wipers stopped working - again

[Effy]

About a year ago I had an intermittent wiper issue. Thought it was a bit odd as our unit is fairly new. I never did figure the issue out but it stopped happening and worked fine for the remainder of the year. First trip this year and they won't work at all. A 4 hour trip and tried several times and they simply don't respond to the switch. The washer pump works though. I checked the wiring and everything seems to be connected fine, connection in the box is fine, ground looks solid etc. I have not tried a voltage meter - not sure exactly how I would test that. Short of taking it to the shop I am not sure what else to try. Thoughts?

[SCVJeff]

That says 'Fuse CIRCUIT'. I'll bet that's an auto reset circuit breaker. They're not uncommon to find in-line with wiper motors

[Effy]

Mr.Mark wrote:
Glad that you found it Effy and it was simple but time consuming.

Safe travels,
MM.

Thanks Mark. The odd thing was a volt meter showed it was getting power, but erratic inconsistent power. The fuse is also of a kind I had never seen before. It is all metal, square, 20A. Might be common but I'll be the first to admit electronics, especially 12V is NOT my forte.

Here's what it looks like although this is Dodge.

fuse

I hope this helps anyone chasing down a wiper issue. I bought spares. 🙂

[Mr_Mark1]

Glad that you found it Effy and it was simple but time consuming.

Safe travels,
MM.

[Effy]

if anyone cares - got it fixed. Turned out to be a fuse. That's right a stupid fuse. Wasn't easy to find though as the fuse had fallen out due to loose connections. So tough to figure out a fuse is bad/missing when it isn't there and of course the manufacturer's documentation doesn't have it on the fuse map so you have no indication to actually look for it. All in it cost me $100 to in parts to isolate the issue which isn't too bad, but it took 4 days. Good thing I don't pay myself for my time. But it speaks volumes about Rv's. The lack of quality and more important, consistency and supporting documentation is very problematic. I was told by Thor that the wiring can be different on the exact same models on the very same day if 2 different people are working on electrical. There is no continuity to ensure every unit's systems are the same. So each is unique with no supporting documents to help in cases like this. It's all one-off and routed or put together, or in this case a random slot on a fuse bank.

[Effy]

Not the wiper control module. Took it apart and it's clean and nothing burnt. It still clicks when the wiper switch is turned on so I think it's still trying to supply power. At this point I feel it's the motor, but I am done with it - I've already spent several days I don't have on it. Off to the shop.

[Effy]

Relays by the bcc replaced. Wiper motor taken apart and cleaned (the contacts inside were caked with grease). All connections cleaned a dielectric added. The only thing left before this thing goes to the shop is the wiper control module next to the brake pedal. I can hear it clicking but nothing happens. I will replace that and if still no dice, it goes to the shop. Frustrating..

[Effy]

Don's Lock wrote:
Run a separate 12v line a touch each terminal on the motor.
Don

No terminals on the motor, it's a 5 wire harness that goes directly into the motor.

I can try a hot and ground to the harness leading into it.

Auto parts store only had one relay. So I checked it on both harnesses and nothing.

I was able to unhook the wipers and move by hand so I know they aren't binding.

[Don_s_Lock]

Run a separate 12v line a touch each terminal on the motor.
Don

[Effy]

Finally getting elbows deep into the wipers. No power to the motor. Tried another ground and still no power.

I traced the wires back to what appears to be a relay.

SARL 112dfr.

The wires come to 2 of these but it's hard to tell which one the wipers ran to as the wires are bundled. However, on both of these they were not fully connected and packed with what appeared to be mud. I have no way to test the relays or to see if they are in fact a part of the circuit.

Anyone offer an opinion?

Here is the relay:

relay

[allbrandauto]

when it stops working turn them on and see if somehow you can tap on the motor and see if it works if somehow you can get a picture of the motor I may be able to get a diagrame of the wiring to help you

[Effy]

Thanks to all the replies. I have unhooked and checked all connections and nothing seemed loose or wet. Reconnected snugly and still nothing. We just returned from a trip so I will now lube the mechanics and apply dialectic grease to the connections. I will say that the wire from the BCC to the wiper motor is pretty taught. it was installed that way and it's enough that it would/could "pull" the connections. In other words it's poor install, the wires have no real give and I have to imagine that being under constant tension it could easily separate a connection somewhere - if not in the motor itself. The wiring is fairly easy to get access to but the motor itself is in a tight spot. I had considered removing the motor to bench test it but I can't see exactly how it's attached to the body and wiper mechanics. I'll keep fussing with it but eventually I will just give up and take it to a shop. Shame the chassis is only a few mos out of warranty. Something else occurred to me that I hadn't checked the fuse, but I assumed that if the washer pump worked it's on the same fuse as the motor. Is that a correct assumption? That and it was an intermittent issue before indicating more of a wiring than a fuse where it wouldn't have worked at all. I am starting to really hate Rv's - or at least in the poor methods they assemble them.

I think there is only one bolt that attaches the arms so I will unhook that and check to see if the arms move freely and work backwards. I have read that Ford had an issue of bad switches on the stalk but I can't chase it back that far. At best I can check it back to the BCC. I am hoping I find a wiring/connection issue or a bad motor.

[GREGORYJ]

I had this problem on our 05 W22 Dolphin. The wiper motor plug had got wet from rain entering around the RV's front access door. I dis-connected the wiper motor plug and dried, applied dialectic grease, joined connector, taped over the plug with electricians tape, then located and secured the wire and plug up to a higher and drier location. The problem never occurred again. I hope it turns out to be an easy fix like this.

[SCVJeff]

hottubkid wrote:

SCVJeff wrote:
Buy a tube of dialectric grease and use it on any connectors that get wet. That's what it's for.. you will find it from the factory on countless electrical and RF connectors. It's the foggy clear stuff with the viscosity of Vasolene

Normaly I would agree but my coach is a 2004 and the outside of the connector broke and fell off. So I sealed it. In this case the rtv can be pulled off

For that I'd probably go to self fusing tape. Least all the pieces will be there.. 🙂

[mike_brez]

Turn the wipers on and key if need be and start unplugging and plugging and twisting that is how I found my blinker issue.