wipers not working

[marku001]

Hi,
My vehicle;
2001,Ford Focus, 2.0 petrol Zetec.

My wipers have failed, they were working fine then as snow melted on bonnet a large lump slid up and stopped wipers from returning to resting position, I was on motorway at night and thought best not to stop on side of road but by time i got off motorway there had been an electrical fuzzy click and front and rear wipers failed.

Rear wiper fuse is fine but front wiper fuse just blows as soon as it is replaced (even with wipers off) and ignition is switched on.

I am thinking relay r18/r19 front/rear screen intermitent wiper relay as both front and rear wipers not working, what do you think?
Thanks.

 

[Burnerman]

I think I'd start this one by disconnecting the front wiper motor from its block connector and seeing if the fuse would hold. I suspect that its the wiper self park mechanism that has failed, causing a short circuit somehow. At this point, I would hope that the rear wiper would work. Worth a try anyway!
John

 

[jetex]

The wiper linkage might have jammed/bent, and this is blowing the fuse as the motor is still trying to 'park' when you put the new fuse in.

 

[marku001]

thanks for your responses, I have taken the motor off and the fuse now holds, the linkage seems to move freely and does not appear bent, which suggests the self park mechanism comes under scrutiny, where should I go from here? do I need to replace the motor? thanks agian for the responses its a great help...

 

[Burnerman]

At this point you've nothing to lose by taking the motor apart....they're not rocket science and you'll see the interior covered in grease. The motor turns a gear called a worm which in turn spins a large plastic gear wheel. The contacts for the self park mechanism are below this wheel so lift it clear and see what you find.
Enjoy!
John

 

[Mursal]

The motor usually has an internal cutout to stop it from overheating under load. It may have burned out. This could have caused a short circuit to the body work of the motor.

Its usually in the windings, so for future reliability we would just get a motor from a good local breaker.

But its worth having a look at the switch gear inside it may be fixable.

 

[marku001]

Thanks all, had a look inside clip on cover found one terminal that had burned into the plastic, cleaned it all up, plugged it in to see if it worked and bingo! all done. All the advice was much appreciated from all of you, thanks again, Mark

 

[Burnerman]

Hell Why don't I have luck like that?
John

 

[Mursal]

Hell Why don't I have luck like that?
John

Taking a wiper motor apart and actually getting it fixed.

Better than a win on the Lotto and not as common.

 

[Burnerman]

Hell Why don't I have luck like that?
John

Taking a wiper motor apart and actually getting it fixed.

Better than a win on the Lotto and not as common.

......or finding a Punto without a blown head gasket
John