Wipers Suddenly Stop Working - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

JEBalles · #1 11-03-2008, 01:57 PM

My wipers all of a sudden stopped working, unfortunately, while it was raining and I was driving. I checked the fuses, all fine, horn still works, blinkers still work, just the wipers and sprayers don't. WVO valve switch electronics use the same fuse, but they still work. The motors wouldn't simultaneously fail, so it shouldn't be them. Other than that I'm out of ideas.

techguy512 · #2 11-03-2008, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JEBalles

My wipers all of a sudden stopped working

You probably won't get much help until you fess up to what car you're driving......

#3 11-03-2008, 02:48 PM

A good idea would be to tell us what year and model you have.

JEBalles · #4 11-03-2008, 03:05 PM

Ah yes, 1983 240D. My b.

DeadlyMuffin · #5 11-03-2008, 08:09 PM

For whatever it's worth I have the same problem. My wipers didn't turn on this morning but everything else seems to work. I'm driving a '85 300D Turbo.

rcounts · #6 11-04-2008, 12:20 AM

Mine are working on intermittant and low speed, but not on high all the sudden...

cdplayer · #7 11-04-2008, 03:20 AM

All of the W123's I have toyed with have the wiper replay behind the instrument cluster.
Remove the cluster look into the hole above and to the left. There mounted on the wall just beneath the left dash speaker is the wiper relay.
Most are black, and a few I have seen are silver color. Just unplug the old, plug in the new.

rcounts · #8 11-04-2008, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdplayer

All of the W123's I have toyed with have the wiper replay behind the instrument cluster.
Remove the cluster look into the hole above and to the left. There mounted on the wall just beneath the left dash speaker is the wiper relay.
Most are black, and a few I have seen are silver color. Just unplug the old, plug in the new.

Well, from what I've been told, the relay is for the intermittent setting but isn't used for the low or high speed settings - except for the "park" function when you turn them off.

So how would replacing the relay affect operation in the low or high setting? Do you know something about the system that is different than what I described?

tobybul · #9 11-04-2008, 03:05 PM

I would try opening and removing the combo sw. Its easy to do. The wires where it terminates to the soldered terminals inside the steering column have a tendency to break off.

I had that problem on one of my Ds. I screwed around with the relays thinking one of them was bad. Finally, I opened up the combo sw and VOILA! one of the wires of the wiper control broke off its terminal. I resoldered it and back in business

JEBalles · #10 11-04-2008, 05:07 PM

Do all wiper related electronics go through one wire and one relay, or are they connected to anything? I'm not exactly familiar with electronics of any kind, so feel free to correct me. Nothing works for me, no intermittent, high or low speed or the sprayer. Also, about a week previous, my wipers stopped mid-wipe, but when I switched from oil to purge, they started up again. I already fiddled with the valve switch and the wipers, but I got nothing, but that's what made me think it may have been the WVO.

mistergood · #11 11-04-2008, 05:51 PM

FWIW, I had my wiper switch go bad on me a few months back. So, its not out of the question that the switch has burnt itself up. If you smell the end of the switch and it smells like burnt electronics then theres your problem. Perhaps a good test of this (if all the electronics in it aren't too far gone) is to try to turn on the wiper switch then wiggle and pull on it to see if they ever get any power and move. Mine was beyond repair so I had to purchase a new one. Replacing the switch is pretty simple, should it come down to that.