Hi folks,

I have a 1999 A4 1.8T with 200,000 miles. The windshield wiper froze in the up position for a few minutes and started working again. A week later they froze in the up position for good. I was able to easily push them down to the normal position but they never worked again.

The windshield washer pump still squirts, so I ruled out the fuse. I removed the linkage and the motor still didn't turn. I took the motor out and I am getting continuous power to the green wire. (I check with a little light guage. Don't have a voltmeter.)

The light guage stays lit, not intermittant like I was halfway expecting.

Before I order a new motor, is there anything else I should check to ensure it is the motor that's gone bad. I found a mention of a relay. Could that be the cause? How do I check it?

Thanks.

 

When you said "I'm getting continuous power to the green wire" , did that mean the hot lead comin out of the car to the wiper motor? I'm pretty sure you covered all your bases on this one though. My wiper relay and combi switch both went bad and the symptoms were nothing like you're describing.

When the relay went bad, the wipers still worked in intermittent, low, and high, they just didn't park. By that i mean they didn't return to the bottom of the windshield after i turned off the wipers.

When the combi switch in the steering column went bad, the wipers would turn on and off on their own, stay on after i turned them off, turn off when i had them on, etc.

I'd say you did a damn good job figurin this one out!

 

If you get a +12v dc straight to the motor, then the engine should keep running. Look at the motor, is there a relay inside it?
Possible that it could be damaged because of incorrect voltages in, due to fauty relay. Recommend that you get a voltmeter, check on another A4 then check on yours and see that the voltages are the same on all wires.