Rear wiper stopped working.

[r-p]

Hi all,

This is about an '04 V70, but it will pretty much be the same I guess...[thumbup]

Rear wiper would do strange things like only 2/3rds of a left-to-right-swipe (or vice versa). And then 3/5th, and 7/8th, and ..... etc. Thought is was meant to do his (never really stopped, only paused!), as it would stop at different spots every time, but really couldn't see the sense in this.

Now it has stopped completely. Fuse is fine, and the motor itself gives off a ticking noise (like a relay switching), but nothing happens. I think this might be to get the thing to return to its "zero" position, which it is not atm.

Checked the wiring in the hinge, but this is flawless. Even hate myself for taking he tape off, only to find perfect wires that I now cannot tape up as well as they were taped up before... :mad:

What can I measure before having to take the motor apart?
Spray and fuel gauge work fine (see other threads were this rules out an electronic problem)

Sounds somewhat like these threads (to show that I really tried to do the research...):
Never got answered what the solution was. (http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12268&highlight=wiper+rear)

Click, but no answer what it was. (http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11346&highlight=wiper+rear)

Replaced under warranty (last post fits my problem I think). (http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9581&highlight=wiper+rear)

[dcandmc]

The rear wiper on my '04 XC70 stopped in mid-swipe last week. For several weeks before that, it had been working noticeably slower. I also heard the intermittent clicking sound that you describe coming from the back of the car, even with the wiper switch in the off position. I live in the northeast where the roads are heavily salted, and for now I'm assuming that corrosion has worked its way into the wiper mechanism and caused the problem. The same thing happened on our Honda Odyssey, and I ended up replacing the motor, which had burned out. I think that the clicking sound is the wiper relay as the system senses that the wiper has not returned to the normal off position, and power is applied to try to do that. I pulled the wiper fuse to prevent any further damage to the motor, and I will investigate further once the weather is more accomodating (i.e., warmer!). I've already checked online for a used motor and was quoted $125 from one source. Before buying a motor, though, I want to take the wiper arm off, clean up any corrosion, and see if the motor is still functional or can be made to work.

Good luck, and please let us know how your situation develops.

[r-p]

Preliminary findings, and now I'm stuck...

Removed the motor/disassembled it. (have pics (not sure they're in focus, the macro function on my Polaroid is lousy), and will show how to measure the motor without disassembling it...)

Only to find that the problem seems to be in the gears, or better, probably the axle from gear to wiper. I stuck on the wiper to have some leverage and got things going again, but it was hard. For this it is VERY handy that the motor it NOT attached anymore!

I can't get the toothed gears off (there's two metal half ones and a plastic white round one that's driven of off the 'wormwheel' (?, spiral-drive-like-thingy, don't know the english word) of the motor) and I don't know how to disassemble it further. Best idea so far is from my father in law who said, drill a hole, throw IMAL in there (think it's pretty much the same as WD40), flush it with the stuff an hour later, fill it up with grease and seal the holes off.

But obviously, disassembling it, if at all possible, would probably be better!

I did get it to work, but the intermittent problem (stopping half way through a swipe) was back in no time. So I also think that is linked to the gears/axle having way too much friction.

There seems to be a 3-point measuring system what tell the position of the white toothed-wheel, but I cannot get at the underside of the wheel, so haven't figured this one out yet. The PCB that's in there does have three contacts for this system, next to the two contacts for driving the motor.

Will try to continue this if and when I have the time.

PS: aligning the wiper in the end was very hard, as it seems you can make a 15 degree mistake depending on whether you arrest the wiper arm or not while tightening the nut. Haven't found why, but it seems quite strange.

[MoeB]

I didn't disassemble the gears so I'm not sure how they come apart, but here's what a properly working rear wiper gearbox should look like inside (ignore the broken spray nozzle connector...that's what I was fixing when I took the picture).

From what I can remember, the final metal half-gear was held onto the wiper shaft with a snap o-ring. I would guess the other half-gear is attached to the nylon wheel gear with a snap fastener, but I just don't know.

http://moebdick.home.comcast.net/rearwipermotor.jpg

[WALL-E]

I'm having the same problem with my rear wiper (hear click sound, works intermittently and when it works the wiper arm moves across the window very s-l-o-w-l-y. I've searched through the posts and seen similar problems but no one with a posted solution.

