Ford Focus Mk2 - Rear Wiper Motor

[fali78689]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone can help, I have a 55 plate mk2 focus and recently the rear wiper motor is playing with were when you pull in the indicator stalk wiper arm seem to work fine but when the use wipers its seems to stop and start.

I've checked all fuses and relays but can't seem to find anything, can anyone help

Thanks

F

[Luke4efc]

Isn't that how it's supposed to be? The rear wiper usually works on an intermittent setting when used with the front wipers. It does speed you apply screenwash and pretty sure I can adjust mine to work all the time, but is a different car.

[WES180]

The rear only works on an intermittent basis when you pull back the stalk according to your owners manual.

It says if you select reverse gear they will follow whatever setting the front wipers are on, intermittent or normal speed.

 

[fali78689]

7 hours ago, Luke4efc said:

Isn't that how it's supposed to be? The rear wiper usually works on an intermittent setting when used with the front wipers. It does speed you apply screenwash and pretty sure I can adjust mine to work all the time, but is a different car.

 

[dezwez]

sounds normal to me 😊

[fali78689]

Sorry, I've probably not explained myself well enough, so when you pull the indicator stalk towards yourself, the 1st click on rear wiper should wipe the full length of the rear windscreen but on my car it seems to stop after a quarter or half a wipe and will starts again, if it is left in the pulled in position but each time the wiper arm moves, I can hear a clicking noise coming from the central fuse box vicinity.

Now I've owned this car for almost 3 years and never has done this before until last couple of weeks.

[dezwez]

Could be the relay in the fusebox failing 😞

[TomsFocus]

Hopefully you're pulling the wiper stalk...if the wiper is operating from the indicator stalk you have bigger problems there!  

It's likely to be the wiper motor at fault if it's stopping and starting, and presumably not self parking?  Would also be worth checking the wiring plug for dampness and corrosion.

I think the relay on these is an integrated one on the GEM so hopefully it's not that.

[mjt]

The way intermittent wipe works is that the relay pulls in for a short time to start the wiper motor running. This closes a switch in the motor so that when the relay drops out the motor continues to run until it gets back to the park position. If there's a break in the circuit from the motor switch back through the normally-closed relay contact the motor will stop as soon as the relay drops out. It sounds as if this is what is happening.

This could be burnt contacts in the relay, or it could be the wiring from the tailgate to the body has fractured inside the rubber boot, both of which are common failures.

[fali78689]

14 hours ago, dezwez said:

Could be the relay in the fusebox failing 😞

Hi, any ideas which relay, it is as I've checked the manuals and can't seem to find anything that relating to the rear wiper motor. 

[fali78689]

9 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Hopefully you're pulling the wiper stalk...if the wiper is operating from the indicator stalk you have bigger problems there!  

It's likely to be the wiper motor at fault if it's stopping and starting, and presumably not self parking?  Would also be worth checking the wiring plug for dampness and corrosion.

I think the relay on these is an integrated one on the GEM so hopefully it's not that.

Thanks for the advice, will make sure to pull the wiper stalk LOL.

That's right, the rear wiper arm doesn't seem to self park, what I don't understand is, when the washer fluid has sprayed, the wiper arm works fine and as it should. 

If it is the GEM what can be done to rectify ?

[fali78689]

9 hours ago, mjt said:

The way intermittent wipe works is that the relay pulls in for a short time to start the wiper motor running. This closes a switch in the motor so that when the relay drops out the motor continues to run until it gets back to the park position. If there's a break in the circuit from the motor switch back through the normally-closed relay contact the motor will stop as soon as the relay drops out. It sounds as if this is what is happening.

This could be burnt contacts in the relay, or it could be the wiring from the tailgate to the body has fractured inside the rubber boot, both of which are common failures.

Thanks, so where do you think I should start with diagnosing the problem ?

I can't seem to find the relay, I'm hoping to remove the boot panel this weekend, if weather permits to just check the condition of the motor and see if I can find any visible faults.

[TomsFocus]

13 hours ago, fali78689 said:

Thanks for the advice, will make sure to pull the wiper stalk LOL.

That's right, the rear wiper arm doesn't seem to self park, what I don't understand is, when the washer fluid has sprayed, the wiper arm works fine and as it should. 

If it is the GEM what can be done to rectify ?

The continuous wipe when washer fluid is spayed is usually on a different track of the motor to the intermittent wipe which is why one works fine and the other doesn't. 

If it's the GEM you'll need to find another with an identical part number and then match it to your car with a laptop and Ford specific diags.  Or pay Ford about £500 to fit a new one...   Integrated GEM relays rarely fail though, if it had been an older car then it'd be more likely but not on these.  I really would start with checking wiring and plugs, then swapping in a cheap, used motor if there are no wiring faults found.

[fali78689]

On 2/22/2019 at 9:08 AM, TomsFocus said:

The continuous wipe when washer fluid is spayed is usually on a different track of the motor to the intermittent wipe which is why one works fine and the other doesn't. 

If it's the GEM you'll need to find another with an identical part number and then match it to your car with a laptop and Ford specific diags.  Or pay Ford about £500 to fit a new one...   Integrated GEM relays rarely fail though, if it had been an older car then it'd be more likely but not on these.  I really would start with checking wiring and plugs, then swapping in a cheap, used motor if there are no wiring faults found.

Thanks for the advice hopefully will take a look next weekend and keep you posted.