Windshield wipers come into their element when the storms kick in. They work hard to keep your windshield clean so that you can keep driving in the downpour. We recently did a piece on how vital the wiper blades are in this puzzle.
Today, we will be looking at the actual wipers, which could cause them to fail and maintain them for a longer lifespan.
Telling if your windshield wipers are faulty is easy. They are right there in front of you. They will either:
- Not automatically kick in when it rains
- It won’t work when you turn them on
- It won’t run at the correct speed
What Would Cause Windshield Wipers Not to Work?
Windshield wipers are actually very simple. They have an electric motor to generate the motion, a control circuit and some joints.
If anything will fail, it has to be in that line. The top failure points are:
Note: If you have rain-sensing wipers, ensure that you didn’t accidentally turn this feature off. Consult your manual on how to check this
A Blown Windshield Wiper Fuse
The first thing to check when one of your electronic components fails in a car is the fuse box. A fuse protects virtually every electronic circuit. Sometimes, these fuses blow even when there’s no problem in the circuit.
- Identify the fuse box in your car. The location varies.
- Consult your model-specific fusebox diagram to identify your wipers fuse.
- Pull out the fuse and check if it is blown.
- If it is, replace it with one of the correct amperages and try your wipers.
You might be lucky enough and fix the problem by just replacing the fuse. However, you should monitor your system closely to ensure that there’s no problem with the circuitry.
For instance, if the fuse blows again immediately or within a couple of uses, chances are something is overloading the circuit. Get the complete wiring checks and the motors inspected, too, for faults.
How Do You Know if Your Windshield Wiper Fuse is Blown
While wipers that won’t turn could point to a blown fuse, you still have to troubleshoot further to narrow down the problem.
- Identify the correct wiper blades fuse and pull it out of the fusebox
- Hold it up to some light and look at the wire inside the plastic
- It should be continuous and not broken. If it is broken, the fuse is blown
- You can also use a multimeter in continuity mode to confirm. If the meter doesn’t detect continuity, then the fuse is blown.
A Failed Wiper Motor
The other problem could be a failure in the wiper motors. This is rare, though. Wiper motors last for very long. Moreover, since they are not used constantly, very few car owners ever have to fix or replace the motors.
However, since they are electrical components, they could develop a short, rust over, or plain fail. When this happens, they could take a fuse with them too.
Have your wiper motors inspected if you keep blowing fuses every time you run your wipers.
Pro Tip: Some older cars didn’t necessarily use motors. They had wiper linkages. Your wipers will stop working if the linkage is damaged or worn out.
A Loose Wire Somewhere in the Circuit
Another possible problem that could grind your wipers to a halt is a loose connector or a chewed through wire.
This is common in cars that have been worked on before. Perhaps the mechanic tugged on the wrong harness unknowingly and didn’t push it back.
Parked cars that perhaps had a mice nest could also have some of its wires chewed through.
You can troubleshooting the wiring straight from the fusebox by setting your meter on continuity mode or just tracing the wire by sight. Push any terminals you observe along the way back just to be sure.
Pro Tip: A faulty ground connection could also make your wiper motors act up. Confirm your ground connections to the engines are perfect before moving on
A Malfunctioning Sensor
A good number of modern cars have rain and moisture sensing windshield wipers. They use an infrared sensor mounted below the windshield.
The sensor blasts infrared light through the windshield and reads reflections. If it gets multiple angle reflections, it concludes that there must be water droplets on the windshield.
The intensity of the reflection matched with your driving speed determines how fast your windshield wipers work.
If the sensor is blocked or faulty, your automatic rain-sensing windshield wipers won’t have the data they need to turn on and adjust operating speed accordingly.
A Faulty Control Module
Sometimes, your wipers might be working but not running at the selected speed or fast enough to clear the water off your screen.
If the speed isn’t up to the setting you choose on the control stock, there could be a problem with the wiper blade speed controller. The controller tells the wiper blade motors how fast they should turn.
In an automatic system, the controller could also be the problem. However, your wipers could be running fast enough for your driving speed and rain intensity only that your wiper blades are old and not efficient. Check this post we did on how often you should replace wiper blades for optimum performance.
ProTip: Sometimes, your controllers could be just fine, but you have a damaged motor that can’t process different speed settings accurately
Loose or Damaged Wiper Pivot Nuts
The final thing that could make your wipers fail is a loose pivot joint. This is the point where the wipers convert the motor’s rotational motion into the back and forth action the wipers need.
If one or more bolts in this system are loose, your system won’t be effective. It might even completely fail. Having them check and torqued up to spec is a great way to fix the problem without spending a lot of time – especially if you’ve confirmed that the fuse is not blown.
You can also conclude that this is the problem if the wipers are not moving, but you can still hear the tell-tale whirring of the wiper blades motor.