Has anyone managed to find the problem? Is it the wiper motor? Arm? Internal mechanisms?

[kamiar]

I had this same problem on my infiniti and turned out to be a bad motor and not the gear... remove the motor and you will see one of the connectors are burned.

[r-p]

I did remove the motor, and it was fine (not saying this will never be the culprit, but it isn't (yet...) in my case).

The pic shown by MoeB is very like my motor+assembly, but mine has a plastic housing and clamps to hold the motor, whereas here it seems to be a (torx?) screw.

In my wiper, there's electrical contacts visible below/in the white large wheel, whereas there seems to be a contact or so below the last half-gear in MoeB's picture (the plastic thing below the metal gear that has the broken spray nozzle in it, this plastic thing it NOT present in my gear-box (iirc)).

It's good to see the metal gears are obviously linked for life, so I won't try to get those apart...

As for the clicking noise: there is a device on the printed circuitboard that is inline with the powersupply. It took me some days of pondering to work out that this is a current limiting sensor. A simple mechanical one, but it works like a charm. This prevents the fuse/the motor from burning.

It is probably a bimetal switch that heats up because of the current that is going through it. If the current is normal, nothing happens. But if the current is too high, the switch will open due to overheating, and the wiper will stop in mid-air (or mid-window :D) until the switch cools off and reconnects the powersupply to the wiper. Then the process starts all over again.
This current is too high because there is too much friction in the assembly somewhere. At least I am certain that that's the case in my motor/gear/axle assembly.

So WALL-E: take out the fuse (not sure if the current limiting switch will not fail at some point.....) and watch this thread. Also feel free to post the solution on how to disassemble the gears, and more importantly: the axle the spray-nozzle runs through, in case you happen to beat me to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![thumbup]

[dcandmc]

Well, my rear wiper is working once again. I tried to take the wiper arm off, but there's too much corrosion adhering the arm to the shaft. My messing around with it unsiezed whatever was causing it to bind. Once I put the fuse back in and applied power, the wiper arm returned to its off position, and it seems to move at normal speed for now.

I soaked the shaft in liquid wrench and then WD40, and even tried applying a gear puller to the arm, but it wouldn't budge. For now, I'll just leave well enough alone. Here's a photo of what the corrosion looks like:

1827

[wgriswold]

If you decide to attack it again there is some stuff called PB blaster that is absolutely amazing at loosening stuck parts. You might want to give it a try.

[rmyin]

This might have been a topic already discussed but I've noticed a lot recently that some wipers rest on the driver's side and some rest on the passenger side. I think it is suppose to rest on the passenger side since it "hides" better.

Did volvo install a batch of these with reversed linkage or something?

[billr99]

This might have been a topic already discussed but I've noticed a lot recently that some wipers rest on the driver's side and some rest on the passenger side. I think it is suppose to rest on the passenger side since it "hides" better.

Did volvo install a batch of these with reversed linkage or something?

I believe MY01-02 parked to the drivers side and later years parked to the passenger side. I'm sure some smart Volvo engineer thought that the change made sense despite the former being that way for many years in past.

Cheers,

Bill

[dcandmc]

If you decide to attack it again there is some stuff called PB blaster that is absolutely amazing at loosening stuck parts. You might want to give it a try.

Thanks; if I run into the same problem again I'll go get some of that stuff.

[r-p]

As promised some photo's of the work done:

The whole unit of my '04 model:
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/3372/dsci0976.th.jpg (http://img25.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci0976.jpg)

Issue in getting it disassembled: turns out you can carefully pull the spray-nozzle (the actual jets that spray on the window, 1" piece of plastic) out, and this means you can pull the entire water-tube out of the axle (beware of the tiny o-ring that closes this inner-tube of brass (? at least brass colored) from the rest of the axle!!!))
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/9704/dsci0985.th.jpg (http://img6.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci0985.jpg)

