The wipers do not work: the cause of the malfunction and their elimination

15.08.2019

Issues discussed in the material:

• How and when were windshield wipers invented?
• What are the main reasons why wipers may stop working?
• How can I fix this mechanism?
• Why the rear windshield wiper may fail

When something in your car doesn't function properly, you begin to experience inconvenience and even irritation. For people who are accustomed to the perfect functioning of their personal car, driving a faulty vehicle is especially difficult. Windshield wiper failure is one of the most annoying problems. Why don't the wipers work? The cause of the malfunction can be single or complex. Let's figure it out.

History of the creation of wipers

A windshield wiper is a mechanism that removes drops of rain or dirt from the windows of a car (windshield, and sometimes rear). In the modern world, windshield wipers, or windshield wipers as they are popularly called, are usually installed on every car, train, plane or ship.

Rain, mud and snow caused a lot of trouble for drivers back in the early 20th century. The very first cars did not have windshield wipers. When the pollution was severe, the cars stopped, and the drivers themselves worked as “windshield wipers,” manually wiping the windows to improve visibility. In this case, various cleaning compounds were used.

For a very long time, the most convenient way to clean glass was to use a special scraper with a strip of rubber, with which the driver could remove dirt directly from his seat without leaving the car. At this point, it's pretty clear that this isn't the best way to improve visibility, although people had a different opinion in the early 20th century.

The patent for the first windshield wiper was received in 1903 by American Mary Anderson. She came up with this idea while moving from Alabama to New York. While traveling on a tram on a frosty day, she noticed that the driver was driving with the windshields open, as it was impossible to clean them due to heavy snowfall. She came back to Alabama and arranged with a designer and a local company to make a working device.

Her idea was to use a rubber scraper with special rods and a return spring, which made it possible to control its movements from inside the car. Using a special lever, the invented mechanism pressed a scraper with an elastic band against the glass, the device described an arc, clearing the glass of rain, snow or dirt, and returned to its original position. Similar mechanisms had been proposed before, but Mary Anderson came up with the first truly effective cleaning device.

Unfortunately, Mary Anderson's invention was not properly appreciated by her contemporaries. In 1903, the number of cars was very small, Mary Anderson's idea did not arouse enthusiasm among both car manufacturers and their buyers. Critics did not take it seriously and believed that activating the windshield wipers would distract drivers' attention from the road. Their attitude changed dramatically in 1908, when Henry Ford assembled his first car. By 1913, most machines were equipped with an invented cleaning mechanism.

Time passed, and Mary Anderson's patent ceased to be valid. As is usually the case, Mary Anderson did not make any profit from her idea. However, it is noteworthy that it was also a female inventor, Charlotte Bridgwood, who came up with the idea of ​​automating the windshield wiper. She managed the Bridgwood Manufacturing Company in New York. In 1917, Charlotte Bridgwood received a patent for the first electric roller wiper. She called it Storm Windshield Cleaner.

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Preventative measures to increase the service life of windshield wipers

To maximize the life of your windshield wipers, you should not:

• turn them on when the glass is dry and dirty;
• use an incorrectly adjusted washer;
• leave the brushes in one position for a long time;
• turn on the wipers, despite the blades freezing to the glass;
• clear icy glass;
• Do not allow oil to get on the rubber of the brushes.

In addition, it is useful for prevention:

• systematically clean the rubber bands of the brushes and the windshield from fat deposits and dirt;
• weekly, with the brushes raised, turn on the wipers for a couple of minutes to self-clean the electric motor commutator;
• when parking the car for a long time, raise the windshield wiper arms above the glass by 5–20 mm by placing matchboxes or bottle caps under them to eliminate contact of the rubber tape with the glass;
• develop the habit in winter of removing ice from the blades only manually, turning on the wipers only when there is a complete absence of ice on them and the glass.

The wipers stopped working: the most common reasons

Over time, every car owner is faced with the fact that the wipers suddenly stop functioning. Problems that arise reveal themselves either by a complete stop or by the appearance of extraneous sounds during operation (for example, creaking).

