Hi All,

I have a 2002 mk1.5 1.8LX TDCi focus with a little bit of an annoying problem. My wipers have slow, intermediate & fast settings which work fine, However, when I press the stalk down to make just one wipe, I have to hold it down until it returns to it's position. If I let go of the stalk mid wipe, then it just stops in the middle of the windscreen. Surely this can't be right? On previous cars that I have owned you only need to press down once and the wipers will do a full wipe and return to the original position.

I have already done a bit of research and have been told that it could possibly be the wiper relay switch. However, I can find anywhere that sells these relay switches, so does anyone know where I could get my hands on one (for cheap as chips, obviously :D )

Thanks in advance

Paul

Hi All,

I have a 2002 mk1.5 1.8LX TDCi focus with a little bit of an annoying problem. My wipers have slow, intermediate & fast settings which work fine, However, when I press the stalk down to make just one wipe, I have to hold it down until it returns to it's position. If I let go of the stalk mid wipe, then it just stops in the middle of the windscreen. Surely this can't be right? On previous cars that I have owned you only need to press down once and the wipers will do a full wipe and return to the original position.

I have already done a bit of research and have been told that it could possibly be the wiper relay switch. However, I can find anywhere that sells these relay switches, so does anyone know where I could get my hands on one (for cheap as chips, obviously )

Thanks in advance

Paul

a scrapyard or ford youll be lucky to get them anywhere else even parts stores dont usually sell relays

Hi,

My old man had this trouble on his Mk 1.5 Diesel, 52 plate. went to ford bought a wiper relay switch for less than £5 quid and replaced.

Check your manual to locate which one it is. i know its located behind your clove compartment one of the top big ones..

Hope that helps a lil

Damien

Cheers guys! hey Damien, less than £5 from a ford dealership, I was expecting more like £30 parts, £300 labour £20 admin fees I might pop over to my nearest dealer myself, get the relay and fit it myself. I had a look where it is last night and noticed that it was similar to the rear relay switch, so I stupidly swapped them around turned my ignition on and all the dash lights started flashing like I was at a rave . needless to say I swapped them straight back again

Cheers guys! hey Damien, less than £5 from a ford dealership, I was expecting more like £30 parts, £300 labour £20 admin fees I might pop over to my nearest dealer myself, get the relay and fit it myself. I had a look where it is last night and noticed that it was similar to the rear relay switch, so I stupidly swapped them around turned my ignition on and all the dash lights started flashing like I was at a rave . needless to say I swapped them straight back again

Should be about £3 for the relay. About half an hour for Ford labour ... My old ST170 had one go for the fronts, and I had it done under warranty no problems.

Hi mate,

Had the same problem with my '53 TDCi - Ford dealer said it was common practice to try swapping the two relays over & it would often last another 12 - 18 months (providing the previous owner hadn't aready tried this!!). I did this & now all wipers work fine (no flashing dash lights as you mentioned - are you sure it was the correct two relays you swapped? - think they are numbered something like R18 & R19).

Anyway I bought a spare whilst I was there, & like others have said, it was only about £5 and takes 10 mins to fit, if that....

Hope this was some help!

Andy

Hi mate,

Had the same problem with my '53 TDCi - Ford dealer said it was common practice to try swapping the two relays over & it would often last another 12 - 18 months (providing the previous owner hadn't aready tried this!!). I did this & now all wipers work fine (no flashing dash lights as you mentioned - are you sure it was the correct two relays you swapped? - think they are numbered something like R18 & R19).

Anyway I bought a spare whilst I was there, & like others have said, it was only about £5 and takes 10 mins to fit, if that....

Hope this was some help!

Andy

Is it one of the grey ones behind the glove box, did you have to unscrew the glove box and also how do u get it in mine has a metal cross member ova it?

thanx ben

Interesting thread this....

I have only had my car since july and mine is the same.

Ben,

Yeah that's right its the light grey ones (at least it was on mine). Just take the glove box out (un-clip the retaining arm thingy at the LH side, then whip out 3 or 4 screws along the bottom, & it should wiggle out).

The metal cross bracket is a bit of a pain as it stops you removing the whole panel on which the relays are plugged into. If I remember correctly I unfastened a couple of screws on this main panel and also there were a couple of retaining clips which needed pushing back to free it. I then pulled it to one side an inch or two just so that I could unplug the relays around the side of the metal cross.

As I mention in my previous post I just swapped them round and they are still going strong - the spare I bought is still sat in the toolbox in my boot...;-)

Good luck!

Andy

R18/R19 are the right numbers, the book says there "black" (central/main fusbox passenger compartment)

Hi guys sorry to drag this thread up

I have a problem with my rear wiper on a mk1 ford focus as it wont park properly

I replaced the dual r18/r19 relay had too buy two relays at £22 each from Ford garage. But the problem still persists and I am now £44 down with issue unresolved.

Any help please. Thanks