Both sides of the PCB. Clearly visible is a Diode (black round electronic component that will only pass current one way, so will stop any current from flowing through the motor if someone would apply the 12V the wrong way around) and the thermal fuse (silver rectangle next to the diode) that makes the infamous ticking noise by switching off when too much current is passing through it (and automatically restoring itself once cooled off).
Also visible is three contacts for the positioning circuitry (see pictures of backside white toothed wheel, this is where they attach) and two contacts for driving the motor.
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/8347/dsci0991.th.jpg (http://img23.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci0991.jpg)
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/3999/dsci0979.th.jpg (http://img21.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci0979.jpg)

White toothed wheel that is driven by the motor and turns a round motion into a back-and-forth-swinging-motion. Note the backside that features a simple system to 'tell' the assembly in which position the arm is. It's a very dumb system, it will supply current or not (probably to the interval-relais through the yellow wire), depending on whether the middle contact-sleeve is making a short to either the outside or the inner one. I heard a mention about the resting position of the arm not being the same: this makes it very plausible: the friction of the wiper to the window combined with the inertia of the whole system will determine the end-position. Not saying it is a bad system, but it is crude. And therefor simple, and therefor durable. But not nearly durable enough, or this thread wouldn't exist...
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/9361/dsci0997.th.jpg (http://img22.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci0997.jpg)
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/9238/dsci0998.th.jpg (http://img21.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci0998.jpg)
The three contacts that interface with the rear of the white toothed wheel.
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/8841/dsci0999.th.jpg (http://img6.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci0999.jpg)

A separate part that came out ofter thoroughly cleaning the o-ring groove: turns out this part makes up the o-ring groove (along with the entire housing of the assembly). Possibly I have tapped it in too hard, causing the o-ring to have too little room to properly settle, so as soon as I find a replacement o-ring, I will be taking this part out again, and next time will be mounting it with less force.
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/6893/dsci1003.th.jpg (http://img27.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci1003.jpg)

The actual o-ring (pardon the lousy quality of the pic... The measurements were 1.4mm thick and 12mm outside diameter, IIRC!!!!! Will try to get a replacement at work and will mention which size works best If I ever find out.
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/6171/dsci1001.th.jpg (http://img25.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci1001.jpg)




Couple of pics of the metal gears and the thing I always refer to as the "axle" (I hammered this out of the plastic housing: not the best of ideas, as I damaged the top a little):
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/2724/dsci0995.th.jpg (http://img25.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci0995.jpg)
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/9133/dsci0996.th.jpg (http://img27.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci0996.jpg)
Note the spring loaded ring on the pin that slides into the white toothed wheel:
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/1688/dsci1000.th.jpg (http://img4.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci1000.jpg)

Magnetic, so pulling it loose will feel like you're pulling apart some wiring... Also notice the bent tabs. If there is no need to take the motor apart: then DON'T!!!!! You will always damage the plastic that the tabs hook on to, so after doing this a few times, the plastic will be severely damaged!
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9371/dsci0989.th.jpg (http://img23.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci0989.jpg)
The motor insides:
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/3758/dsci0986.th.jpg (http://img27.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci0986.jpg)
Also note the spring-ring and tab lying on the newspaper. Don't forget this when reassembling it (yes, I did forget... and had to bent the tabs loose for the second time...).
What this does exactly is not quite clear to me: the tab moves outward once the wiper arm changes direction and the spring-ring keeps it from falling out (this means the bulk of the motor actually moves 1/8th of an inch as well I think). So even though the white toothed wheel goes round and round, something in the motor shifts during this reversal of wiper-arm direction. Possibly this is build in the absorb the direction change and the accompanying forces. The wiper arm goes back and forth, the white toothed wheel turns around, and the part of the motor also moves back and forth..... ????? It has to do with the first part of the movement: the motor is "pushing", the second part, it is "pulling".
Just a wild guess...

[dcandmc]

r-p,
Thanks, very informative.
Your photos and description will be invaluable should I need to disassemble mine if it binds up again. Did you find out what was causing your problem? Did you get everything back together OK, and is the wiper working as it should now?

[WALL-E]

Nice work R-P. I didn't get anywhere close to doing what you did but I did manage to screw something up because now the white wheel and the spring above it are constantly grinding. Even with the fuse pulled out of the fuse box. The only solution was to unplug the darn motor.