The mechanical part of the windshield wiper is usually very reliable. Therefore, usually wipers may not work for the following reasons:

1. Large wear-out of moving parts of the system or lack of lubrication in required places . In order for the windshield wiper mechanism to work properly and not fail for unknown reasons, inspection and maintenance are required, albeit not too often.
2. Improper use of wipers . As an example, in the winter season, before turning them on, you need to unfasten them from the glass (ideally, melt the ice on them). Failure to do this may result in fuse, motor, or drive rod failure during startup.

As a rule, the cause of windshield wiper failure is often a malfunction of the electrical part of the device:

• The hum of the motor is not heard, the wipers do not work (they do not move in any of the operating modes) . In this case, the cause may be a malfunction of the following elements: wiring, connectors, switches or gear motor.
• The wipers work, but very slowly . Most likely, the reason is also in the gear motor. The drive mechanisms may have become oxidized and rusted. Usually they need to be cleaned and lubricated or checked for correct assembly of the mechanism.
• When the intermittent mode is on, the windshield wipers operate continuously . The reason is most likely a broken relay, which will have to be replaced since it is not repairable. If the wipers are working and the sound of the motor is heard, you can also diagnose a malfunction of the breaker relay.
• You can hear the engine running, but the wipers don't move . In this case, the reason is most likely a break in the rod or contact elements.
• The windshield wiper arm does not work . The cause of the malfunction may be oxidation or damage to the contact elements of the traction rod.
• The windshield wipers do not work correctly - they do not move to their original positions . The cause of the breakdown in this case may be improper installation, problems in the contact group of the gear motor, wear or shearing of the splines on the brush drives.
• The wipers do not work when the washer fluid is applied to the windows . The cause may be a broken steering column switch or defective wiring and electrical connections.

Reasons for mechanical windshield wiper failure include:

• Self-unscrewing (full or partial) of the nut connecting the crank to the gear axle . Such a defect is easy to determine when the wipers are on, since the gear motor is working, but the brushes do not move.
• The nut securing the wiper arm is loose or its thread has been stripped . The reason may be incorrect installation of the leash in the initial position. Avoiding this is quite simple - you need to tighten the nuts with the required torque, and before final tightening you need to put the windshield wipers in the desired position.
• The wipers do not clean the glass due to a poor fit . The simplest reason is wear of the brushes themselves. The brushes simply need to be replaced. The second most common reason is poor adherence of the brushes to the glass due to mechanical interference. An option to eliminate it is to clean the wiper of foreign objects that interfere with normal pressure. But if none are found, then it is necessary to inspect the wiper mechanism, disassemble it, find and replace parts with a lot of wear.

From the above it follows that the reason that the wipers do not work can be either a malfunction of the electric motor or wiring, or a failure of the mechanical component of the vehicle unit in question. The trapezoid, the mechanism for driving and moving the wipers, is very often prone to breakdowns. Read further in the article for what to do when your windshield wiper breaks or does not work.

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Motor

On most modern cars, the wiper motor is protected by special protection against overheating. That is, if out of habit you turn on the wipers with the windshield covered with snow, then voltage simply will not be supplied to the motor if it is unable to turn the blades. On domestic cars, the wiper motor is usually made with such a reserve of power that it seems that it could well replace the starter. In any case, it’s worth getting out of the car and listening to see if the motor works when you turn on the wipers. If there are no sounds, then time and dampness have probably ruined the motor itself. But if the sound of operation is present, and the brushes do not move, then perhaps the problem is a frozen trapezium of the wipers.

What to do with a faulty electric motor

First check if the electric motor is working properly. To do this, first make sure that the fuse responsible for its operation is serviceable. If the engine does not spin and the fuse is in good order, it makes sense to check the integrity of the electrical wiring and that there are no broken wires or short circuits.

Very often, the gear motor for the wiper drive stops working due to foreign parts or objects getting into it, such as keys or something similar. Car owners often keep a tool under the hood so that it is always at hand in case of any problems. If you determine that the cause of the malfunction is that the electric motor does not work, then there are only two options for further action - either replace it with a new one, or give it to an auto electrician for restoration.

