Is anyone else on their fourth wiper motor?

[alfiejts]

I've only had my 2004 A3 for 18 months and in that time its gone through three wiper motors.
I know there was a dodgy batch at some point in the past but I can't believe I've had that much bad luck....

The latest one's just lasted six months and failed a hundred miles from home, just out of warranty, on Christmas Eve!

Has anyone else suffered such a loing run of failures?

 

[RGBArgee]

I've only had my 2004 A3 for 18 months and in that time its gone through three wiper motors.
I know there was a dodgy batch at some point in the past but I can't believe I've had that much bad luck....

The latest one's just lasted six months and failed a hundred miles from home, just out of warranty, on Christmas Eve!

Has anyone else suffered such a loing run of failures?

No. Had a 53 Reg new. Problems in first few months, replaced, no further probs. 05 Reg faultless for last 34 months.

 

[daveyjp]

No problems here either. The fact you have gone through four suggests a problem with the power supply cable to the motor and not the motors.

 

[dunk]

you havnt got an aftermarket hid setup have you?

the motor wiper controller in the wiper motor assembly seems prone to electrical damage then wont work - ive only had 1 replaced so far..

 

[alfiejts]

Now then Dunk, I was wondering about that, but thought it sounded a bit far fetched.

To be fair to Audi UK, they've fixed it for free under warranty, even though the car is three months outside warranty, so gold star to them, but yes - I have got a pair of aftermarket ballasts running OEM Xenon headlights.

Its a worrying thought. I did point them out to the first Audi Assist technician who swapped the first failed wiper motor but he said they couldn't be to blame....

I've ordered a relay wiring harness to power the ballasts straight from the battery just to be on the safe side....

 

[dunk]

there are rumours on the internet from purveyors of expensive aftermarket hid kits that cheaper kits may damage wipers motors - i suspect that the audi wiper controller in the motor assembly is quite prone to electrical interference and that some very poorly screened ballasts may cause enough to damage them - either radiating (i doubt that or your radio wouldnt work) or more likely back along the power wire

mine went about 1 week after i installed a hid kit - coincidence? - removed the xenon kit before calling out audis breakdown service and they changed the motor under warranty.

of course if they arent fragile they probably wouldnt carry spare motor wipers in their vans..

i fitted the same hid kit back straight away and have been driving for 4 weeks with the lights on all the time now and the wipers are fine, so im not convinced its the ballasts, but it might be better to fit a choke to the hid power lead to suppress noise, rather than a relay kit which will just give you bulb failure warnings because the relay only takes a few hundred milliamps from the light circuit rather than several amps.

 

[alfiejts]

Thanks Dunk. My electronic theory is a little rusty (A-level physics, 30-years ago....)

Can you explain chokes enough for me to assemble something to act as a filter?

Thanks...

 

[dunk]

a choke is a coil of thick wire that you connect between the +12v feed to the ballast and the ballast itself (series)

it needs to be rated high enough to carry the continuous current feeding the ballasts eg 6A rating or higher - a coil has a low resistance to DC current and an increasing resistance to higher frequencies

also you can put a capacitor of about 2200uF to 4700uF between the +12v and 0v feed to the ballasts but before the choke - ie on the car side of the choke - the capacitor has a high resistance to DC so doesnt short out the +12v to 0v but a decreasing resistance to high frequencies

the combination will filter out any high frequencies coming back from the ballast unit and stop them going back down the 12v feed into the car.

parts should cost about £2-3 per side and are easiest fitted where the H7 bulb feed connects to the ballast feed inside the lamp unit - easier and cheaper than a relay system and wont cause bulb failure warnings like a relay would.

 

[Teejay]

The wiper motors on the 8P are subject to a recall.

Had mine done 3 weeks ago on a car that is now 4 years old, and significantly out of warranty!!

It would have cost me £350+, but it was only when the parts place said they had 900 in stock that I became suspicious and phoned Audi UK. If only the service I received at the service centre could match that of Audi UK!!

 

[N8]

Ain't even got the car yet LMAO