedgehogs cleaned up and it worked right away. So I'm not sure if its that issue again or somewhere else? Where can I find the motor itself (where do you access it from?) can I check connections there?
I'll give the hedgehogs a cleanup too...

 

[panda panda]

I had an Uno which did that too, cured the problem by trading it in for a mkII Golf (which had intermittent brake lights).

Hope this helps!

 

[Dragon Man]

its under the engine bay sound proofing. behind the spare wheel.
ive never known the connectors under there to ever corrode, but it is a prime spot for mice to get in and chew through wires.
give all the connectors a good going over with wd-40 and work them a bit to break any corrosion off.

i always recommend copper grease on the earthing hedgehogs.

 

[lukmek]

It's on Ebay.it but the seller is from UK!

http://www.ebay.it/itm/NEW-Genuine-...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item46294f9ba7

 

[kolza]

It's on Ebay.it but the seller is from UK!

http://www.ebay.it/itm/NEW-Genuine-Fiat-Panda-Rear-Wiper-Motor-5988049-/301340793767?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item46294f9ba7

This is rear motor not front one.

 

[panda panda]

i always recommend copper grease on everything.

Fixed that for you

 

[Dragon Man]

Yes.

 

[Didge3]

Wiggled me hedgehogs and sprayed a bit of WD40 and seemed to work for the 95 miles of miserable rain last night, however whilst I was testing it (in a brief gap in the rain) I switched the wiper on and the blade split :bang:
Soooo what size is a Panda front wiper blade?

 

[Palio]

Wiggled me hedgehogs and sprayed a bit of WD40 and seemed to work for the 95 miles of miserable rain last night, however whilst I was testing it (in a brief gap in the rain) I switched the wiper on and the blade split :bang:
Soooo what size is a Panda front wiper blade?

The biggest you can fit without hitting the edges is 15" iirc.

 

[Didge3]

For future reference I fitted a 16" blade today, as my old blade turned out to be 16" and fitted fine.

After fitting the blade, to check it wasn't going to fly off or anything I squirted some screenwash and did a few wipes.
Wiper did maybe 6 or 7 sweeps and stopped again :bang:
Jiggled my hedgehogs and added some WD40 but it wouldn't spring back to life. Previously I thought this was a damp issue because obviously it only rears its head when its raining, because thats when I tend to use the wipers...

But today it has been dry as a bone and it just stopped. Oddly enough it always stops slightly off 'park' position, about an inch higher than it normally parks, never in a different place?

 

[Dragon Man]

ahh that sounds like the slip rings are a bit gummed up.

you can fix this by taking the motor out, popping the plastic back off the "gearbox" and cleaning up all the metal contacts inside.. with any luck you will see where it is "stopping" as there will be a bit of corrosion or maybe evidence of where its not connecting on one of the slip rings..

now i'd use standard grease for this.. you dont want copper slip crossing slip rings over.

actually!!

a good way to tell if it is the slip rings acting up is, try to get it to "fail" again.. when it does pull the plug that has 2 wires on it that go into the motor its self (think the wire colours are red and green) and stick some voltage in it. polarity does not matter.
if it keeps working its gonna be the slip rings

mind your fingers! its not nice getting them stuck in a wiper linkage when its running.. i speak from experience!

 

[Didge3]

Well I'm more confused now.
It still wasn't working today when I got in the car, but its bright and sunny so I drove anyway. Got to some lights and decided to test it, squirted a bit of screen wash. Flick wiper on, nothing
So I'm sat completely stationary and I've just left the wiper stalk on the constant setting. About 10 seconds later, still sat completely still haven't moved the wiper just starts up. And it has been working since.

I thought it was as I was driving a connection was getting knocked and therefore causing it to fail, but then when I realised it always pretty much goes back to park and stops, rather than stopping mid-sweep. But now it just starts up without even moving/knocking it.
So could it be the switch?

 

[Dragon Man]

hmm its worth checking. i would just get a tester and see if any voltage is going to the larger connector on the wiper gearbox though. if you get no voltage then its got to be something before the motor like the switches.