Hi all,

Probably been covered somewhere on here in a thread, but I couldn't anything pertaining specifically to my problem.

My front wipers stopped working the other day for some reason. When i move the stalk into position i can hear the relay(?) click - so don't think its that.

I have checked both 20A fuses in the fuse box in the far right of the dash, in which, according to this diagram provided by another user on here: http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s226/ronnocor/SkodaOctaviaFuseBoardRHD.jpg

the fuse in position F24 is the one for the wiper system.

What do you guys reckon, short of me taking it down the local garage? Do you think its the front motor? For references the pump works as I can squirt the water onto the screen, just cant the bloody stuff off! lol

Thanks in advance to any responses!

Steve

Possible the linkage has siezed up, I took mine apart last year and greased it all up as the wipers were very slow

^^^^^ As above common problem did mine last year ^^^^^

Seem to happen all at once though which i thought was strange

I would start by taking off the scuttle panel and checking for any power at the wiper motor. If you have power, then either the motor has failed or the linkage has seized. Hd you notice the wiper movement to be slow and juddery before total failure.

Otherwise if there is no power, then there is an electrical issue somewhere (not familiar with the wiper circuits), so either the stalk (unlikely if you can hear a relay), or somewhere between, assuming F24 is the correct fuse!

My wipers have seized up twice in my period of ownership. First time I needed a lowloader to get home, the second time I spotted the symptoms and gave the spindles a drink of plusgas till I could get home (as I was in Preston at the time).

Thanks very much for the replies guys.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I can get my scuttle panel out as over the winter I had a problem with water leaking into the pollen filter, and found that the seal between the windscreen and scuttle was at fault - allowing a lot of water to fall literally straight on to the filter and fill up my passenger footwell!

So as a result of this and as a quick messure we had to silicon seal the windscreen :/

How would I go about checking if there's power in the motor? Unfortunately I know my way around a Honda but this is my first Skoda so I'm a bit of a noob!

I might try giving them a squirt with plus gas to see if there's any movement and double checking all the fuses :S

I had the same problem on my previous octy tdi I used to use some wd and give them a wiggle while there switched on i found that effective and it never returned however I had my windowscreen replaced a few months after so I asked the auto glass guy to leave the scuttle panel off so I could strip and clean all the linkages

Water should not drip onto the pollen filter, the scuttle is not meant to be waterproof. If you can see the filter with the scuttle removed then the cover is missing, which is actually what is meant to stop water getting in.

To sort the linkage, the scuttle will have to come off anyway regardless.

Ok thanks guys, will try the suggested and report back.

mannyo - I wasnt aware that there was meant to be a cover on the box - first time i've had one in a car tbh! lol

I need to get my windscreen replaced soon anyways as I've got a few chips near the drivers line of site (A Frame) - so will get them to leave the scuttle off so that i can replace the filter and apply the cover. Do you know where I could get hold of a Pollen Filter cover from? Presumably it resembles a smaller version of the air filter cover?

Thanks again for the responses, it's great that this forum is so active compared to most!

You will be able to get the pollen filter cover from most breakers yards

I have never seem a pollen filter cover.... Anyone got a picture? Also note the "sealed up hole" to the right.... Most of the water which drains off the passenger side of the windscreen will pass over that grommet/ hole.

Mine just looks like this:

The black plastic ring around the edes of the pollen filter is the cover the scuttle it supposed to do the rest ...

The black plastic ring around the edes of the pollen filter is the cover the scuttle it supposed to do the rest ...

Arh, so mine is as it should be. Thanks.

Oh right, mines like that. With the filter on show. Mannyo made it sound like it was supposed to be completely covered :p lol

The water was passing through the filter on mine and escaping through the bottom of the plastic air unit (through the seams) and onto the carpet etc :/

Edited 8 January, 201313 yr by Lowlife

its a bad design but its the same on most vag group cars ...

I've solved it!

Put the wipers on full blast and then moved them by hand to the top position and back down again and they just started working as normal from there.

So do you think they were seized up then?

If there were seized, that won;t have cured it. You will need to remove the linkage and clean it up.

Here is the rust pitting on mine (after I cleaned them up). You then need to pack it full of grease between the bushes and reassemble.

Ill second mbames. My wipers used to seize in winter, a wiggle and they would fix themselves, but they got worse and worse. I took the mechanism apart one day and cleaned and greased it all up, easy fast fixed and soo quiet!!! Take a couple of hours out and do it properly. Do it now before its heavy snow and the motor fails!

The key is to fix it as soon as you start to notice them moving a bit slower or with a slight judder.... much better than getting stuck in the middle of nowhere in the piuring rain as your wipers don't move.

I found that once I have cleaned it all up, they lasted 4-5 years before needing doing again.

Thanks for the help guys. Could anyone point me in the direction of a how to? Like mentioned before, I wanna do it once, do it right!

Have a search, it has been covered on here, by me, and others.

Basically:

- remove the wiper arms

- remove the scuttle cover

- disconnect loom from wiper motor

- remove the 3 securing bolts /nuts (can't remember which)

- remove the linkage

- mark the linkage up (so you know how to reassemble it later)

- remove the motor

- remove the circlips and slide the spindles out of the bushes

- clean up the spindles

- clean up inside the bushes

- pack out with grease between the bushes

- reassemble (reverse of above)

And dont bash the studs with a hammer to remove them if they are seized! Thats not good..... I found that the hard way, common sense really!

Edited 15 January, 201313 yr by whitep

a bit of plus-gas can help there ;-)