I have an '02 R50 Cooper that the windshield wipers just quit working.

I have the Bently Manual and it's sadly, not too helpful. It's either the switch (checked it, no problem there) the BCM (how does one check that?) or the wiper motor.

My problem with pointing to the wiper motor is that I've never had one go out in any of the cars I've owned. Of course, this is my first Mini but still...

The car has had enough electrical problems to give it character but they've always gone away.
-it locked me inside
-drivers window occasionally works, occasionally not
-tire sensors went haywire during rain, then dried out
-everything dies, comes back at re-try

Need to fix this windshield wiper problem, has anyone else had experience with this problem?

Best,
Jay

 

Bentley Manual, go to Electrical Wiring Diagrams ELE-264. There are two relays that control the front windshield wipers, I01136 & I01137.They are located in the engine compartment, left side next to the left strut. See ELC-17. Either one can cause the wipers to fail to operate. I01136 controls the speed and I01137 controls off and on. I have replaced mine twice. They are very inexpensive online. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks, I've checked the relays, they work fine.

In checking other threads, others have fixed their wiper motor problems by starting with an additional ground wire. This assumes of course that other normal diagnostics have been eliminated first, i.e. fuse, relay, switch. Been there done that, still didn't work.

So in desperation, I connected a jumper wire from one of the three w'motor mounting bolts to chassis ground and presto chango, the !@#$$%^ thing works ***sigh***. I made it a permanent wire and I'm good to go.

Now, on to the drivers side window that won't work. I must say that one doesn't appreciate a feature until one is denied its use for a time. I miss my window being able to disappear.

Another thread suggested that brush dust has insulated the motor commutator from electrical contact. With nothing to lose if I mess it up (the motor would still be inop), I removed the motor cover, sprayed electrical contact cleaner liberally on the commutation surface(s), rotated the armature by hand, repeat, repeat again until the spray detritus is clean.

The hard part was putting the motor cover on again as two of the screws are blind. I ended up taping the screw head to my torx screwdriver on the final one. Amazingly, it works now.

Life is good.

Thanks to all for already figuring this stuff out!

J

 

my wipers just started to stop working. I do not know how to check if the relays are bad. I tried removing them but they are stuck. I don't know if my motor is shot, or what because when I push the lever the wiper's don't move and when they do its just for a little bit then it gets stuck. burberryed could you please explain how you checked the relays?