To replace the electric motor in the gear motor, you will only need a 12 key and a certain amount of time. It is important to pay attention to the strength of the electric motor fastening, since if it is not fastened tightly enough, it will very quickly break the trapezoid. This operation is not complicated; it is enough to put the trapezoid in the desired position so that the wipers stop in the required place.

If the wipers are not working well, the cause may be faulty electrical wiring. First, they check the fuses, which very often burn out and simply do not allow electric current to pass through. The fuse box is installed both under the hood and inside the vehicle, depending on the manufacturer and model.

Sometimes the cause of the malfunction is torn wires as a result of poor repairs. If, for example, after visiting a car service center your wipers do not work, then most likely the technicians cut the wiring and did not notice it.

It is necessary to check the electrical circuits of the windshield wipers, if possible. But it is best to take the car to a trusted auto repair shop and repair the damaged wiper power wires.

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Design and principle of operation

The wipers operate using a small DC electric motor. It has a built-in gearbox.

As with many electric motors, the wiper drive has an armature in its design. There are 3 brushes inside. They allow the brushes to work in the 3 modes listed above. In addition, the system consists of other important elements. Namely:

The switch, as well as the fuse, are located directly in the gearbox housing of the electric motor. All other elements are located in a special mounting block. And designers most often place the block itself under the hood of a vehicle.

It is quite logical that all components of the electrical circuit are connected to each other using wiring and mounting blocks.

The principle of operation is clear. Voltage is supplied to the electric motor, it receives the necessary current, which allows the brushes to move at one speed or another. Relays allow you to select the desired speed, and the steering column switch activates one or another operating mode.

What to do if the trapezoid “flies”

The trapezoid is one of the most complex devices in the overall mechanism of the wiper system. At the moment, no car manufacturer will provide a guarantee for the long-term operation of the windshield wiper drive mechanism.

Elementary jamming of the wipers or their increased pressing into the glass, illiterate activation of the wipers (for example, glass frozen in frost) - all this can cause the trapezoid to break.

In order for the mechanism to start working normally again, the following measures can be taken:

• Buying and replacing a trapezoid with a new one is the best option for domestic cars; their windshield wiper mechanism is estimated at 1000–1500 rubles.
• For foreign-made cars, buying a new trapezoid will be quite expensive; here it is more advisable to repair or replace the parts that caused the mechanism to fail.
• It is common for trapezoid bushings and tips to break. They are often made of plastic and cannot withstand extreme cold at all, they crack, and they are most often replaced.
• If it is very difficult to find a repair kit for the trapezium of your car, you can try to find bushings and other necessary spare parts from the mechanisms of other cars of the same class or close to them.
• The trapezoid must be changed if the repairs made do not eliminate the malfunction, or if subsequently, when the mechanism is working, extraneous knocks are heard.

Any sounds coming from the trapezoid may be a warning sign. This call signals that the entire device may stop working. This is not a reason to immediately replace the trapezoid. You can continue to operate the device until it completely breaks down, or try to eliminate play and gaps in its components using ordinary tools. This simple job can usually be done right outside or in the garage.

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Fastenings

Let's start with the banal - first of all, we check the nuts on the shafts of the wipers themselves. Perhaps this winter they have weakened and require tightening. At the same time, all other parts of the mechanism may work properly, but frozen windshield wipers simply will not rise due to loose fasteners. Checking this version is quite simple - just try to move the wipers along the glass with your hands. If this happens, then you should remove the protective rubber or plastic caps at the base of the wipers and tighten the nuts on the fastenings. But if the brushes sit tightly in their intended place and do not move, then perhaps the problem may be somewhat deeper than you expected.

Actions in case of faulty steering column switches

Nowadays, in most cars, windshield wipers are activated by turning on the steering wheel stalks. The latter must be reliable, perform efficiently and provide the necessary signals to turn on the windshield wipers. Most often, the handle breaks, the switch does not transmit signals, and this is precisely the reason why the wipers do not work.

But this failure can be eliminated by the following steps:

• It is necessary to free the steering column from the plastic attachments in order to see the places and method of attaching the steering column switches. To perform this simple job you only need to unscrew a few bolts;
• With the switch removed, when using a tester, it is easy to check its performance by connecting the probes to different contacts in turn and turning on different operating modes of the wipers;
• if the switch itself breaks, it is usually replaced with a new one; installing it is as simple as removing it;
• if all the equipment works, then you need to look for other reasons - most likely, you need to check the switch connection contacts.

