Ducato wipers work when the ignition is turned on but not when the engine is running!

Roger Haworth

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This is really weird. My local garage has fitted a new wiper motor but this has not cured the problem. Any ideas?
 
Im thinking more a faulty eng switch, if working on switch on but not after cranking and switch returned to on position, maybe a power wire to a relay is not contacting or a inline fuse on direct line in after egn switch, use a volt meter to test power to motor before and after starting.
 
Roger Haworth said:
This is really weird. My local garage has fitted a new wiper motor but this has not cured the problem. Any ideas?
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Quite frankly never set foot in that garage ever again.
How could it be the motor when they worked with the engine of, thats basic diagnostics.
The common denominator was never the motor, but what switches the 12v supply to the motor.
And testing a motor prior to fitment is Childs play, you simply apply voltage to the existing motor.
So I am with Gordon and Trev here, this has to be a switching issue.
I hope you got your money back from the garage.
all the best.
 
Roger Haworth said:

Ducato wipers work when the ignition is turned on but not when the engine is running!​

This is really weird. My local garage has fitted a new wiper motor but this has not cured the problem. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

to help diagnosis .
1) When you say ignition is turned on do you mean when the switch is at the "accessory" position or at the "ignition" position?

2) Does everything else work when engie is running ? e.g headlight flash / windscreen washer / horn
 
Fisherman said:
Quite frankly never set foot in that garage ever again.
How could it be the motor when they worked with the engine of, thats basic diagnostics.
The common denominator was never the motor, but what switches the 12v supply to the motor.
And testing a motor prior to fitment is Childs play, you simply apply voltage to the existing motor.
So I am with Gordon and Trev here, this has to be a switching issue.
I hope you got your money back from the garage.
all the best.
Click to expand...
Good advice about never setting foot in a garage! They've charged me £981 so far without getting the wipers to work!
 
Fisherman said:
Quite frankly never set foot in that garage ever again.
How could it be the motor when they worked with the engine of, thats basic diagnostics.
The common denominator was never the motor, but what switches the 12v supply to the motor.
And testing a motor prior to fitment is Childs play, you simply apply voltage to the existing motor.
So I am with Gordon and Trev here, this has to be a switching issue.
I hope you got your money back from the garage.
all the best.
Click to expand...
Good advice about never setting foot in a garage! They've charged me £981 so far without getting the wipers to work
r4dent said:
to help diagnosis .
1) When you say ignition is turned on do you mean when the switch is at the "accessory" position or at the "ignition" position?

2) Does everything else work when engie is running ? e.g headlight flash / windscreen washer / horn
Click to expand...
Wipers work when ignition in accessory position but not when the engine is running.
 
Roger Haworth said:
Wipers work when ignition in accessory position but not when the engine is running.
Click to expand...
Do they work in "ignition" position before the engine is running? i.e. before you start the engine?

As before does everything else work in "ignition" position ?
 
trevskoda said:
And you paid. :unsure:
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Yes I did. They said the wipers were working so I paid and drove off. The windscreen was a bit dusty so I used the screen washers and realised the wipers won't working. I went back to the garage and told them the wipers won't working. They then tested the wipers with the ignition on and to the engine off and the wipers worked perfectly. I thought I was going mad! The garage person then had the brilliant insight to start the engine and the wipers stopped working. The van is now with the garage while they work out how to charge me a further £1000 and not solve the problem. I predict that their next "solution" will be a new central processing unit or whatever it's called costing £1000s!
 
Roger Haworth said:
Yes I did. They said the wipers were working so I paid and drove off. The windscreen was a bit dusty so I used the screen washers and realised the wipers won't working. I went back to the garage and told them the wipers won't working. They then tested the wipers with the ignition on and to the engine off and the wipers worked perfectly. I thought I was going mad! The garage person then had the brilliant insight to start the engine and the wipers stopped working. The van is now with the garage while they work out how to charge me a further £1000 and not solve the problem. I predict that their next "solution" will be a new central processing unit or whatever it's called costing £1000s!
Click to expand...
I think this thread illustrates how vulnerable people who do not have expertise in auto electrics can be when faced with a problem of this type. I have had my van and my car serviced and repaired by this garage for several years with no problems but it has always been about mechanical stuff. When faced with what seems to have been an electrical problem they resorted to replacing parts rather than diagnosing the electrical problem. With hindsight I would probably have been better advised to take the van to an auto electrician rather than my regular garage.
 
