windscreen wipers going really slow

frboyz

Full Member
Sep 26, 2004
97
0
Hi all, Beezer MK4 FR out of warranty (typical!) and the wipers have gone on the blink.......

They have suddenly started going really slow no matter what speed setting - any ideas what this may be?

Cheers.
 

dandrive

Guest
Mine has begun to do that too.

They will not work in intermittent setting, and is slow for both other positions.

Does anyone have a step by step guide of fixing this, or at least investigating what is causing it?

Dan.
 

dandrive

Guest
I finally pulled it apart and found what is causing it. Pretty fiddly job though.

The wiper arm spindle on the off-side had seized in the ally body. What a crap design - have Seat never heard of bushes?

Anyway - I am now out sourcing a replacement wiper linkage as the one I have is that seized that it cannot be serviced. I am surprised that the wiper motor could move it at all. Obviously a good wiper motor.

I strongly believe that most of these kinds of issues are created on cars these days because of the :censored: crap that is put on the English roads (salt grit). It is no wonder some parts love corroding.

Dan.
 

Nath.

The Gentlemans Express
Jan 1, 2006
8,620
16
EASTLEIGH, HAMPSHIRE
this is quite a common fault on lots of cars, the wiper spindals do not have prober bearings, just bushings that don't like water and dirt in them

clean them out and splodge some grease in them and they should go for another year or so
 

fat andy

Full Member
Jun 7, 2005
70
1
Nottingham
As far as I remember you need take off the wipers, then pull out the long plastic bit below the windscreen. Then you can get to the motor and linkage with a ratchet
 

kojack

Guest
I had the same problem with my Passat would only go slow on all settings then after a while they just stopped, unfortunately I got the local garage to do it & they charged about £250 was the last job they ever did for me, hopefully the wifes Ibiza won't cost as much when that goes, sounds like a common problem.
 

Nath.

The Gentlemans Express
Jan 1, 2006
8,620
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oh bugger my wiper arms arent budging at all. Ive spent two hours trying today.
ANyone any ideas as im getting desperate.

The best way is to undo the 13mm nuts about 2 or 3 turns (don't remove them) and then with the wipers in the park position push them in towards the screen with all your weight. This puts a lot of leaverage on the sprung hinge on the wiper arm and should pop the arm off of the tapered spline.

Try a soaking with WD40 overnight too.
 

MadFaz

New(ish)bee
Sep 28, 2008
83
0
Bradford
lads im having a really bad problem with my wipers as well, they just randomly stop working when they want to, most of the time they're okay but i was on the motorway last week, needed a little screen wash and... wipers wouldn't work! :D was scary to say the least.

i changed the fuse but it didn't do nothing, then they started working again, i've had it checked out but the dude said "bring it back when they're not working" ??

btw yesterday it started raining heavily and they wouldn't work but after about 2 minutes of moving the stalk about, they were fine! They were a little slow as well? HELP! :(
 

Nath.

The Gentlemans Express
Jan 1, 2006
8,620
16
EASTLEIGH, HAMPSHIRE
1/ Replace the wiper relay

2/ If the car has higher mileage the brushes inside the wiper motor could be worn and not making proper contact inside the motor, if this is the case a replacement motor will be the easy way to fix it.
 
Feb 28, 2008
3,990
1
Scotland
have u tried inceasing the little volume switch on top of the wiper stalk, its and little slide type switch which if you incease to full will make them go faster, try that
 

Nath.

The Gentlemans Express
Jan 1, 2006
8,620
16
EASTLEIGH, HAMPSHIRE
^^^^^that doesn't make them go faster as such, it increases and decreases the delay between wipes when on intermittent.

The people with slow wipers have very stiff wiper linkages that need a strip down,lube and rebuild.
 

nedge2k

Guest
this is quite a common fault on lots of cars, the wiper spindals do not have prober bearings, just bushings that don't like water and dirt in them

clean them out and splodge some grease in them and they should go for another year or so


I take it the culprit in all this is the bush listed as number 12 here:

vagcat.com/epc/cat/se/IB/2002/254/57/4743334/

?

Replace bushes and grommets for good measure, problem solved?

Mine went down hill rapidly on the motorway the other day - not fun.
 
You can strip the linkage and remove the corrosion with some emery/sand paper. Regrease and put the wipers back on.

That's what I did about 1 year ago and mine are still fine.

Steps:
▪ Remove Wiper Arms (a puller makes the job easier)
▪ Remove Scuttle panel (pull perpendicular from the window - it sits in a channel cut into the glass)
▪ Remove the couple of bolts holding the linkage onto the motor
▪ Remove the c-clip
▪ Drive out the spindle
▪ Clean & Re-grease
▪ Put back together

There might be a few steps I've forgotten to add, it's been so long ago.
 
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