Front window Wiper motor going out?

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braebyrn

Well-known member
Leaf Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2013
Messages
97
Location
Seattle, WA
The front window wipers stopped working yesterday. I tried turning off the car and trying it again and nothing. Next, with leaving the wiper activator on, I pulled on the wiper arm and they started up. It was on intermittent. As soon as I turned them off, it would not move again unless I pulled on the wiper arm to start it. I drove home with the wipers on low for the rest of the trip.
Any ideas where to check for the issue?
 
braebyrn said:
The front window wipers stopped working yesterday. I tried turning off the car and trying it again and nothing. Next, with leaving the wiper activator on, I pulled on the wiper arm and they started up. It was on intermittent. As soon as I turned them off, it would not move again unless I pulled on the wiper arm to start it. I drove home with the wipers on low for the rest of the trip.
Any ideas where to check for the issue?

Car still under warranty? If so, leave it for the dealer to take care of.

That said, I've had the grease in window wiper motors "gum" up before, and the motor needed to be cleaned out and re-greased. But I'm talking on cars that are 20-30 years old, not under 5 years old.
 
When it rained this past week I was concerned that the wiper motor was making noise that it hadn't in the past. Go with the first post. If under warranty get the dealer to look at it.
 
No motor going on on our car.. some link is suspected. here is our story.

so yesterday my wife reports that the wipers are not working. I'm not with her or the car, I'm at work. I ask her tell me if the wipers are frozen to the glass and she tells me no. she can hear the motor going and the wipers move up and down (together) by hand. I tell her to take it to the dealership, warranty repair. It's a 2015 S bought April 14 2015. They come back and let us know the warranty has expired due to it only going to 36,000 miles and her car is at 38,000 miles on it right now.

So, I work two jobs. I'm pretty handy with cars, I used to repair all of my others up until now. I've looked up the details of the assembly and I suspect that the rod from the motor to the arms has either broken, one end has come disconnected or a pin broken.

Has anyone found the quickest way to get to the assembly, i got 5 mins with the car yesterday while on lunch break so I didn't dive under the hood to far. it's about 20 degrees by the time I get home after my 1st job and I only have about 1 hr before I'm off to my 2nd job. I will have sometime this weekend to see it in daylight and hopefully warmer temps.

if not, I'll spend some time looking up any leaf manuals to get in to the area between the firewall and motor area. Just hoping that someone else has done this and knows how long it takes and if you can see well enough to figure out the issue once you have access.

my wife did call up Nissan and they are non committal about extending the warranty to cover it.. more of a "have it fixed, paid for and we'll see about paying the dealership, but no promises". i don't work with maybes. I need to know what I'm getting into. I can probably fix it myself.. just looking for some others who might have been brave enough to tackle this project.
 
braebyrn said:
The front window wipers stopped working yesterday. I tried turning off the car and trying it again and nothing. Next, with leaving the wiper activator on, I pulled on the wiper arm and they started up. It was on intermittent. As soon as I turned them off, it would not move again unless I pulled on the wiper arm to start it. I drove home with the wipers on low for the rest of the trip.
Any ideas where to check for the issue?

Did you ever get this resolved? Exact same thing happened to me today and about 2 weeks ago. I cleared out some gunk which was trapped in the shoulder pits and it worked fine for a bit. But it happened a few times this morning which is pretty dangerous. I'm wondering it the motor is giving up, but it seems to be strong when working, so I am confused.
 
I have the same problem, googled but couldn't find an answer.
So I brought of eBay a used wiper motor unfortunately it also had the same problem.

Took the wiper motor apart replace the three small brushes, vola. It worked.

So here is your answer.
 
If you're in the US, file a safety complaint at https://www.safercar.gov/. Many other vehicles have been recalled for failing wiper motors before. If there are enough legitimate reports, it could trigger an investigation or even a recall.
 
Cwerdna,
I live in the UK and my leaf have done over 112,000 miles.

Mwalsh,
The original brushes size are
2mm thick, 6.5mm hight, length not sure as it had worn down to 6mm. My guess is it's about 10-15mm.
I brought the brushes from eBay. The smallest size I can find
4.5, 6.5, 20mm. I have to sand it down to 2mm thick. Bit of work but it works.
 
Is there any chance that these will fit? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Car-Vehicle-Window-Wiper-Regulator-Carbon-Brush-Copper-Brushes-Size-3-6-14mm/32879791512.html?
HTB1YZFLgBjTBKNjSZFDq6zVgVXaq.jpg

Car Vehicle Window Wiper Regulator Carbon Brush Copper Brushes (Size:3*6*14mm)
Nissan Model: Tiida
 
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