Front wiper failure

[ogough]

Hi All, I'm really struggling in diagnosing an issue with my front wipers and i'm hoping someone can shed some light on it... Vehicle: AUDI A3 54 plate Scenario: I bought the vehicle around 18 months ago and the concerned was in working order. The vehicle came with cheap aftermarket HID's which i have been meaning to change for some time now (some random Chinese make, i'm not sure which) Obviously at the time i wasn't aware of the potential issue (until trawling helpful forums like these) that can occur with HID's and wiper motor/wiper control module failing, from what i can ascertain that issue is due to either high voltage/current causing damaging Electro-magnetic charges, or the fact that the headlights and wiper unit share the same earth, high voltage causing damage to circuitry??? Anyway, they are still fitted and i assumed this to be the cause of the failure. Also, i have tried the obvious, fuses are fine and the bonnet latch is in good working order, so managed to borrow a working wiper motor from a friend, still not working not even a flicker when ignition on as they do. Now am i to understand that due to the direct power feed to the motor, there is no relay in the circuit that gives an audible 'click' upon using the stalk on the column? this leads me to believe that it could be the wiper control module under the dash? of which i have no way of telling if is working or not, can anybody provide information on what values, resistances etc it should read on particular pins? or another method of testing perhaps? If anybody has experienced this or something similar, your thoughts on what to do next would be greatly appreciated - RainEx only works for so long! haha Regards, Oliver

 

[JJ.Foulds]

welcome to the forum! (inb4 sandra! (i think))

expensive audi garage visit, lol. but sounds like you had the HID's for a long time before wipe fail so your 'lucky'.

 

[blazedani]

Very common problem.

The electromagnetic interference blow away the wiper motor.
It can happen within 1 day or within 2 years... but eventually it happens.

The wiper motor can be fixed.
Look & you will find info about a company that repairs the A3 broken wiper motors.

And of course, take that aftermarket HID kit from your car if you don't want it to happen again.

 

[JJ.Foulds]

so you tryed someone elses motor and it still didnt work right?

caus that would mean its not the motors that are broke

 

[blazedani]

Some times I heard about people with the same issue.

They replaced the wiper motor & still didn't work.
They were talking about using VAGCOM... but didn't really check on that since never had that problem.

 

[JJ.Foulds]

Iv read it can go as far as fry some ecu components to certain things, so it really could be anything

 

[blazedani]

Iv read it can go as far as fry some ecu components to certain things, so it really could be anything

Yes, that a common issue on Peugeot 407, blows away the wiper motor & the BSM.
But never heard about Audi A3 having that problem, very unlikely.

 

[JJ.Foulds]

Yes, that a common issue on Peugeot 407, blows away the wiper motor & the BSM.
But never heard about Audi A3 having that problem, very unlikely.

Think i saw it on a golf V they their abs light and stuff came on caus of it lol. maybe we at audi are lucky!
(and get that kit to smurfworth quicker!)

 

[blazedani]

Think i saw it on a golf V they their abs light and stuff came on caus of it lol. maybe we at audi are lucky!
(and get that kit to smurfworth quicker!)

Also this issue shows up in Audi A4 B6. (ABS / ESP errors with aftermarket HID kits).

Never saw it on Golf V before, but is good to know it can happen.
(guess it all depends on the different aftermarket HID kits, higher or lower electromagnetic inferences depending on brands/quality)

PS:
I'm not the one sending the kit to smurfworth, but I'm following his case close & rushing welldone to deliver asap this kit.
I think the kit is already on it's way to UK ;-)

 

[JJ.Foulds]

Also this issue shows up in Audi A4 B6. (ABS / ESP errors with aftermarket HID kits).

Never saw it on Golf V before, but is good to know it can happen.
(guess it all depends on the different aftermarket HID kits, higher or lower electromagnetic inferences depending on brands/quality)

PS:
I'm not the one sending the kit to smurfworth, but I'm following his case close & rushing welldone to deliver asap this kit.
I think the kit is already on it's way to UK ;-)

Dam these crazy aftermarket HID kits...

and good!

 

[JohnE]

Yes, that a common issue on Peugeot 407, blows away the wiper motor & the BSM.
But never heard about Audi A3 having that problem, very unlikely.

Interesting

Stock OEM HID for A3 8p does not blow away the motor. Regular aftermarket HID does.

I think it�s obvious where the problem is. So just make regular HIDs like OEM HID.

Somebody did already, so is so easy as use it.


Wiper motor is not the only problem with regular aftermarket HIDs, there are plenty of them:
- ABS
- ESP
- Airbag
- Radio
- The car engine turn off
etc...

 

[ogough]

Yes thats accurate, still didnt work So im trying to narrow the issue down, i believe it could be the control unit, but i know nothing of it or how to test or indeed buy a new one from...

Im loathed if im going to get slapped with a mahoooooosive diagnostic bill from and Audi garage....

 

[ogough]

Yes, that a common issue on Peugeot 407, blows away the wiper motor & the BSM. But never heard about Audi A3 having that problem, very unlikely.

BSM? I ask as i know the motor is in good working order....

 

[blazedani]

BSM? I ask as i know the motor is in good working order....

BSM is the name of some electronic component on Peugeot cars.
No need to worry about this in your A3.

In your case (Audi A3) the wiper motor should be the only problem.

Usually replacing the wiper motor is Plug & Play, no need to setup with VAGCOM as far as I know.
Try to find threads about users with the same problem, maybe someone had the same issue with the new wiper motor not working before.

 

[c_w]

You are testing the new wiper motor with the bonnet down aren't you? (just in case!).

 

[ogough]

You are testing the new wiper motor with the bonnet down aren't you? (just in case!).

Yes i did, i have made that mistake before now though

 

[c_w]

Me too, when I fitted some Xenon lights - OEM ballasts though - was worried for a time until a realised they don't work with the bonnet up!

 

[nefA4]

for sure ur cheap after market high voltage hid mess something up,now u have to find out what module or control or motor that work with ur wipers got fried, i been there but not with a3,after fixing problem get ur self a good set of hid theres some after market with low voltage or if u got the $$ money buy oem.good luck and when fix post so u could educate us on that symptom.

 

[blazedani]

for sure ur cheap after market high voltage hid mess something up,now u have to find out what module or control or motor that work with ur wipers got fried, i been there but not with a3,after fixing problem get ur self a good set of hid theres some after market with low voltage or if u got the $$ money buy oem.good luck and when fix post so u could educate us on that symptom.

Good info NefA4 :icon_thumright:

Totally right about that.

 

[Karl49]

Yes i did, i have made that mistake before now though

Did you ever find the cause for you wiper failure? I'm in a similar scenario but nothing to do with aftermarket HID, all stock over here. Wiper motor stopper working after intermittently playing up for a while, but it did stop working all together after I lazily overloaded the wipers by clearing snow... Yeah I know...

So, I have checked the fuse (F41 + F42 controls the wipers I think), checked the KL75 relay, brought a new wiper motor, linkage is free, bonnet switch is working, have done a diagnostics report using my VCDS cable but no joy so far... I'm left scratching my head and searching the forums...

I've checked the connector to the wiper motor with a multimeter, there seems to be 12V coming from the purple cable (This is the control signal maybe?) but there is nothing coming from the other two.

Any ideas?

Any wiring diagrams etc would be greatly appreciated.

Oh and the rear wiper and the washers are all working perfectly...