Why is Only One of My Wipers Not Working?
Wipers don’t always fail as a unit. After all, they only share a couple of components, with the rest being independent.
For instance, they will have separate pivot joints and (almost always) different motors. One wiper could fail if its motor or wiring is faulty or if its pivot is loose.
What to Do If Wipers Stop Working When Driving
Wipers won’t always fail when you’re testing your car in your parking lot. They often fail when you need them most on the road. Knowing how to react when they cut out or fail to kick in will keep you and your fellow motorists safe.
Stay Calm – You’re Still in Control
Even if wipers fail in torrential rain or snow, you can still see for a while. Don’t panic and brake instantly. The conditions are wet and slippery. You can spin out.
Instead, gently lift off the accelerator and access the visibility situation. If it’s rain, chances are the water will bead off, and you’ll retain some visibility. If it is snow, the flakes could fly off or pile on slowly enough for you to see.
If you can still see, reduce your speed. Drive to a safe waiting spot, perhaps a motel or your home (whichever is closest) and wait for the storm out – or have the wipers fixed.
If the rain or snow is very heavy, you will have no option but to pull off. However, if you can still see a short distance ahead, slowly drive to a safe place. Road shoulders aren’t exceptionally safe in a storm.
ProTip: Make pulling over to the roadside your very last option if you are in the middle of nowhere and can’t see more than a couple of car lengths ahead. Driving slowly and carefully is better than being snowed in on a deserted road.
Keep a Very Safe Following Distance
Since you can’t see very far ahead, your reaction time will be prolonged. This shouldn’t be a problem if the road ahead is clear and you are driving slowly.
However, you will have a hard time if you follow the vehicle ahead very closely. First, you might not see it react to unseen dangers on time. Secondly, the car you are following also kicks up road spray, making it harder for you to see.
Ease off. Let other vehicles, ahead or on an adjacent lane, drive past and leave you alone.
Stay Alert and Use All Your Senses
With your vision impaired, you will have to count on all other senses to stay informed.
A glance at your mirrors more often to figure out what is going on around you. Situational awareness helps.
Also, turn down the stereo and if you have windbreakers, crack your windows slightly. Listening to road noise and traffic noise around you could help you piece up crucial information about what is going on around or behind you.
If you have passengers, reassure them and encourage them to stay silent so that you can concentrate.
Don’t Improvise in a Way that Will Distract You.
There are many tales of creative solutions that will keep you on the road once wipers fail. Actively adding something to the windshield, wiping a small section of the screen, or using strings to move the wipers manually might sound noble, but it’s risky.
You will be distracted when you have to focus the most. Set the gimmicks aside and concentrate on steering your car to a good spot as safely as possible.
How Do You Manually Turn of Rain-Sensing Windshield Wipers
Sometimes, you might not want your rain-sensing wipers running (for reasons unknown to us.) Luckily, you can turn them off manually.
The approach might vary from one car to another, but it involves using the wiper control stalk. Push it down (or up) to one step before the Window Washer cycle spot. This often disengaged simple rain sensing systems.
In other cars, you have to change this through the infotainment system. Please consult your owner’s manual to find how to do it for your vehicle.
Pro Tip: Sometimes, your rain-sensing windshield wipers might not be working simply because you accidentally pushed the stalk to off position or tinkered with the setting in the infotainment system. Checking this first might help.
How to Adjust Rain Sensing Wiper’s Sensitivity
You can also adjust how sensitive your wipers are to rain. This will dictate how often they kick on and what speed they operate. The control is on your wiper stalk or in the infotainment system.
Manual wiper cars also have a dial on the stalk that lets you choose how fast each wiper stock speed setting moves.
Why Won’t My Wipers Turn Off?
Just as lousy wiring and faulty relays can stop your wipers from kicking on, they could also keep them from stopping.
If your wipers keep running even in the off position, you can start by confirming that their relay (if they use one) isn’t stuck open.
Otherwise, you will have to dedicate some time to check what part makes the system think. Other culprits could be:
- Bad wiring in manual systems
- A faulty control module
- A faulty park switch in the motor
- Damaged wiper controls that don’t fully engage when you move the wiper stalk
- A malfunctioning rain sensor
If this happens when it’s dry and you are on the road, you can momentarily pull out the wiper fuse to disable the system until you get to a place you can service the system.
Remember you have to plug the fuse back in case it begins raining again.
Letting the blades run when it’s dry will burn out the rubber and streak your screen if it goes on for long.
Bottom Line
You might not know how important your windshield wipers are until they fail in the middle of a storm. Don’t learn the hard way. Take it from us. Keeping them in good condition is paramount. You can mitigate some problems by checking them occasionally if you live in an area where it rarely rains.
Also, please keep checking the pivot points and tighten them when necessary to avoid undue mechanical failure.