A3 Sportback rear wiper issue

[dirtbag]

Hi all, just noticed I have a rear wiper problem. It moves fully from drivers side to passenger side but then gets stuck and I hear a weerring as if its trying to move. I have taken the rear hatch panel off and got to the insides of the motor assembly. I have taken a picture of it and hopefully someone might be able to shed some light on it please.
The cog appears to have teeth on it still ?

Thanks in advance

 

[NHN]

Usually they need replacing tbh, could be the motor itself, but try cleaning it up a bit & see if anythings worn/broken.

 

[dirtbag]

Thanks for quick reply. I will give it a clean, can get a used one for £40 so not end of the world.
To remove this , is it just the large external retaining nut beneath the wash cover then just knock it through ?

 

[NHN]

Dont knock it through as it may break glass & also damage the nipple on end if intended to use again if fixable, get a wiper removal tool, then undo 3 nuts on bootlid & it should drop through.

 

[dirtbag]

Okay many thanks mate. What i did not mention was those three nuts holding the motor internally I also removed, do I still need a wiper tool ?

 

[TDI140]

De-wiper it for easy soloution but if your rear screen gets really dirty then thats not such a good option

 

[dirtbag]

Yeah not an option I'm afraid, lots of travelling on motorways my rear screen gets mucked real quick !!

 

[shaksq]

I just changed my motor on my a3, it was in the same state as yours, I did clean it at first and it worked fine for about a month, it then began to leak, I rang audi, they wanted well over a hundred pounds for a new one, I then went to EUROCARPARTS and got a genuine Valeo one for £76.00, if you go onto there website and enter your reg, then type in rear wiper motor, it will give you a price of £93.20, they have a 25% off web exclusive at present, you then type websaver25 in the voucher box, hit enter and the price comes to £70 ish pounds, then click on pick up at your local store. (When I got it it was only 20% off). Hope this helps

 

[dirtbag]

hi many thanks for the help, I think I might just do that

 

[shaksq]

No problems mine also came in the genuine audi sealed box.

 

[gunnag]

I just had a similar problem on my 2007 A3 Sportsback where the wiper would occasionaly pack up, the washer fluid wouldnt come out and the alarm would go off sporadically !

I decided to remove the trim covering the wiper motor to see what was going on. Turns out there was a leak inside the wiper mechanism and the washer fluid was dripping over the tailgate lock and electrical connector block. This in turn caused electrics to think the tailgate was open which triggers the alarm and stops the wiper since the wiper will only operate with the tailgate closed.

I remove the wiper motor mechanism by first unclipping the wiper cover, pulling off the two holed plastic washer jet and undoing the 13mm central nut. The wiper is fitted on a taper so you need plenty of penetrating oil and gentle persuasion to remove it. Once of, the motor is extracted by undoing the three mounting nuts, removing the electric connector and pulling off the washer fluid pipe.

Once removed, I opened the wiper motor cover to reveal the mechanism inside, there are 5 T10 torx bolts holding on the cover. I found that the washer fluid was leaking into the mechanism due to a faulty seal. The method of supplying the washer fluid to the 2 nozzles is slightly flawed to my mind since it depends on a seal between the wiper motor cover and the wiper spindle. When I inspected my cover and spindle, it was clear that there was no seal in place and washer fluid could easily leak between the cover and spindle. To rectify the issue I simply fitted two "O" rings on the spindle which then seal with the corresponding hole in the cover. It may be that "O" rings were originally fitted and have since disintegrated, but I couldnt see any evidence of them. Looking at the hole in the cover, there is a recess which looks like it may be for an "O" ring and this where I fitted the first "O" ring. The spindle has a step about half way along and this is where I fitted the second "O" smaller ring, small enough to fit tightly on the spindle and allow for clearance over the cover hole.

I refited the cover so and noted some resistance as the "O" rings compressed slightly. I can report complete success so far, no leaks and the washer jet sprays perfectly.

 

[dirtbag]

Excellent many thanks for putting this up, helps a lot !

 

[gunnag]

Hi Dirtbag, looking at the pics of your wiper mechanism, doesnt seem that bad, the teeth on the cogs look OK but there seems to be evidence of water ingress, hence the brown color which is probably rust. I would give it a good clean up and fresh grease as well as adding the "O" rings on the spindle as suggested earlier. Hopefully this will work and save you the cost of a new wiper mechanism.

 

[dirtbag]

Hi Dirtbag, looking at the pics of your wiper mechanism, doesnt seem that bad, the teeth on the cogs look OK but there seems to be evidence of water ingress, hence the brown color which is probably rust. I would give it a good clean up and fresh grease as well as adding the "O" rings on the spindle as suggested earlier. Hopefully this will work and save you the cost of a new wiper mechanism.

Thanks for looking, I will book it in with my local mec and see what he says, hes fair so he may be able to get it working