Often the cause of the malfunction is that the wires that need to be put in place are simply disconnected from the terminals of the steering column switch. Most likely, after studying and conducting a complete analysis of the causes of electrical failures, you will be able to quickly diagnose problems and easily bring the system into working order. No special abilities or highly specialized devices are required. All you have to do is to properly restore the operation of simple windshield wiper systems.

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Let's sum it up

If reliable operation of the windshield wiper is your priority, you should pay attention to all possible ways that parts may fail. The knocking trapeze should attract your attention and in a certain way force you to examine the situation. Most likely, the knocking will lead to the fact that you will soon have to replace the device with a new one and buy high-quality replacement parts. But it is quite possible that you just need to get to the trapezoid and tighten the fastenings of its parts in order to eliminate the knocking and continue to operate the device perfectly.

High-quality work of wipers is necessary in any car, so you should immediately solve all problems that arise, taking into account their features and technical difficulties. Replacing the relay can be done in a garage, but it is better to change the trapezoid and wiper motor in a service center. This way, you can get the necessary capabilities for operating the machine without any problems and acquire the necessary performance qualities of peripheral devices. Have you ever encountered problems with your wipers?

How to fix relay problems

When the windshield wiper is not operating intermittently, the blades often do not return to their original position. In this case, the cause of the problem is a faulty relay. At the same time, the wipers operate in continuous mode, as well as in the accelerated windshield cleaning mode. The reason is that these operating modes bypass the breaker relay; they are connected directly to the switch contacts. If the windshield wiper breaker relay fails, then simply replace it using the following procedure:

• Find the location of the relay installation in the car - on the Internet, in the instruction manual, or from information from specialists.
• Then remove the non-working relay from its original place, rewrite the device number to eliminate an error when purchasing a new replacement part.
• Next, in an online store or a regular store, purchase the necessary part from the original manufacturer, focusing on the device number.
• When you receive the part you need from the seller, be sure to review it. Make sure this is the exact part that the manufacturer installed on your vehicle at the factory.
• Install the new relay in its original place with the ignition and steering column switch turned off.
• Turn the ignition key to the "on" position and check how the wipers work with the new relay.

On inexpensive cars, the wiper operating modes are quite simple. They can be modified by installing a relay from a standard manufacturer, but with different output data. It is popular to replace a simple car relay in the basic configuration with a special one, with the ability to adjust the pause between the operation of the wipers. This option makes the driver’s work easier and also increases traffic safety.

Drainage

The water from the windshield simply has to drain somewhere, and this, of course, should have been foreseen by the engineers. Of course, the compartment in which the trapezoid operates has its own drain hole, but sometimes during operation the car’s drainage becomes clogged, and this fact can backfire, especially with our winters. Inside, there may be autumn leaves, spring dirt, summer dust and winter salty sand that clog the drain hole. Because of this, the water simply does not go anywhere, and at sub-zero temperatures it freezes, hindering the movement of the windshield wipers. To prevent troubles with dead wipers from happening again, we strongly recommend checking the cleanliness of the drainage hole. Otherwise, despite your best efforts, your windshield wipers will turn into real estate again the next cold night.

Car brush repair

If it is determined that the reason for the malfunction of the car wiper blade is the wear of the working surface of the edge of the rubber band, then it can be restored without even removing the wiper from the windshield wiper arm. To do this, you need to take a plate of non-bending material, for example, multi-layer plywood, and glue a sheet of the same size of fine-grained sandpaper onto it. The longer the plate is, the better the quality of the edge.

The main thing when doing this work is to try to grind the rubber tape evenly along its entire length to prevent failures, otherwise stripes may remain on the glass in these places when the wiper is working.

It is even better to sand the rubber band by gluing sandpaper to a plate that is 10-15 cm longer than the length of the brush itself. Then the work will be much easier to complete with a better end result. After every few passes, you need to check the result so that you get right angles and do not grind off excess rubber, since it will still be useful for subsequent repairs. In this way, the tape can be restored several times.

