Rear wiper operation
Q The rear wiper motor on my 2000 Avensis failed due to water ingress and the subsequent rust, which made the metal arm seize inside the motor mechanism. As this is a Mk1, spares are becoming rare, so I pulled the good one from a scrap vehicle. However, the donor car was an estate and mine’s a hatchback. The replacement motor fits in place perfectly, but it operates the wiper the wrong way and with too long a sweep.
Do you know how I can make the new motor behave like my old one? What determines which way the wiper operates and what determines the length of the sweep?
Bartosz
A From your description, it would appear that you have two problems with the replacement wiper. The park is controlled by a contact switch within the wiper motor, while the sweep is controlled by the gear and the length of the crank rod connecting to the wiper pivot. The park position control is via a metal contact strip on the rear of the geared wheel which is visible in your photo.
If you were to remove the back cover of the new unit and compare the mechanism to the old wiper assembly, you should see a significant difference in the connecting rod between the gear and the pivot. It may be that the connecting rod is fitted at a different point to the circular gear, thus giving it larger movement resulting in a wider sweep. I am not sure any changes could be made without replacing the gear and rod mechanism. Likewise, by removing the gear from the old motor you will reveal the contact points for the park switch. This is normally a fixed strip with no adjustments.
The one way forward might be to remove the parts from the original motor and clean them thoroughly, removing any rust and debris to enable them to be greased and refitted into the new unit with the working motor. This could be quite a task, but may get you the result you desire.