Rear Wiper Motor went out | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Rear Wiper Motor went out

jwclevinger

Member
Joined
February 1, 2022
Messages
46
Reaction score
23
City, State
Lexington, KY
Year, Model & Trim Level
2022 Explorer Timberline
I’ve got a ’22 Timberline, had it for about 8 months now, been pretty lucky and haven’t had some of the problems I’ve seen others post about with their ’21 and ‘22s, yet.... But recently I’ve been having issues out of my rear wiper not wanting to work. This is the first vehicle I’ve ever owned with a rear wiper so I don’t know much about them yet. It started that it wouldn’t work right when the car would start, I’d try to clean the overnight water off it, and nothing would happen. After 5-10 minutes of driving, it would decide to turn on and work. Then it would take longer to turn on, now I can’t get it to work at all. I checked the fuse yesterday and it looks perfect, the water sprayer still works, it’s just the wiper that won’t move or do anything. I’m assuming it’s just the wiper motor went out, which seeing as the car is less that a year and less than 9K on it, if I take it in the dealership should cover it under warranty. Just wanted to see if anyone else had this issue, or can confirm that this is probably the motor before I get the dealership involved.
 



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It is possible that the motor has died and the intermittent functioning was a sign that it was failing although I don't know why it would decide to work initially after 5-10 minutes unless you left the switch in the ON position. On some models, when the front wipers are ON and you go into reverse, the rear wiper comes ON as well. Have you ever noticed that? If you have, have you tried it now to see if the wiper works? Just trying to possible eliminate the issue being the switch.

Peter
 






It is possible that the motor has died and the intermittent functioning was a sign that it was failing although I don't know why it would decide to work initially after 5-10 minutes unless you left the switch in the ON position. On some models, when the front wipers are ON and you go into reverse, the rear wiper comes ON as well. Have you ever noticed that? If you have, have you tried it now to see if the wiper works? Just trying to possible eliminate the issue being the switch.

Peter
I had not heard of, or tried the reverse trick before, I did this morning with no luck. I've tried lots of things that don't make sense on a newer car, like putting a little extra pressure on the switch when I turn the rear wipers on, and trying it in all the did positions combos with the front blade... I guess just trying all the things I had to do in the past with some cars that I hoped would work. I'm guessing either the motor has already gone out, or a connection somewhere that I can't find has come lose. Figured I'd see if anyone else had seen this, or have an easy fix before I call the dealer to have them look at it. But thanks for the idea!

JW
 






Figured I'd update in case anyone else runs into this issue. Took it to the dealership on 10/4, they kept it for about 3 hours and returned it saying they couldn't recreate the problem, and the scan showed no errors. I took it home and the wiper worked for about 2 days before it started going in and out randomly again. Took it back this morning, since it hasn't worked at all in 2+ weeks, and they were able to find out the wiper motor had gone out, which was my theory from the beginning. They admitted they didn't check the voltage on the motor last month, which may or may not have shown the problem. Really frustrated this issue got drug out since they didn't test it a month ago, but a new wiper motor is scheduled to go in tomorrow.
 






Finally have this issue resolved, so wanted to share, so if anyone has this, maybe it'll save a few days and headaches. The dealership used the computer to scan for the errors codes, it first said the wider motor was bad, it got replaced and didn't fix it; next code to try was steering column switch (which somehow was working in reverse order of how it should), that got replaced and still didn't fix it; then was the module that communicates from the switch to the motor, replaced that and still no luck. They put in a ticket to Ford Engineering and they came back and suggested the start at the fuse and trace the wire back to see if there was a pinch or break in the wiring causing the issue, this required them to take my interior apart to trace it; they did all that and couldn't find the issue on the inside. Finally they found that the last wiring harness plug had someone gotten water in it and one of the plug has rusted and that was causing the intermitted issues and failures. They ordered and installed the new plug and it's been fine since then. Hopefully this was a one-off issue, but if anyone else has problems with the rear wiper motor, have them start with the simple things, like the plugs that are exposed to the elements......
 






Did they give you the location of that defective plug? Curious if it is in an area exposed to water/moisture.

Peter
 






Did they give you the location of that defective plug? Curious if it is in an area exposed to water/moisture.

Peter
They just said near the rear, around the bumper. It must be one that is partially/mostly exposed to the elements that maybe didnt get fully plugged in or came a little loose. I got under it this weekend and tried to find it, I was gonna wrap it in Duct Tape or something, but couldnt see it.
 






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