Wipers died?

[warmblood58]

I have a '84 380sl and the wipers just died! Fuse is fine, how do I access motor? Under the cowl in the engine compartment? Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks!

[sublettd]

Don't know if your wiper motor is in the same place as it is on the 500SL or not. My wiper motor is between the brake booster and the fender--and would be a bear to get to.

[nobby]

Originally Posted by warmblood58

I have a '84 380sl and the wipers just died! Fuse is fine, how do I access motor? Under the cowl in the engine compartment? Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks!

Sloooowwww doooowwwwn. Have you checked the relay?
You don't want to change the ww motor if at all possible. It's in a bad spot.

[meltedpanda]

right, the removal for that motor is not for the faint of heart, Make sure you have power before and after the fuse, use a meter and don't assume you do because the fuse looks good. Also another culprit can be your combo switch or relay. i would suspect the wiper motor would give some warning signs before going south, did you have any issues prior to demise?

[warmblood58]

No warning and this car has not seen a lot of driving in the rain. My neighbor wired in a mp3 and I know have a slow drain which keeps taking the battery down (related?) Perhaps this installation is impacting wiper power. Other functions on combi switch work, just not wiper - Where is the wiper relay located on a 380sl? Thanks for all your help and comments! James

[Lee Wireless]

Originally Posted by warmblood58

No warning and this car has not seen a lot of driving in the rain. My neighbor wired in a mp3 and I know have a slow drain which keeps taking the battery down (related?) Perhaps this installation is impacting wiper power. Other functions on combi switch work, just not wiper - Where is the wiper relay located on a 380sl? Thanks for all your help and comments! James

Remove the "neighbors handy-work" before you start tearing up your car. It's too much of a coincidence.

[meltedpanda]

I agree Lee, I always go back to the last thing done

[warmblood58]

Relay location please, part number? Thanks!

[meltedpanda]

0008210863 part number, believe it is on the firewall, inside cab drivers side

[meltedpanda]

BTW, if you are interested , I have one used off a running donor 84 380SL

[Deltacom]

Warmblood58, before embarking in checking or replacing relay or switch, it is suggested you run the following test to ascertain whether your wiper motor is faulty.

Testing wiper motor

Disconnect the plug on top of the wiper motor and put it to one side.
On the motor there is the male plug connector with 5 pins (2 on the left and 3 on the right as per pics). Ignore sequence of pin No.1. Number them as follows:

From the left (there is only 2 pins) top left number 3 and bottom left number 5.
From the right (there is 3 pins) top number 2, middle number 4 and bottom number 6.
Using crocodile clips make following connections:

Connect a positive and negative line to the battery (or 12V source).
Clamp positive line to plug connector pin No.3 and negative line to pin No.6.
Connect an additional line to positive pole of battery and hold other end of this line against plug pin No.2, then 4 and then 5, one after another.

Pin no.2 actuates slow wiper motion
Pin no.4 actuates fast wiper motion
Pin no.5 actuates interval motion

If all above motions occur, your motor is fine and you need to find relay and switches for the fault as others have advised on earlier posts.

[warmblood58]

great information, thank you!

[Cabernet88]

I have the same problem on my 88 560sl - no intermittent.

I have power coming to the motor from the switch and checked the motor per the workshop manual as suggested by Deltacom above. When I connected power to the intermittent, my motor does nothing, the other functions (slow and fast wipe) work fine. It seems like I either have a break in the wire going from the connector to the motor, or the motor no longer works with intermittent.

Any clues?


Matt

[Deltacom]

Matt, the test you carried out established your relay, motor and stalk switch are working fine. As you ascertained there is a discontinuity of power to the impulse switch attached to the motor (see pics). The impulse switch contains a resistor and capacitor and these might be faulty but there is a previous check you can do to ascertain whether the impulse switch is faulty or electrical connector. The male plug you tested can be removed by way of just two screws and then you can check whether the solder to pin 5 has perished or disconnected from the wire. If the wires are well soldered then you will need to remove the motor and replace the impulse switch. I hope this helps.