My Dad has an ongoing issue with the front wipers on his 2015 Fabia and all ideas welcome as it's driving us crazy.

 

In short, the front wipers don't work in positions 1, 2 or the single wipe down position. Unless you have first put the stalk into position 3, full speed. After that everything works normally until the wipers are switched off and left for about 2 minutes, then the whole process starts again.

 

It's been ongoing for a while and MOT time's approaching. The car has landed with me after a local VW specialist first identified it as a faulty stalk, swapped it for a new one with no change. Then as a faulty BCM, again swapped for a new one with no change. Following which, they gave up and told him to take it elsewhere. To their credit, they've refunded him in full. They have replaced his original BCM as it would appear to be OK, but left the new switch in place as they'd lost the box and therefore couldn't send it back.

 

I've checked the fuse, the connections and measured no voltage drop across it. There's no sign of corrosion and it all appears OK.

 

I've connected my OBD eleven and found fault code B12D600 - Limit switch for Windscreen Wipers.

 

I've monitored the live data and it records the switch gear performing correctly, regardless of whether the wipers are working or not. We can also hear the BCM relays clicking when activated, regardless of whether the wipers move or not. The washers activate regardless of what the wipers are doing.

 

If I clear the error code whilst the wipers are in 'working mode' it doesn't come back until the wipers stop working, but comes back every time.

 

It's the timing element that's really puzzling me. We were sat in it yesterday with OBD 11 connected and when working the wipers are fine, if left off for a short time they work fine, but consistently when left off for about 2 minutes the fault returns.

 

Has anybody experienced something similar ? Does anybody know what the 'Limit switch for Windscreen Wipers' is ? The next step is probably to try a new wiper motor, but I'm reluctant to follow the VW specialist's lead and keep throwing expensive parts at the problem without a proper diagnosis. 

 

Anybody got any ideas ?

6 minutes ago, badgersport2 said:

Does anybody know what the 'Limit switch for Windscreen Wipers' is ?

Maybe the switch within the motor that ( I guess) tells the BCM where the park position is??

Ringed in red here:

 

It does sound like the kind of thing caused by a lack of lubrication in the wiper spindles I've seen on other cars.

 

It usually ends up that the wiper linkage along with the motor are replaced as the motor is usually weakened by having to fight against the resistance in the spindles and fails after a short time anyway.

 

So, I would be taking off the wiper arms and scuttle panel and disconnecting the motor and maybe even the wiper linkage from the drive axle of the motor and checking the movement of the wiper linkage. It should move nice and freely. If it is only slightly stiff, you should be able to get some loose oil into the spindles and keep working them and they should free up. If very stiff, you would be better to get a new linkage even though it might free up with the same procedure.

 

Also you could try a second hand motor from a scrappy or online auction site. If it is just a failure of the limit switch as suggested by @Breezy_Pete, you shouldn't have to fit a new motor to tell if the problem is fixed.

 

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

Hi, welcome.

 

Also, if you've not already done so, do make sure you OBDEleven program(s) for the 2015 Fabia Mk3 are fully up to date.  If it's not just expected wear 'n' tear (from lower quality VW parts) or the car has been in harsh environment, had rough treatment, badly looked after by your dad (as excuses for lower quality parts) then I don't know if OBDEleven offer technical bulletin type of info from their users use or other databases or users' forum(s) that might deal with the issue your dad's has, you'd hope  a local VW specialist would have checked for this type of info but I'd not rely on them having done so.

 

Let us know how you get on please.

 

ETA: quick Google and top of page is following, it's from USA so I don't know if it applies in your dad's car but just in case and it gives an example of what I meant above.

 

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10180551-0001.pdf

 

MC-10180551-0001.pdf

 

Edited 14 October, 20241 yr by nta16

Thanks for replies so far. Much appreciated

 

The car's 1 owner, low mileage (54K) , garaged and always maintained with genuine parts. Initially by the Skoda dealer and then the same VW specialist. It's only the last few days I've got involved because he's wary of taking it to the dealer and them starting down the change switch gear, then BCM module route again. 

