Hi All, 

The rear wiper of my Fabia II from 2009 only works intermittently.
When I enable it, it moves about halfway, then stops for a few seconds, then goes another quarter, stops again and so on. The working/not working intervals seem random. 
When I use the washer it works perfectly fine, as soon as the few wipes from washing finish it works intermittent again. 

Does anyone know what could be causing this issue? 
Or alternatively, does anyone have the wiring schematics of the rear wiper and related switches (in the lock mechanism I'm guessing?), so I can have a closer look at what could be causing this?
I suspect a bad connection or maybe a microswitch...

Thanks!

Most likely a wire on the verge of failing, on its way into the tailgate, I suspect.

Delve inside the rubber/plastic bellows to inspect.

14 hours ago, Wino said:

Most likely a wire on the verge of failing, on its way into the tailgate, I suspect.

Delve inside the rubber/plastic bellows to inspect.

Thanks for the tip! 
I've just had a look in the bellow, but didn't find any visible damage to the wires. 
When it stops raining I'll pop the plastic cover on the tailgate to inspect the rest of the wires.

Have lost 'tension' in mine have to push the rear wiper blade down when stalk activated & it suddenly springs back into action... No good if you already set off tho...I have to do this at least once a week.. don't know what the fix is. 

3 hours ago, Kobayashi said:

Have lost 'tension' in mine have to push the rear wiper blade down when stalk activated & it suddenly springs back into action... No good if you already set off tho...I have to do this at least once a week.. don't know what the fix is. 

 

Have checked to see if the motor spindle is spinning "inside" the wiper ? would make sense if pushing down causes it to move.

Will try have look

I've had a look at the wiring of my rear wiper/switches, that all seems fine - also behind the trim no damange to the wires. 
I still suspect some switch/endstop in the mechanism. Anyone who could help me find the schematics? 

Its canbus controlled and has a canbus controller on the motor PCB, no schematic, just power, earth and a twisted pair for comms. The rear wiper stalk switch is wired to the body control module.

 

You can gain some time by greasing the drive gears and removing the motor brush gear end cap to lubricate the bush, after a year mine went again on the journey to deliver the car to its new owner, I wish I had spent the €30 to replace it.

 

The above is on the assumption that the Fabia has the same motor type as the Octavia, I believe it has and your failure mode is identical to mine.

1 minute ago, J.R. said:

Its canbus controlled and has a canbus controller on the motor PCB, no schematic, just power, earth and a twisted pair for comms. The rear wiper stalk switch is wired to the body control module.

 

You can gain some time by greasing the drive gears and removing the motor brush gear end cap to lubricate the bush, after a year mine went again on the journey to deliver the car to its new owner, I wish I had spent the €30 to replace it.

 

The above is on the assumption that the Fabia has the same motor type as the Octavia, I believe it has and your failure mode is identical to mine.

 

Thanks for your input. Indeed I saw a four wire connector to it. In that case I'll replace it, just saw one for €15 euro! 

It's not CAN, @J.R. and @Douwe, not on this car. There are 4 wires but the two that aren't ignition switched 12V and earth go to either side of the motor at the washer pump on the fluid reservoir (as well as elsewhere).

ErWin Skoda will sell you schematics for 7 euros plus tax, or I may be able to find some info later this evening. 

heres the wiring diagrams..........I only charge 6 euros and no tax

 

The circled 334 is where the track / run continues to the fuse box in the first piccy.

 

 

 

 

Edited 3 December, 20214 yr by UrbanPanzer

Thanks very much @UrbanPanzer!
Also to you @Wino for pointing out so quickly it is not can-bus based. 

This is interesting, because by the looks of it we have power (black + brown), window washer input (WW green/red)) and the trigger/interval for the wiper (green/white).

I'll measure the two pins tomorrow. In case the "WW" signal is used to signal that it should wipe and spray at the same time, then probably the "INT" pin might be on the verge of failing somewhere, should be measurable if it's not a continuous signal. And I can double check on the 10-pin connector in the trunk! Awesome

Misread a few things - Since the pump is connected between WW and INT it would activate if INT is intermittent/failing. More likely is that the switch inside V12 is not functioning well and "signalling" the wiper module that it is back at it's starting position. 
Will still measure INT and WW for continuity. If they are fine, it must be the switch right?

Update: I measured the 4pin connector, and indeed the WW signal is intermittent. Next thing is to measure the continuity of the wire from the 10pin connector.
Am I right this connector should be located behind the trim on the left (driver)-side of the trunk? 

will behind the LEFT hand side (looking forward from the back), whether thats driver side or not depends on which country your in 😉

I have a left hand drive, with an intermittant rear wiper. There appears to be power on the black/brown. Although i need to double check the green wires.
I am not clear, where to find this 10pin wiring loom referred to here. Can someone give me a dummies guide to where to find it please.
What do i have to remove to access it?

On 03/12/2021 at 19:54, Douwe said:

Misread a few things - Since the pump is connected between WW and INT it would activate if INT is intermittent/failing. More likely is that the switch inside V12 is not functioning well and "signalling" the wiper module that it is back at it's starting position. 
Will still measure INT and WW for continuity. If they are fine, it must be the switch right?

did you get to the bottom. you diagnosis would seem to fit me. I had good connections and the green/white is signalling reliably, as does the black have a good +12v, so seems the V12 is the problem for me. Have taken to the arm out, and will pull it apart later tonight.

Do you know the torque required for putting the arm back in place?

If the power signals are continuous on the wiper motor assembly, it is likely the switch inside the assembly that is broken. 
In the end I replaced my whole assembly, and it worked straight away. 
 

I still have to disassemble the old thing to make sure it is indeed the switch that was broken, but sure looks like it.  

Regarding the arm, mine was so tight the nut broke with the wiper puller, so had to replace the arm as well... The torque I did by gut feeling, my manual didn't mention a number for it. 

Hey guys, I just fixed a very similar problem on my car where the rear wiper only worked intermittently. The culprit was cracked solder and thus poor connection on the circuit board that sits within the rear wiper assembly.

See my last post here for photos:

 

I had exactly the same problem, and the solution posted by Illiteratus  was dead right.  I resoldered the two dry solder joints and hey presto now got a working rear wiper again. Thanks for the info. !! The hardest part was removing the wiper motor cover, in particular the two metal clips caused me grief, as not knowing what they looked like meant I struggled a bit.

 

I just had the same problem. A dash of solder and all working!

Have same problem again. Thats now 4 cars with the same symptoms. 2 octavia, 1 fabia and a seat. Random working and then wiper stops somwhere on rear window then randomly starts again and eventualliy fails to move. Previously I just replaced motors but will check for dry solder joints. It always decides to fail in winter when you needit most.

Thanks

Alasdair