Hello fellow audi owners.. I have just purchased this audi 2003 a4 convertible and i have some isssues with it. first of all I hope I am posting this in the correct area my first issue is that my wipers stay stuck in the middle of the windshield they work perfect but will not go down to thier position. I tried to shut the car off and put the wipers down by hand and when I do the wipers go down and when you start the car up they go back to the same position. Please help me with this so I dont have to drive the car with these wipers stuck in the middle. Thank you all in advance


Second issue

I started the car today and it was nice out and I decided to put the softop down and when I did the top wont go down and it says top wont go down Please lower storage box.. can someone Please let me know what is going on and where to start??? Thanks again in advance.

 

I got a 04, A4 , 1.8T, Q , 6spd Manual , Ultra Sport

I got the same exact wiper issue. I did take it to the Audi Dealer who wants $600 to put in a new wiper motor. A local shop specializing in Imports, looked at it and sort of said the same thing, that the wiper motor cant reset to the start position and it needs a new motor. He said he'd do it for around $350.

Has anyone change a wiper motor before? I'm not sure how complicated that would be.

 

That wiper motor is nearly indestructable. You likely have the start of the corroded spindle problem. I recently took my wiper assembly apart and cleaned it up and they work like new. If they are stopping in the middle you simply need to disconnect the linkage to the motor. There is one bolt on top of the wiper motor that connects the linkage.

Disconnect this bolt and cycle the wipers once and the motor will go back to its home position.

Move your wipers to the down position.

Re-attach linkage.



If your wipers are starting to slow down at all you likely have the corrosion problem. It gets worse very quickly. Mine went from slowing down to stuck in a matter of days.

I don't have time to link to the proper posts that show the clean up procedure but I'm sure someone else on here will.

Not knowing Audis yet, I completely thought it was the motor as well and went back and forth with my technician who was correct in that it was just corrosion.

And be sure to clean up the spindle corrosion before you put back the linkage as you do not want to ruin the splines on the linkage or you will have to get a new motor then.

Hope this helps and saves you some cash.

 

Thanks for the info!!!! I will definitely try that and let you know the out come.

Much better than the dealers response of: Put in a new one for $600.

 

Can anyone point me in the right direction for a link to the spindle clean up procedure. I am having the same issue with my 2004 A4 tonight and we got about 7 inches of snow and it's still coming down. Any help is appreciated.

 

I don't have any links to a writeup and I didn't think to take pictures while I was doing mine but it really isn't too difficult if you are at all mechanically inclined. I know there are a couple write-ups out there, will have to search for them.

From memory so may not be perfect...

remove firewall cover so you can get to the wiper motor/assembly.

Remove the wiper arms from the spindles. (If you can move them by hand w/out hurting the spindle try to get them to the lower position. Mark on the windsheild trim piece to the windshield where the wipers are so you can put them back in the exact same position later. If not you can make it work later, just a little more off/on w/ the wipers.)

Remove linkage bolt on top of motor. Getting the arms loose will help in removing the motor assembly.

I think there are three bolts holding the assembly down. One is covered by the ECU cover. Remove the ECU cover to get to it.

This is the fun part: wiggle out the wiper assembly any way you can, but do not pry as you could bend one of the arms.

As soon as it is free, disconnect the electrical connector to the wiper motor.

With the assembly free, now you have to free the spindles. There is a keeper on the wiper end of the spindle. Remove that keeper and then pry out the spindle. We had to pound and pry and heat and twist to get mine out. We also managed to bend one of the arms of the assembly so I ended up replacing it eventually.

Once you get them free and removed from the spindle casing you should sand and polish the inside diameter of the casing and the outside of the spindle. I found a Dremel tool cone shaped wire brush was the perfect size for the inside. If only one of the spindles is bad I would say to still clean both of them while you are there. Also, if one of the spindles is good, disassemble that one first to get an idea what you are trying to disassemble. There is a brass bushing as top and bottom of the spindle if I remember.

Once you get everything disassembled and cleaned, re-assemble in reverse order. Be sure to pack the spindle casings with grease as you put them back together.

If all else fails, you can get just the wiper assembly w/ out the motor for a reasonable price.

Good luck!