 

Looks like the next step is to remove the scuttle trim, disconnect the linkage and check it's free. Also measure the power going to the motor to see if it's getting voltage. perhaps try and can get an ammeter in there to see what it's drawing. Ultimately if power's going to the motor and it's not working, the problem must be motor or stiff linkage. 

 

It might be the weekend  before I can get a good look at it, but I'll keep you updated.

Sometimes you can just look and listen and/or feel if a mechanism is having difficulty.

 

Though you may need more(?) heavy duty(?) lubricant if grease is involved here is my favoured spray product for maintenance and repair (better than WD-40 but unfortunately, to my mind, now owned by that invasive large American Corporation WD-40 Company), I first used it in the 1980s,.it's good as a penetrating/releasing/cleaning agent and (better and longer lasting than WD-40) lubricant (smells nice too). - GT85 - https://gt85.co.uk/

That's the one I usually use. Not a guarantee, but there's no obvious signs of a seized/semi seized linkage. No noise, the wipers move smoothly when they work, they park properly. 

Breezy-Pete is often right and a good source of information and advice on such matters.

 

A quick update to let you all know how this ended.

 

We fitted a new wiper motor on Saturday and everything now works as it should.

 

A bit of a so and so to change as you've got to undo the detachable part of the bulkhead to get enough clearance to remove the motor. We didn't undo it completely as it's covered in wires, pipes and sound deadening. We just removed the upper bolts and lent on it a bit to get some clearance.  We still had to strip the linkage off in situ and extract it in bits, then assemble the new one inside the scuttle, but we got it done in the end and the wipers now work perfectly. I suspect the wiper motor is one of the first things that's bolted to the car when it's built. Last bit of useful info; the bolts holding the bulkhead in are T30. not T25 as per a you tube video of someone with a similar problem.  Don't want to risk rounding them off and making the job even more difficult,

 

Many thanks to you all for the help and support.

Edited 28 October, 20241 yr by badgersport2
typo

Good stuff!

 

I've even wondered some times if VW Group every used T27, but certainly using a T25 instead of a T30 could make things a bit annoying, I've used hex bits accidentally on rusted up components when it should have been Torx - same outcome usually = nightmare!

 

Some of my previous cars, maybe Fords actually had a shield/cover over the top end of the wiper spindle - to avoid or minimise the amount of water getting into that spindle area, SEAT, I remember from my older daughter's early 2002 Ibiza, had the water drain hole running down directly onto the top of the linkage ball joint on the driver's side - that caused that fail annoyingly!

 

I remember attempting to free up the spindles on my wife's previous 2002 Polo when I noticed that the wiper speed had dropped a bit when it was maybe 10 years old, I feed oil down into the spindle area and worked it up and down to encourage the oil to wash "stuff" down and out, that seemed to work, her current 2015 Polo maybe should get that area looked at BEFORE it causes a problem!

@rum4mo if you want to flush "stuff" out and penetrate, release and lubricate the red can with the red straw is good for this. if required at a later point a heavier lubricant can be use but GT85 is quite long lasting.

 

I wondered if my neighbour's GM might have a T27 as despite his wide range of tools in his home garage neither of us could find a fit, neither of us have good eyesight and of course cars always have black fixings against black bits of plastic, in dark, dirty (it was a diesel) engine bays.  I went to another neighbour to try his cheap set of various security bits.  It turned out to be a 5-sided security (raised pin bit in centre) Torx, I didn't even know such things existed at the time.

 

I've found US. Pro / Bergen tools fine for DIY occasional use so bought a set for this one job and have never used them since.  I've bought a few tools or tools sets and had the same happen, I often just give them away as I don't like to have stuff that just sits around doing nothing, that's too much competition for me.