One of those days when you think you are winning.....

[saabfast]

...but the car has other ideas.

I have lived for over 12 years with the wipers nor working properly, they would not self park. To stop them you had to pull the lever down at the right moment to get them at the bottom of the screen. A few months ago I finally decided to get a new wiper motor. I had read about the parking bit that breaks but they were getting a bit weak anyway and decided to do it right. The shiny new Landrover 110 wiper motor had arrived a while back and as it was a nice day I set to. Having removed all the battery bits and the motor strap I noticed that one wire on the connector was broken (the green one). Thinking this was the cause of the parking problem I repaired it, put the battery back and, hey presto, all working well again, parking exactly right. Then went on to a few jobs on the other cars which obviously upset the 7. Went back to move the 7 and close it up and played with the working wipers - and now they will not stop! They are still when the car is started, work with the 2 speeds on the lever but will not stop until the engine is switched off. Even on flick wipe they work but never stop until the ignition is switched off.

Any ideas for an easy resolution gratefully received. Should I fit the new motor (which seem to be a struggle to get the old one out) or is it a coincidental fault in the switch?

[FI Spyder]

If the wipers won't stop, the parking switch is out of adjustment. When my cracked parking tab broke the wipers wouldn't stop. You can make them stop by disconnecting the connecter that is under dash by the steering column but they won't turn on until reconnecting. After I resoldered the tab reinforced with a strip of copper from plumbing bracket I had to adjust the switch. It lasted for 12years. Last summer late at night it was raining and I was using the one swipe position and they wouldn't turn off for a while. The next day with showers they wouldn't turn off until I stopped the car, then restarted it. Any time you have a parking issue or won't turn off issue chances are the parking switch is out of position. You can adjust it by taking off the motor mount bracket and rubber cover. There is a Philips screw or two and you loosen this and move the switch one way or the other, then tighten screw(s). If that doesn't do it loosen and move the switch the other way. You have a 50/50 chance of getting it right the first time. Don't try to figure out which way it needs to go. 12 years ago I got it right first time, last fall I went one way, then had to go the other.

[saabfast]

Thanks, will try that. A few questions:

How do you get to the park switch screws underneath? I was trying to get the motor out without taking out the whole rack but could not manage it (stopped when I found the broken wire) but could not see the switch properly.

How much do you move the switch when you do get to the screws? Is it just a mm or two or more?

[FI Spyder]

Once the rubber cover is off you should be able to see the switch and screws. The motor is free to move around a bit so you can gain access to them better. I can't remember exactly what I used but I have a thin long stemmed magnetic Phillips and a stubby Japanese Phillips (is a better fit to Phillip screw heads than others) from my days of repairing office equipment that I usually use.

You only have to move it a mm or so. I don't know for sure but I suspect if you move it too much it might be "out of range". I suspect when I adjusted it 12 years ago it was "on the edge" and after some wear and tear, either the switch moved or wear on the tab was all it took to start making it not turn off right away to not turn off at all in one day.

[saabfast]

Hmm, maybe the motor is on the other side of the car your side of the pond. UK one is on the left side and have not seen a rubber cover on one, just the fixing band. (There is a cover on ebay atm for LHD cars so I assume that is right). The switch and screws are on the underside of the motor and there is little movement in the motor. Will try again when it stops raining!

[FI Spyder]

It hadn't dawned on me that it would be on other side. I'm assuming the wiring/switch would be mirror image. Not sure off hand if the rubber cover is handed.

[Beans]

The rubber cover is only listed for LHD cars.
And there's only one wiper motor listed.
So on RHD cars the switch is facing down, and as such no need for a cover

Oh ... and the park switch is/was sold seperately (#12453)

[FI Spyder]

Giving it more thought the cover would have to be handed so reasoning that the switch is upside down and doesn't need protection is one way to eliminate the cost of having an extra part made (ignoring the fact of if it's wet enough there might be capillary action that will wick moisture up from the bottom side when there is no cover). Also .

Not sure how you would adjust the switch if it's upside down without taking it all apart. What a PITA.

[saabfast]

Not sure how you would adjust the switch if it's upside down without taking it all apart. What a PITA.

Exactly!

[saabfast]

OK, BF&I won the day. Release the bracket and managed to lift the motor enough to get a small screwdriver on to the two screws, one by grope. A couple of attempts at adjustment (obviously the wrong way to start with) and they are parking now. The intermittent operation seems a bit random and the handbook does not really describe it other than 'pull the lever down and let go'. Being an '81 it has the timed intermittent wipe but just when you think it is turned off they wipe again.
Thanks for all the input.

[supercass]

Are non parking wipers an MOT failure point? supercass

[saabfast]

No, they have never failed mine on it. I just told them they had to pull the lever down again to stop them. It was more of an irritation to me that they did not work properly.

Had another of those days last week when I was getting the instrument lighting to work again. Having stripped out the instrument panel to check the circuit board connections I moved onto the dimmer switch - may be should have started there but I had fitted LED's a while back and that was when they stopped working after a few minutes after putting it all back together. Radio out and gave the dimmer knob a pull to see how to get it out (BF&I again) to short it and the instrument lights all came on. Of course, now the radio does not work......

[FI Spyder]

Fiddling around in the dash/console moves wires around and they can break (usually at the clips which is the weak point.) When looking why my radio only on one speaker I took the console out twice. My dash lights stopped working. Turned out the 12V line from the dimmer had broke at one of the clips, held by one strand, not enough (it goes from light to light). Opening the clip and regripping wire and soldering clip to wire solved the problem. Oh, and the radio? I had inadvertently turn the L/R knob one way. Shows you what can happen when rummaging around though.

[Stag76]

When you see the wiring under the dash, it's no surprise that things stop working.

[Peter Nuss]

When it looks like this...………. it's time to worry.