Car: 2005 Focus 1.6 LX hatchback.

Problem: When the rear wiper is turned on it only wipes about a 1/3(ish) of the screen & stops. Turn it off & on again & it wipes another 1/3(ish). You have to turn in on & off 7 times for it to return to its start position.

When you select reverse (with the front wipers turned on) it wipes the whole screen in one complete motion & continues to do so until you remove from reverse, then it just stops where ever it is.

Its done this ever since I have had the car & haven't found anyone who has a clue as to what is causing it. I only remember when it starts raining & I have to reverse the car off the drive.

I have replaced, in order: the stalk switch, wiper motor. Tested all the electrical connections with no success.

It could well be a chafed cable in the conduit between the roof and hatch.

Over time the bending and flexing that occurs when the boot is opened/closed plus a tendency for cable insulation to get brittle can result in wires getting damaged.

Nope, not there. Checked all that completely, not a sign of a crack or chafed cable in sight.

Daft thing is you can hear the relay in the GEM clicking on & off, but it seems as though it has lost the time setting. The measured amount of time it takes to sweep one way then return to its start position.

It only started doing this after the ABS pump sensor developed a problem & the car was left for about 6 weeks with the battery disconnected.

Duff relay then I suspect.

THat's what I thought but why does it make a full sweep of the screen when the front wipers are on & the car in reverse?

separate circuit perhaps

my old Golf used to do this...changed the motor and it was sorted. then it started happening again...this time the nut on the wiper was loose!