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Disco 1 Front Wipers - a common problem?


Worcester Two

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I need some reliable advice please. My D1 wipers have a mysterious fault, I believe the same problem has been raised before on this forum but I cannot trace an answer/solution.

Symptoms: -

In 'intermittent' mode: the wipers travel 1/3rd of screen, pause, travel a further 1/3rd pause, travel to full wipe, then return to 1/3rd position.

In 'I' mode: wipe OK but will not park properly

In 'II' mode: wipe Ok but will not park properly.

I have replaced (albeit with used parts). the wiper assembly of rack and motor, the multi function block (ARM1250), wiper control switch on the steering column (twice), wiper control relay in the footwell and tried an improved earth connection from the wiper directly to the battery. The fault persists!

Any further ideas?

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I need some reliable advice please. My D1 wipers have a mysterious fault, I believe the same problem has been raised before on this forum but I cannot trace an answer/solution.

Symptoms: -

In 'intermittent' mode: the wipers travel 1/3rd of screen, pause, travel a further 1/3rd pause, travel to full wipe, then return to 1/3rd position.

In 'I' mode: wipe OK but will not park properly

In 'II' mode: wipe Ok but will not park properly.

I have replaced (albeit with used parts). the wiper assembly of rack and motor, the multi function block (ARM1250), wiper control switch on the steering column (twice), wiper control relay in the footwell and tried an improved earth connection from the wiper directly to the battery. The fault persists!

Any further ideas?

mine do this sometimes no one could answer the question after a few weeks thay start working ok then will go wrong again i tried a new earth like you said but it still has the same problem the only cure i came up with was to change the wiper motor,but by the time i get around to it thay start to work again. chris

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Hi, You are exactly describing mine, haven't a clue. Rocky

Had this problem a few years ago, only happens occasionally now.

I traced the problem to a bad connection within the wiper motor body. You need to take the wiper motor off the car and take the lid off it. The bad contact is the copper spring contact that presses onto the rotating gear wheel. I'm speaking from memory from a few years ago so you'll have to bear with me for the exact detail, I can't fully remember it.

You need to clean the copper contact and the surface of the wheel on which the contact runs. Part of the wheel surface is an insulated material, when the copper contact runs onto it the motor stops - thats the parked position.

Once you have cleaned both the wheel surface and the contact, the problem should go away.

No parts involved , just emery paper.

If you take the lid off the motor you'll see what I mean. I hope.

Occasionally, when the wipers haven't been used for a while my wipers park erratically. To overcome this I just keep flicking the wipers on until they park correctly. Problem solved for the next few months.

I think all the wiper flicking does is runs the contact on the wheel until any minor corrosion is cleared by scraping again allowing normal operation.

I hope this is of some use.

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Had this problem with mine. The problem is due to one of the small copper wipers inside the motor having broken. The solution is as follows:

Remove the wiper arms

Remove the plastic trim section under the wiper arms which runs across the front of the car

Unscrew the wiper motor from the bulkhead (includes the pantograph arms)

Disconnect the wiring plug

Put the motor on a bench and drill out the 5 rivets round the circular section NB only need to drill the tops off and they're very soft metal

Remove the cover carefully

You will see two small copper wipers together and a third at 90° to these.

One of the two together will be broken

Get a length of 1.5mm dia copper wire about an inch (25mm) long (single core, as used in domestic house wiring)

Solder the copper wire to the broken wiper overlapping by about 10-15mm onto the wiper (or half to 3/4 inch if you prefer)

Cut the end of the copper wire to length and curve the end slightly

Best do the other one too as it will only break ....

Preferably also clean out the old grease and re-grease with a light grease. Not too much!

Reassemble the motor using 5 small self tappers in the spare holes round the casing to secure

Refit the electrical plug and test making sure that you don't trap fingers or catch anything in the actuating arms!

Refitting is the reverse of removal as they say.

Hope this helps. I did take some photos of mine but they were too blurred to be any good.

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