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The rear wiper on my P38 is on the blink. It's very sluggish when it wipes. That's if it wipes as often it won't move or it does move then dies stuck halfway across the screen. I have had it operating both with the wiper stalk & with the Nanocom so think that all is good regarding BECM & controls. I think that it points to an issue with the wiper motor. I found a couple of posts on other forums where guys have cleaned up the motor & applied plenty of WD40 to get them going again. At the moment I just try & resist using the rear wiper as I know it will stop mid stroke & hang down until sometime later when it will decide to park hidden away.

What is involved in taking out the wiper motor as I cannot find a guide online?

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Not been in there before but mine has started doing exactly the same thing. It has been working perfectly ever since I've owned the car but then I switch it on a couple of days ago to clear the rain off the rear screen and it only moved a couple of inches. Got out and gave it a helping hand and it parked OK. Now it will only give a part wipe before stopping so that is now one of my Easter holiday jobs. I'll let you know how I get on.....

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Had a look at mine this morning and the problem was obvious. Due to the curvature of the rear screen, as the wiper moves across the screen it has to hinge at the base of the wiper arm and mine was seized solid. A squirt of Plus Gas followed by some lube got it working perfectly again. Spoke to Nigel about something else and told him. He checked his and found the exact same problem so we can both now use the rear wiper.

For anyone else suffering the same problem, get it to move by giving it a helping hand and hit the boot release button while it is visible then try to lift the wiper away from the rear screen and you'll almost certainly find you can't. Lube the hinge with whatever you have handy and work it back and forth a few times and it will work as it should again.

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Gotta love the easy fixes!
If anyone really needs a rear motor, I have 2 that I do not need. Both work fine.
(I am North West coast of US)

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They say that "It's good to share" & "A trouble shared is a trouble halved". Well this is issue has been bugging me for 2-3 weeks now but as soon as I post a thread about it I get a fix!

Here is a top tip to access the hinge of the wiper arm so that you can lubricate it. While the wiper arm is operating press the release button to arrest the arm as it is hanging straight down. Now press the button again to drop the lower half of the tailgate. Now jump up on the lowered tailgate & you will be able to stand up & easily reach the hinge of the wiper arm.

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It's still a bit 'tired' as it sweeps across the rear screen & the motor is a bit noisy so I suspect that it's on its way out. It stopped mid sweep today & I needed to 'encourage' the wiper to park by lifting it up off the screen. It looks like I will need to take the motor out. I have read of people refurbishing the motor with new brushes but I haven't found where I can buy those. I would prefer if I could get away with replacing brushes for £10 rather than buy a whole new genuine motor (part number AMR3265) for £265.

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Amongst the assorted bits I rescued from Marty's workshop yesterday before they get consigned to a skip, was a rear wiper motor. Had no use for one at the time but having stuff is always useful so it got bunged in my trailer. Looks like that will find a home soon too.

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Gilbertd wrote:

Amongst the assorted bits I rescued from Marty's workshop yesterday before they get consigned to a skip, was a rear wiper motor. Had no use for one at the time but having stuff is always useful so it got bunged in my trailer. Looks like that will find a home soon too.

Great!

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My rear wiper has been on the blink for a year or more. Sometime it's very reluctant to park & just hangs down in the middle of the rear screen. At the suggestion of @Gilbertd I bent the arm outwards a bit so it wasn't pressing so hard on the screen. Sometimes it would work OK but other times it didn't work at all.

It now doesn't work at all so I decided that the problem must be the wiper motor & I removed it with the intention of refurbishing or replacing it. I have the motor out but I still had it connected to the wiring so I connected up the Nanocom & discovered that the rear wiper motor is perfectly OK & operating correctly when I switch it off & on with the Nanocom. Likewise I was also able to operate the headlight wipers with the Nanocom.

I'm wishing now that I hadn't removed the wiper motor as I now have the problem of putting it all back together. My biggest problem is that the rear wiper motor doesn't respond to the wiper stalk on the steering column & I'm wondering where I should start troubleshooting. I have a sinking feeling that it might be a problem with the BECM as I had been getting FUSE 10 FAILED until I took the seat out & disconnected the power supply to the inflatable lumbar support.

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Highly doubtful it is the BeCM and has nothing to do with fuse 10. You do have the tailgate closed I assume? Rear wiper doesn't do anything if the tailgate is open....

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Gilbertd wrote:

Highly doubtful it is the BeCM and has nothing to do with fuse 10. You do have the tailgate closed I assume? Rear wiper doesn't do anything if the tailgate is open....

I had to double check as I wasn't 100% sure about the tailgate. I had removed the motor from the tailgate before I used the Nanocom yesterday so when testing I have just hooked up the motor to the loom & let it dangle. Testing today I find that the motor doesn't work at all whether operated from the stalk or the Nanocom. The rear wiper is on the same fuse as courtesy lights & tailgate light which are all working. I'm pretty certain that I did have the tailgate shut yesterday & it was definitely shut today.

It's an odd coincidence if the motor had failed totally since yesterday. I suppose that I will have to test the motor in some way before proceeding with troubleshooting. I think it is a 3-pin plug on the motor.

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I just did some more testing & I'm pretty convinced now that it's the motor that's buggered. If I hold the motor I can feel something moving but it's very feeble. Yesterday when I was testing I didn't actually hold the motor so I missed the fact that it is still live but very feeble. I see that you can still purchase a genuine new rear wiper motor for about £220 but I think that I will go for a used one on eBay at £14.95.

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Problem solved or rather problem correctly diagnosed as I haven't reassembled it all yet. I paid £15 for a used rear wiper motor from East Coast 4x4 in Beccles. I plugged it in & confirmed that it's working OK when I operate the stalk.

I suspect that the original motor could have been refurbished but compared to buying a used motor for £15 it would have been more hassle than it's worth. In any case I won't be chucking it away just putting it on a shelf in the garage with my other spares like the two HEVACs, EAS valve block, EAS compressor etc

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Good you solved!
Talking about rear wiper, I can say the Britpart blade is really a shitpart blade ... very short-lasting product!