HI alfisti,can anyone help,i am having trouble with windscreen wipers,they work for about 5 min,then stop working for about same time,then mysteriously start working again,alfa electrical gremlins or what.pls help.ciao and grazie
Hi Lombardi,
The wiper system is pretty basic on these cars.
Things I would check;
- Mechanical linkages, driving the wiper arms. These become clogged and benefit greatly from cleaning and a dab of grease.
- The integrity of the motor itself. The drainage hole for the scuttle (I think that is what its called) in front of the windscreen becomes clogged. Water then pools in the scuttle, drenching the internals of the wiper motor. Rust then sets in, causing poor operation/failure of the motor. New quality (Japanese) replacements are available from Classic Alfa in the UK (and others).
Alternatively, have someone check the motor to see if it can be reconditioned.
- Wiper switch. Check all electrical connections are sound.
Cheers,
Marco.
Agree Marco, these are some of the usual suspects. Another more sinister one is that your alternator may not be charging properly (slipping belt etc. or alternator itself) and this problem goes undetected often as the car doesn't actually need alot of juice to operate. If all else fails check this. You can also check this by seeing if the alt waring light is on when this happens or if your driving at night the lights dimming and wipers not running as you are driving.
May have nothing to do with it but it is one of the culprits particularly if the wipers are operating perfectly fine during those five minutes.
1750GT
check earths, always the first place to start with electricals
If the problem is with your wiper motor you could replace it with a wiper motor form a 75. They are small and fit into the space under the scuttle panel and have the same 3-bolt mounts as the original
Barry
Barry you are a fountain of knowledge and thanks too as I will remember this for my 105s. :) Dave