Rear Wiper motor caught on fire...

Hi all

I was driving today when it was raining and noticed the rear wiper wasn't moving, then before you know it smoke started coming from the motor and a couple mins later it caught on fire!

I managed to stop and pull over before it became really bad and removed the fuse for the rear wiper so I could at least get home.

Has this happened to anyone else here before? Any idea why the wiper would just stop moving and do this? Lucky my kids were not in the car.

I assume I will need to order a new motor and possibly the plastic moulding when I know the extent of the damage. My car is a A3 2.0 TFSI Sportback.

 

Possible water leaking onto motor seized

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Could be, wonder if I can work out if water leaked into it when i take it out.

 

Once you take panel off you'll be able to see. There cheap enough to buy of Ebay I replaced mine it started to droop

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Yea id definatly say seized motor would push into overdrive trying to turn something it cant and eventually catch fire, like you said lucky kids weren't in the car and your fine, once you removed it keep an eye for white water marks oxidisation and rust, that'll tell you if it was caused by Water ingress or just a wiper motor that has faulted and seized on its own

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Once you find and fix the problem replace the rear wiper with one from the newer 8V

 

Thanks for the advice! Once i take it apart, ill take some pics and let you know what I found.

 

Ahh cheers for the advice! Bout to go hunting on ebay now.

 

Valeo strikes yet again !

 

Can anyone recommend what brand of motor to buy, should I just stick with the Valeo or look at a Febi or something similar?

 

Bosch .

Valeo = French poo .

 

Usually the wiper spindle seizes - the motor in your case has taken the brunt of it !

 

I would of thought the extra current draw would blow the fuse,. So check that fuse is the correct rating.

 

The fuse hasn't changed since I brought the car, however I did piggybank that fuse for a camera, would that cause an issue?

 

Nah first thong to go would be the fuse as that is the sole purpose of one but double check with the user manual its the correct one amd isnt overated where it should be a 5 or amp fuse it isnt 30 or 60 etc

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i would be worried why my fuse didn't blow first to stop the problem as thats why there in the car ?

 

Won't blow if its overrated (30A in 5A socket)

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Understand that , but i am making an assumption it was the correct fuse in place .

 

Yea, i mean on a very rare occasion it could be correct rating and still not fail/blow to prevent further damage, id say replace it with a new one in any case probably am idea to up a multi meter and check how much current is being drawn by that circuit

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I get where your coming from but usually that would be a very rare occassion .

 

Agreed,

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So this is what I found when I opened it up. Luckily for me the wiper came right off and I didn't need a tool for it.

The motor was full of water and muck as you can see. Will order a new one from eBay today.

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Damn i know it would been bad but not that bad lol looks like it was submerged in water
..., good thing the previous owner has deleted the rear wiper, saved me a job to do

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Yeah i wasn't expecting that at all!

 

Also if anyone needs any advice on getting the rear boot trim off, remove the two torx screws on the panel then remove the two small access panels on the boot trim (they just come off) and use that area as leverage to pull on. The sides should come off fairly easily but it needs a little bot of force to undo the clips, then work your way around.

 

Here is an image of the electrics all burnt out through the plastic.

 

Nicee could've look like this

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Mate, I have a brand new motor here.
I wrongly ordered it and couldn't return it, you may buy it for a soft price (I'm from Holland).

Not much people are specificly looking for a rearwiper motor.
Please send me a PM if you are interested .

 

Thanks, however I already installed a new one this afternoon.

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Sad for me, glad for you

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Do you use Halfords screen wash?
My washer jet blocked, back pressure built up, blew past the inner seal and soaked the control PCB. I had to replace the whole unit, about 65 quid. I conformally coated the PCB in the new one, just in case, and massively diluted my screen wash.

 

Nope don't really use any screen wash too be honest.

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What did you coat the PCB with to protect it? Mine will fail eventually, my girlfriend’s A3 already has!


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The same thing happened to my 2006 Sportback last year but in my case it didn't catch fire. There was an acrid smell and I saw the smoke from the back. I quickly stopped at a junction and switched off the engine to have a look. I thought it was going to catch fire.

I didn't want to fit a new one myself after I read it could be a pain to get the spindle off. My local Audi dealer quoted over €500 to supply and fit. I went to a local garage who did the job for €225 all in. The actual part was €110. I didn't see the garage staff so don't know the cause but I suspect it was also water ingress.

It's been fine since then but I do get a whining noise when I use it which I understand is common on the cheap aftermarket motors. I can live with that for the cost saving.

 

this was the inside of my wiper motor, think the rear window wash pipe was leaking or some seals gone but cleaned it up and oiled, good as new ... took about an hour

ignore the writing and man in the photo, off my Instagram

 

I doubt it from a rear wiper motor fire lol

 

Only picture i can find of a/s3 that caught fire lol

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