I'm about ready to call it quits so I was looking for replacement motor online... I'm wondering if these motor mechanism comes included in the motor. At this point I'm not sure what's causing the seizing so I don't mind investing 300$, if it's sure to resolve my problem!

Anyone know if part 8667188 includes the mechanical mechanisms that make the arm move?

Thanks!

[sjonnie]

According to VADIS there is no other part number associated with that component.
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/5771/rearwiperk.png (http://img5.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rearwiperk.png)

[r-p]

(1)Did you find out what was causing your problem? (2)Did you get everything back together OK, (3)and is the wiper working as it should now?

(1)No, not with 100% certainty. Still think it is the 'axle'.
(2)Yes, everything is back together.[thumbup]
(3)No...it's still not working as it should. It did one full swipe on a wet window (long live the supersoaker) and then it did only a quarter the next swipe... [cussing]
I will be replacing the o-ring and mounting the thing above it more carefully. If that doesn't work, I will be checking the automatic thermal fuse to see if thats still according to specs... I ran the motor with an external powersuppy, and it consumed some 8 amperes and didn't switch off yet, so I doubt that is the problem. (at that time I didn't know the function of the switch yet, or I would have investigated then and there)

[WALL-E]

Just called Volvo- 328$ for the motor. [mad2]

I wonder how much a squeegie kid would charge to tag along and clean my rear window on demand? :confused:

[billr99]

Just called Volvo- 328$ for the motor. [mad2]

I wonder how much a squeegie kid would charge to tag along and clean my rear window on demand? :confused:

Time to use the Internet to your advantage. MySwedishParts.com has it listed for $229 USD.

Cheers,

Bill

[WALL-E]

Thanks Bill-R. Unfortunately the CDN $'s taken a bit of a hit so after exchange rate and paying the pirates at the border (brokerage, duties and taxes) I'm looking at the same price. I might try local recyclers first.

[billr99]

Thanks Bill-R. Unfortunately the CDN $'s taken a bit of a hit so after exchange rate and paying the pirates at the border (brokerage, duties and taxes) I'm looking at the same price. I might try local recyclers first.
I hear you on the exchange rate. I just loved it when our buck was worth 1.10 of theirs. I also checked AutoParts Online Canada but they had no listing.

Just as a suggestion as I don't even know if they do any kind of distance sales but Jeff Dunsworth ((902) 228-2713)) over this way might be worth a call if you are going recycled. Jeff is probably the best-known Volvo mechanic in the Maritimes and has a huge Volvo junkyard out in the bush down on St. Margaret's Bay. Interestingly he is also the brother of the actor who plays Mr. Leahy on the Trailer Park Boys (wow, a bit of Maritime trivia there). Anyway, if you come up short over there in Upper Canada, give Jeff a try.

Good Luck,

Bill

[Aviator]

Just as a suggestion as I don't even know if they do any kind of distance sales but Jeff Dunsworth

I've dealt with Jeff many times....good guy!!

Dave.

[r-p]

And the plot thickens...


After doing all the work on the previous pages, it still didn't work, and I thought it may have something to do with the o-ring being old, or the axle unround.

So I got it out for the third time and did some measuring.
The motor used 3 ampere and the voltage at my powersupply dropped to 8 or 9 volts (it is a 3A powersupply). I then reopened the box that contains the PCB and rang the manufacturer of the current limiting switch. It does not have type-number markings on it, but they confirmed my thoughts that this may be on the bottom. So after desoldering the unit, I gave them the numbers and they gave me the specsheet. Which they would not let me place here.

But the essence is that it trips at 7.2 A within 4-10 seconds. Testing showed this was about right, and further testing showed it tripped at 3A after 2 minutes. Since my motor uses 3A@8 volts, it will simply never work, so I deduced the motor has to be faulty.

I did a quick test with two powersupplies paralleled and the motor (without the currentswitch in place) now used 3+3=6A at ~12V.:eek: And this was without any gears attached!!!!!
So I opened up the motor. Again. And as said last time: you have to fold away metal tabs and you can only do this so often, as they damage the plastic housing.

I tried to reassemble it away from the gearhousing so I could turn it to feel the friction, but this didn't work well for two reasons: (1) the upper bearing is fixed in the gearhousing (and without it the magnetic force pulls the two motorparts together, so you cannot determine if it runs freely), and (2) the axle of the motor wouldn't go through the bottom bearing.