If the rubber band has completely become unusable, and the frame is still in good condition, then it is advisable to replace it with a new one. For replacement, you can also use a used rubber band, torn on the moving side along the neck line, removed from a longer brush. Removing the rubber band is not difficult.

First you need to use the blade of a screwdriver to slightly bend the rubber band rocker support clamp to the side.

The rubber band is removed from the rocker arm support tabs. Elastic plates are removed from the tape. Sometimes the elastic plates are bent, and you need to remember which way to go in the same way in the groove of the new rubber band. Sometimes the recesses in the plate are smaller than the protrusions in the tape groove. Then you need to use a file to adjust the samples to size.

A new rubber band prepared for replacement is threaded through a groove through all the rocker arm support clamps. The tape should move freely, but without play, along the rocker arms. If any of the supports does not provide free movement or the tape in it is too loose, then you need, accordingly, to slightly move the legs apart or tighten them.

After threading the rubber wiper band into the arms of the rocker arms, you just need to use pliers to squeeze the clamp and the blade is ready for installation on the car windshield wiper arm.

As you can see, by spending just ten minutes you can give a second life to your brush. Such repairs are especially relevant for expensive branded wipers.

Total

Windshield wiper failure can occur for quite trivial reasons:

• fuse F5 burned out;
• the terminals of the connecting blocks are oxidized or burnt;
• wires are faulty;
• relay K5 524.3747 broke;
• ordered the steering column switch to “live for a long time”;
• the nut that attracts the trapezoid crank to the gearbox has become loose;
• the nuts securing the levers to the trapezoid shafts were unscrewed;
• The brushes are frozen to the glass.

Often, wipers on models of the VAZ 2110 family do not work due to complex faults:

• oxidation/burning, insufficient pressing force of the contacts of the limit switch located on the gearbox cover;
• brushes hanging in the gearmotor;
• burnout/contamination of the collector;
• break in the armature winding;
• chipping of gear teeth in the gearbox.

How the windshield is heated in the resting zone of the brushes

Standard option

Standard heating is quite simple. On the windshield, in the resting area of ​​the brushes, there are conductive tracks that heat this particular area of ​​the glass. To turn on the heating of the rest zone of the windshield wiper blades, the same button is usually used as for heating the mirrors, rear window, or, much less often, a separate button.

Heating kit for self-installation

A kit for self-installation most often consists of a flexible transparent self-adhesive film with a conductive track and lead-out pads applied to it. They are available in different capacities and lengths, which must be selected based on your car.

You will also need a relay of at least 40A, a fuse, contacts and a power button.

Replacing damaged parts

New windshield wiper trapezoid

If the brush springs are damaged or lose elasticity, they will need to be replaced. It is recommended to check how they move in the appropriate holder. If they jam, then worn or existing chips are replaced. In this case, the leads of the new parts are soldered to the corresponding holder.

The collector is cleaned with sandpaper (if there are scratches or other defects on it). If this unit is burnt or worn out, then the gearbox and armature are replaced. Replacement of the gearbox gear is carried out with a similar condition of the teeth. Bent rods are straightened or replaced with new ones. Damaged splines or roller threads require replacement of the rod assembly. All cracked, torn and weak rubber cushions are replaced with new parts.

The procedure for replacing windshield wipers on a “nine” begins with dismantling the main windshield mechanism.

To do this, use a set of screwdrivers and wrenches. Initially, the negative wire of the battery terminal is disconnected. The windshield wiper arms rotate vertically. The nuts are unscrewed and these elements are removed from the rollers.

The next step is to unscrew and remove the levers. If they cannot be removed with light force, then you need to slightly unscrew the nut securing the lever. Using pliers, the last element is moved from the slots. The lever and protective caps on each side can then be removed. The same should be done with the nuts that belong to the upper bracket mount.

Next, the hood of the car is opened and the connector is disconnected from the block. The heating fan is moved to the right (relative to the compartment located in front of the windshield), and the cover is removed from the corresponding unit. After disconnecting the connector, the relays are removed from it. The next step involves removing the lower mounting bolt. Then the holder is pulled out and the wiper rollers are removed from the holes in the body.