Rear Wiper not working.

[Pollo_loco69]

Hey guys/gals. This is my first post, so please forgive me if I overlooked something in my searches. I just bought a 99 XLT and the rear wiper doesn't work. I have checked fuses and everything seems to be fine. Is there a relay specifically for the rear wiper? The owner's manual only listed one relay and it was for "wipers". The front ones work fine. TIA!

 

[rydinhigh]

Mine doesnt work either. I have traced it to be the wiper motor itself. About a $70 part.

 

[Pollo_loco69]

Thanks. Time to go buy a Haynes manual so I know how to take the lift gate apart.

 

[sqwirl]

This is kinda a temporary ghetto fix but it works for me. If it works for you I don't know but its worth a try When I got my 98 the rear wiper worked just fine... then about 3 months later I went to turn it on one day and it didnt work. A few days later I checked the relay and fuses and they were fine. The relay was clicking and all. Ripped the tailgate plastic off and decided it would be too much of a pain to get the wiper motor out. So just by chance I had the switch turned to hi and was fiddling with the wiper(moving it around) and lo and behold it worked. After that it worked fine for about a month and I think after I hadnt used it for a couple weeks it froze up again. Well a flip of the switch and some jiggling of the wiper arm and I was in business again. Not a great fix but perfect for the lazy man. I think I remember reading somewhere that gunk builds up on the motor and just needs cleaned off to remedy this problem the right way. If you take the motor out just shoot it with some electric motor cleaner and see if that helps before you buy a new one.

 

[Pollo_loco69]

Ghetto or not, that worked! Thanks a bunch! You just saved me some serious cash.

 

[spta97]

Slamming the hatch shut has worked for others. My wiper moter was on and off for a few months before it finally died. I think there is a problem with them from the factory but when you put the new one in and see how strong the wipe is compared to the old one you'll be happy you replaced it.

 

[Pollo_loco69]

Thanks for the info spta97. I will keep that in mind.

 

[jimcom]

Mine went out about a month ago. I had the stealership replace the motor under my warantee last week while getting some other stuff done.
Well it's raining today and guess what.........the rear wiper stopped working again.
Needless to say I'm a bit pissed. :fire:

 

[YellowStreak]

i work at a ford dealer in the service dept. like the one person said, if you jiggle the wiper arm it will start working again about 90% of the time. but eventually it will stop again. ford has a new design for both the motor and the arm. the motor gets stuck on a certain position and you have to move it from that position. you will never get that to stop until you replace it with the updated motor. the reason for the updated arm is that some of them when you turn the wiper on they wipe only a section of the glass. the updated arm has a new design so that this does not happen as easy. the old type arm does this because they get tweaked & it is almost impossible to get it to work right after that happens. automatic carwashes or someone using the arm as a device to help them get up onto that back bumper usually causes this. so in short, if you are having either of theses problems you know now what you need to replace.

 

[jimcom]

Can you please list the part numbers for the new arm and motor? The dealership said they gave me a new motor but maybe it wasn't this "updated" version?
Thanks so much.

 

[spta97]

i work at a ford dealer in the service dept. like the one person said, if you jiggle the wiper arm it will start working again about 90% of the time. but eventually it will stop again. ford has a new design for both the motor and the arm. the motor gets stuck on a certain position and you have to move it from that position. you will never get that to stop until you replace it with the updated motor. the reason for the updated arm is that some of them when you turn the wiper on they wipe only a section of the glass. the updated arm has a new design so that this does not happen as easy. the old type arm does this because they get tweaked & it is almost impossible to get it to work right after that happens. automatic carwashes or someone using the arm as a device to help them get up onto that back bumper usually causes this. so in short, if you are having either of theses problems you know now what you need to replace.

Why wouldn't this be listed as a TSB? It seems that enough people had the problem for them to switch the design.