I posted about this a while back but thought the problem had now gone away (Wrong!!!)

My rear wiper has a habit of going off (on intermittant it seems), regardless of the stalk position.

Originally, the dealer had it in, diagnosed a faulty motor and replaced it under warranty.

A few days after it happened again so I booked it in for a few weeks later, although as it never happened again I cancelled the booking as it seemed a waste of everyone's time.

Been fine for a good few months then started doing it again a few weeks back so into the dealer it went again, this time they replaced the stalk on my insistance as the only way to stop it seems to be flashing rear wash then front wash.

Now with a new stalk fitted it's happening yet again over this weekend - phoned the dealer on saturday afternoon, waiting for the service chaps to ring me back on monday.

It's always seemed that going over bumps triggers this (speed humps especially), even at low speeds so I'm now thinking it must be a wiring / connector problem. (slamming the boot down can also trigger it, which was what the dealer found first time in).

I see there are a few threads mentioning this problem but nobody appears to have found a solution?

Is it worth me getting the rear trim off to have a look while I wait for the dealer to book it in again, and if so can anyone offer advice as to how it comes off? I've searched but didn't get any luck for the hatchback.

I must stress that the dealer has been very good with all this but I only have till august in warranty and would really like to get this fixed for good before I have to start paying!!!

So, 25 views and no replies..................... Greeaaaaat!

Not heared of this before, so am not able to offer any solution, sorry. But a problem not fixed under warranty will have to be treated as if the warranty still exists although the warranty may have expired. So if they can't fix it before August, they can not just turn around and charge you.

Thanks for the heads up Quinten, it's good to know at least that they'll have to fix it one way or another if it persists.

Would really like to know whats causing it though as it makes me really annoyed when it happens

I have exactly the same problem, and too changed the motor and also the wiper control unit in the fusebox. It's still the same, can go for months with no problems, and then sometimes can not get the thing to turn off.

Watch out if you remove the tailgate trim panel, it is a real sod to put back !!!

This is driving me flipping crazy now!

Anyone tell me where the relay is located in the fuse box (presume right hand side of steering wheel?) cos if it does it again I'm going to have to unplug the damn thing before I crash the car trying to stop it!!!!!:eek:

Great how one silly problem can completely ruin enjoyment of an otherwise excellent car :thumbdwn:

The relay is in the relay box behind the drivers undertray panel.

This doesnt control the intermittant operation so could be at fault. I would personally check there is no water in the connection on the motor from the washer pipe and that wiring going from the tailgate into the body is in good condition.

Just pull the fuse for the rear wiper if you want it to stop, however this may also control other systems so id check the book first.

I replaced the control unit and it didn't make any difference.

Changed the motor, and the problem went away for over a year, however it is now the same. When changing the motor, there was no evidence of corrosion or water ingress into electrical connections

It may not be much help but I had similar electrical issues in an old Alfa. Although not related to the wipers it effected the cam sensor. So the engine kept cutting out as the ECU didn't know where the cam was (interesting in the fast lane of the motorway). Anyway I noticed that it seemed to be effected by the damp so if the weather was moist or generally a lot of humidity then a couple of days later the problem arose, what eleviated the problem was blathering all the electricals in WD40 to drive out the moisture. Besides that unless you can track down a break in the circuit or a bad earth then there is not much else that I can suggest. If the skoda dealership thing doesn't work then all that can be suggested is that you take it to an auto electrical specialist, but then it comes down to cost vs how much it is annoying you.

Quick update.

It's now had the control relay replaced too so that makes all components related to the circuit apart from the loom replaced, and guess what it still happens :( .

I did manage to get the boot trim off the other day (wasn't planning to but it was loose and came off easy when I pulled) so I was able to work out how the control works etc so I now understand how the system works.

There are 4 wires going to the motor plus the washer pipe - 1 is ground, 1 switched live (with ignition), 1 operates the intermittant wipe when pulled down to ground (it would appear that the timing of around 8 seconds between wipes is done in the motor) and the other wire is wash when connected to 12v live.

This leads me to believe that when the fault occurs there is definately a short to ground on either of the wipe or wash wires (interestingly the wash wire will operate the wipe when grounded also).

I've proved that I can replicate exactly the symptoms I've experienced by holding a wire to ground on either terminal when the ignition is on with the stalk in the off position. (Timed when held down and randomly to continuous with the correct pulsing of the short).

It hasn't done it since I checked all the connections (can't believe there's two in the vicinity of the boot alone!) so I'm just waiting for it to happen again.........

The only possible suggestion my dealer has is possible interference from the sub amp / feed but as I now know the fault to be ground related I find this an extremely unlikely suggestion, although it does give me an excuse to re-route the cables down the centre console and have a tidy up sometime soon (removing the extra unused audio feed I put in for example.)

Will keep posting updates as and when but I'd still be interested to hear from anyone else who's experienced this on an octy primarily.