So I also removed the lower part of the motor housing (once again: tabs, even worse ones than the ones holding the motor attached to the gearhousing...). The bottom bearing was misaligned. After thoroughly rotating, lubricating and fiddling, it seemed quite smooth again.

I reassembled the bottompart, attached the motor to the gearhousing, whacked all tabs into place and hooked the motor up: succes: currentdraw at 14V: 0.7A. About 10 times less (!) than half an hour earlier.
Resoldered the current-limiting-switch, and after hooking everything up in the car, I now actually have a working rear-wiper [thumbup]

So to recap:
My problem was the axle running from the gears to the wiper.
When fixing this I may have added a new problem, or may have overlooked an existing (possibly bigger) problem: the bearings of the motor.

Two pics of the top-bearing. Not sure whether the axle is supposed to rotate inside the shaft or that the 'ball-jointed' bearing is supposed to rotate within its outer part as well. The fact that it is somewhat of a ball-joint (?) was the reason it was misaligned at the bottom of the motorhousing, and I couldn't get the inner-part of the motor to slide in. That's what forced me to open up the bottom part, of which I obviously have no pics, as I got carried away and forgot all about pictures :D Both bearings, top and bottom, seem identical.
http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/7705/dsc04250.th.jpg (http://img510.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc04250.jpg)
And at a slight angle
http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/5260/dsc04253.th.jpg (http://img111.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc04253.jpg)

The thermal current limiting switch. The 24V3T marking is NOT a 24 volts 3 ampere marking what I thought at first, but a date ;) Week 24 in year 03 probably. The "T" is the plant where it was made iirc.
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/1986/dsc04252.th.jpg (http://img49.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc04252.jpg)
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/6396/dsc04251.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc04251.jpg)


Two more pics of the motor. Take note of the V-shaped tabs on the left side of the pic holding the plastic bottom part attached to the metal middle-housing... Pita to open (vice works well) and close (hammered a pin inbetween to wedge them apart again, but you cannot put the metal middle housing into a vice while doing this, as you may deform it and screw up the entire motor...)
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2162/dsc04248.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc04248.jpg)
http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/7763/dsc04244.th.jpg (http://img53.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc04244.jpg)

Gratuitous pics
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/3109/dsc04245u.th.jpg (http://img222.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc04245u.jpg)
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/6523/dsc04246.th.jpg (http://img240.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc04246.jpg)

[roverguy]

So I let my wiper shaft soak overnight by applying a number of squirts of PB Blaster & leaving the hatch up to let it soak in. Seems to work just fine now.

Only question is should the wiper arm rest on the pass side, or drivers side when parked?

I can't remember & it looks a tad strange.

The deal is start with the easy fix before you go disecting anything!

[r-p]

So I let my wiper shaft soak overnight by applying a number of squirts of PB Blaster & leaving the hatch up to let it soak in. Seems to work just fine now.

Only question is should the wiper arm rest on the pass side, or drivers side when parked?

I can't remember & it looks a tad strange.

The deal is start with the easy fix before you go disecting anything!

Nooooo, that's no fun... [cool2]

As for the passenger and driver side, that seems to have changed along the way, so it will be determined by which specific model and version you have. The V70 type 2 will have both possibilities if I understood correctly from previous posts about the subject.

[PGI007]

So I let my wiper shaft soak overnight by applying a number of squirts of PB Blaster & leaving the hatch up to let it soak in. Seems to work just fine now.

Only question is should the wiper arm rest on the pass side, or drivers side when parked?

I can't remember & it looks a tad strange.

The deal is start with the easy fix before you go disecting anything!

05+ is on the passenger side. I discovered this recently when I had to replace the cover, and the indy shop had lots of spares for 04 or earlier but had to order one in for me.

[dcandmc]

05+ is on the passenger side. I discovered this recently when I had to replace the cover, and the indy shop had lots of spares for 04 or earlier but had to order one in for me.

'04 is also on the passenger side.

[IanB]

Hi Bill,

... any idea on the part number for the rear window wiper motor? I checked at MySwedishParts.com & cannot find for the life of me,,,,

Thanks,