Roger Haworth said:
Yes I did. They said the wipers were working so I paid and drove off. The windscreen was a bit dusty so I used the screen washers and realised the wipers won't working. I went back to the garage and told them the wipers won't working. They then tested the wipers with the ignition on and to the engine off and the wipers worked perfectly. I thought I was going mad! The garage person then had the brilliant insight to start the engine and the wipers stopped working. The van is now with the garage while they work out how to charge me a further £1000 and not solve the problem. I predict that their next "solution" will be a new central processing unit or whatever it's called costing £1000s!
Click to expand...

I had a similar problem with the wipers on my Renault Master and I eventually got a reconditioned ECU online to cure the problem. It was a fraction of the cost of what Renault would have charged. There are companies out there who specialise in this sort of thing and it's not something which is difficult to fit.

I will try and find my thread on this subject for reference.

Having said that, mine is not a high end vehicle, if it was I might have gone down a more expensive route rather than take any risks.
 
Think this is ridiculous the way you have been charged
ask them if they are members of the motor trade association but without being horrible to you I feel you need to get someone with knowledge to speak to them as I feel you are getting (ripped off)
there maybe a member with knowledge on here who could assist you if you needed
 
Sorry mine was a BCM (Body Control Module) which I replaced and it was referred to in thie following thread;

Wipers stoped working

Strange one. I was getting my van ready for it’s mot tomorrow decided to change the blades they were working fine put two new blades on filled the water bottle went to check them and nothing. Had a bit of a plaffer to get to the fuses checked then both fine. Any ideas
wildcamping.co.uk wildcamping.co.uk
 
The laird said:
Think this is ridiculous the way you have been charged
ask them if they are members of the motor trade association but without being horrible to you I feel you need to get someone with knowledge to speak to them as I feel you are getting (ripped off)
there maybe a member with knowledge on here who could assist you if you needed
Click to expand...
Thanks for your comment. It's certainly not a question of being horrible to me. Yes I do need help. I do not have knowledge of vehicle electronics as I'm sure the majority of people on this forum also do not have. I have had my car and my van serviced and repaired by this garage for several years without any problem. I really don't know why things have gone so wrong this time. It would of course have been much better with the benefit of hindsight to have told them not to replace parts until they had identified what the problem was. They were totally in the dark as they had never tested the wipers with the engine running - only testing with the ignition on so they never saw the wipers not working and put it down to an intermittent fault and so went ahead and replaced the wiper motor and the control stalk at a cost of nearly £1000. Now the van is still in the garage with wipers that don't work, I'm £1000 poorer and the garage has no idea what to do next
 
You still haven't said if the wipers work with the switch in the ignition position before you start the engine

You still haven't said if other things work when the engine is running.

We can't diagnose without this basic information.
 
r4dent said:
You still haven't said if the wipers work with the switch in the ignition position before you start the engine

You still haven't said if other things work when the engine is running.

We can't diagnose without this basic information.
Click to expand...
Yes the wipers work with the switch in the ignition position. I've no idea what else does or doesn't work as the van is still in the garage!
 
Roger Haworth said:
Thanks for your comment. It's certainly not a question of being horrible to me. Yes I do need help. I do not have knowledge of vehicle electronics as I'm sure the majority of people on this forum also do not have. I have had my car and my van serviced and repaired by this garage for several years without any problem. I really don't know why things have gone so wrong this time. It would of course have been much better with the benefit of hindsight to have told them not to replace parts until they had identified what the problem was. They were totally in the dark as they had never tested the wipers with the engine running - only testing with the ignition on so they never saw the wipers not working and put it down to an intermittent fault and so went ahead and replaced the wiper motor and the control stalk at a cost of nearly £1000. Now the van is still in the garage with wipers that don't work, I'm £1000 poorer and the garage has no idea what to do next.
Click to expand...

Roger Haworth said:
I think it's time for the garage and me to extricate ourselves from this situation. I'll say to the garage that as they haven't solved the problem I want a full refund of the £981 I've paid. They'll likely refuse so then I'll claim the money back from Tesco Bank whose credit card I used to pay. The relevant legislation is Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 which makes credit card issuers jointly responsible for bad debts between £100 and £30000 Then I'll take the van to somewhere (where?) that they know something about auto electrics and hopefully get the wipers working
Click to expand...
 
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