FIXED! Wipers not working

[heptagon]

My wipers have seen a lot of action in the last 24 hours, travelling to Castle Combe in torrential rain and they then packed up whilst on circuit.

It's not a fuse, the washer still works but the wiper motor is making a sound continuously, even when switched off.  When I move it to the faster speed setting I can hear it working faster but nothing at the wipers. The wipers cannot be moved by hand, I was told to check this in case the worm drive had failed. I've had the switch out and tried some contact cleaner but that didn't fix it. 
 

Any ideas what the try next? Could it be a switch issue?

BTW Rain-x is a great wiper substitute and got me home fine in even more rain on the M5. The car is a 2018 Sigma. 

BBTW great day out at CC today, thanks Simon and James plus all the instructors!
 

 

[Wrightpayne]

If its whirring I'd check the nut that holds the guide tube onto the motor body and the two gearboxes that bolt onto the tube. Also security of the wiper motor to chassis bracket.

Its effectively a classic mini wiper set up (and many other Leyland cars) so you may get better results googling for faults on those vehicles.

[jbcollier]

Assuming the "whirring" sound is the motor running, then it will be internal in the wiper motor.  If it was just the cable the motor would still park and shut off.

[Wrightpayne]

The park switch can come detatched from the motor body. I had the pin break in this switch on my classic mini (in the 80s) so the wipers wouldnt park.

[heptagon]

The wipers did stop half way across the screen when it happened but the motor seemingly won't stop 

[Jonathan Kay]

Resources:
Please let me know if you'd like the appropriate wiring diagram.
Do you have a multimeter?
There's a current thread with details of how to get to the motor etc.

Diagnosis:
The whirring continues even with the switch OFF, but that's not abnormal as there is feed to the motor through the PARK feed until it self-parks.
The switch is controlling the speed of the whirring appropriately. 

I'm trying to work out what you can check on the electrical side before attacking the mechanical. I don't think that there is much.

You could detach all connections from the switch and make the circuit by hand and see if that makes any difference.

You could pull the intermittent timer (if there is one), have a look at the terminals and the base for signs of cooking, and try a new one.

Any other suggestions on the electrics, anyone?

Jonathan

[heptagon]

Thanks Jonathan, I'm going to take another look tomorrow and do have a multimeter.  Someone at Castle Combe also talked about the self parking so maybe that's the issue for some reason.  

I've had the switch out and will do that again and try to find out which fuse will stop it whirring, I had quite a few out yesterday.  Manual says it's one of the 15As. 

[Jonathan Kay]

Would you like the probable fuse layout?

Jonathan

[Wrightpayne]

My money is on the park switch which clips onto the body of the motor and looks a bit like this....

 

[heptagon]

Yes please 

[Jonathan Kay]

Just tried to send you a Private Message, but it failed.

Please try and send me one.

Thanks

Jonathan

[heptagon]

The park switch might well be a good place to start, I think it's behind here if I'm correct, so not easily accessible?

[Scotland North AR]

I bought two park switches, the first was really poor quality and fell to pieces before I fitted it. The other was first class and solved my problem. I wasn't until I got the second one that I realised how different they were. When I'm back off holiday I'll look out where I got the good one from. I contacted a Landrover dealer at one point and they wouldn't sell me the switch unless I gave them a Landrover registration.

[heptagon]

Thanks Nigel - much appreciated, I'll change mine and see if that's the issue

Thanks for the files Jonathan, I've now found the right fuse, my handbook seemed to have a completely wrong fuse layout!

[Jonathan Kay]

!

Please can I have a sketch of yours, with a few filled in. I'll then check the secondary literature!

Jonathan

PS: There are two layouts for Sigmas in diagrams issued to customers, one in some factory drawings, and one that's only in a BlatChat thread!

[Scotland North AR]

Morning, the first switch I got was off eBay from Leacy Classics and that was in bits on removal from the bag. The second one I got and fitted was from SVC, needless to say, more expensive but a proper job at £25. I'd check with SVC the motor part number against the switch mentioned below to double check it's the same as mine.

SVC

Park switch link

There is a gripping 35 minute video on Youtube regarding wiper motor problems.

Hope that helps.

 

[heptagon]

Finally got around to releasing the wiper motor to get the park switch out, will now buy a new one and see if that fixes it

 

[heptagon]

[heptagon]

I have now tried a new park switch and the same issue persists.  The motor seems to run, the worm drive spins (marked in red on the photo) but nothing else happens to drive the actual wiper mechanism.  I assume this is a failed drive mechanism and that I need to get a new motor assembly, but before I do wanted to just check if there's anything I can do with the existing unit  

[heptagon]

I stripped the gear wheel out of the motor assembly as I suspected that was the issue and it's all chewed up, so a new one is now on order 

[Nigel Riches]

Might be a good idea to make sure the mechanism is free, as these gears should be man enough for the job. Otherwise you may be traveling this road again.

[heptagon]

Wipers working and parking sort of.. I have fitted a new park switch and a new gear wheel.

They run at both speeds as normal but park vertically rather than horizontally and so want to sweep the bonnet rather than the windscreen when the wipers are attached in the correct position at the base of the windscreen.

This seems quite a common wiper set up problem but the answer seems less clear and I have tried a few things I read on a few Mini forums but no luck (e.g. moving it 180 degrees).  I have had the mechanism apart a number of times and tried resetting the drive wheel in different positions but each time it chooses to reset and park vertically.

Any ideas?

[heptagon]

One thing I have just read is to check that the white pick up button on the drive wheel is in the same place as my old one, so will check that next anyway..

[heptagon]

It's fixed!

For the record and anyone else changing wiper motor parts, if you buy a new drive wheel make sure the raised part for the park switch is in the same place on the drive wheel as the one you remove.  The Mini one I got had the raised white tab fitted opposite the Caterham set up (so 180 degrees different) hence wipers parking incorrectly (vertically).  It took a lot of fiddling and some researching the web before I discovered this was the issue.

Also if the wipers just won't stop and park correctly then change the park switch first.  When I dissembled my drive wheel I also found it chewed up.  My motor hopefully is fine and was running throughout. 
 

You can also remove the whole S3 wiper mechanism with motor and arms attached without disassembly, I just loosened the nut on the motor to the arm and you can then wriggle it out past the wiring harness. I had it in and out in minutes when I became well practised...  just make sure you remove the power feed to the motor as you do it.  The strap that secures the motor is a PITA to remove and refit though..

Hopefully all ready for Brooklands now and this all helps someone else in future.

 

[Jonathan Kay]

Well done, and thanks for that explanation.

Jonathan