Hot wiper motor.

[Wabs]

Hi All,some advice needed here,,wipers have been moving very slowly,so lubed everything in sight,,went to prep van for trip. ( in storage), wipers wouldn’t move,,gave the wiper motor a gentle nudge with rubber mallet,no joy,,then found the motor to be very hot,,any ideas??? Pretty please...

 

[irnbru]

Buy a new motor perhaps.

 

[Wabs]

Buy a new motor perhaps.

Just ordered one today, I hope I haven’t jumped the gun,,just wanted to know if anyone had any other ideas,ie different probs and so on,,

 

[Spriddler]

Could be several things causing the overheating. Most likely are a stiff or seized linkage (even though you've lubed it) or motor windings shorting. If the motor has become very hot the insulation on the windings will likely have softened and broken down rendering it economically unrepairable. It may be problematic to take it apart (usually they're a 'sealed' unit) or there's no availability of parts. A garage wouldn't arse about diagnosing the fault or repairing it at say £60 to £120 an hour labour.

 

[Wabs]

Could be several things causing the overheating. Most likely are a stiff or seized linkage (even though you've lubed it) or motor windings shorting. If the motor has become very hot the insulation on the windings will likely have softened and broken down rendering it economically unrepairable. It may be problematic to take it apart (usually they're a 'sealed' unit) or there's no availability of parts. A garage wouldn't arse about diagnosing the fault or repairing it at say £60 to £120 an hour labour.

Thanks for that,that puts my mind at ease,,mainly that I’ve done the right thing,,,for a change....

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[bigwood]

Before you replace the motor something that came to light on managements Polo.
The wipers were getting slower over a few weeks. Eventually they stopped altogether. The garage that looks after our cars said it was unusual for VW motors to fail.
They found the spindles were nearly seized. They are such a close fit that it’s difficult to oil them. The only cure was to take the linkage out and free off the spindles on the bench. After a coating of grease the wipers were back to normal.
I would be tempted to take the wiper arms of the spindles and try spraying the spindles with something like WD 40.
If that works it’s cheaper than a new motor.

 

[Wabs]

UPDATE: got the new motor yesterday,went to fit it and found it easier to take off the whole assy,good job I did as the offside spindle had completely seized, probably due to the crap design fault of Fiat and the drain hole,,managed to vice the unit up and will plenty of hard work managed to unseize it,clean it right up,plenty of grease,fired new motor and hey ho,,work like a dream,,so thanks again for all the advice,,this forum is better than any Haynes Manual,,lol

 

[bigwood]

Glad you sorted the wiper problems. As I said the spindles seized before the motor died on the Polo so we were lucky. Sadly last MOT and service I mentioned that the wipers were hitting the screen surround.
The linkage had to be replaced including the spindles, it’s all one unit. Before it was fitted the garage stripped the spindles and greased them. Even new new spindles from a reputable supplier were nearly dry.
If you can get to the spindles a shot of WD40 occasionally will help.

 

[TerryL]

You'd be better using silicon spray than WD40, which tends to evaporate off and you have to do it again. WD40 is very good at freeing things off, but not so good at perpetual lubrication, as I found out when freeing off my hab door locks.

 

[Wabs]

I’ve been using Ambersil 40,,

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