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OK, for those of you that have a rear wiper problem and its not the pipe coming off but the spray sweeps with the wiper, the spray is weak and fills the boot wth water this is what you've been waiting for.
The fix up to now has been to replace the whole wiper motor assembly at a cost of about ?70 but i've bitten the bullet and attempted to fix the internal pipe.
The problem is that the water spray is simply a pipe that runs through the center of the spindle. Over time this inner pipe corrodes and attaches itself to the outer pipe that carries the wiper arm and spray unit. Because its not meant to turn with the wiper, it breaks and all of your water ends up in the boot. This can be prevented by taking apart the mechanism and applying some copper grease to prevent the corrosion in the first place.
The rest of you that have left it too late (like me) have to make the best of a bad situation.
To Start, undo the 1/2inch nut and rmeove the wiper arm. Remove the trim from the boot lid and undo the 3x10mm nuts holding the wiper motor assembly to the lid. Removal of the wiper mechanisim is simply to pull it through from the rear of the boot lid.
Once removed, use a pair of pliers and pull off the spray cap off the end. Its just an interference fit on the end of the internal pipe.
![Posted Image]()
Mine came out with the internal (broken) pipe attached
![Posted Image]()
Undo the 6 or so T15 torx screws on the back cover and remove along with the plastic 90deg plastic thingummy. This should leave you with two ends of the internal pipe with the corroded bit stuck in the external pipe.
![Posted Image]()
To clear the external pipe of obstruction, use a 5mm drill and drill straight through the centre of the external pipe. Your now ready to apply the fix.
Clean up both ends of the remaining pipe, i just used a junior hacksaw and a swiss needle file to make good the ends.
I found a small piece of tube that was exactly the right size although i don't know where i got it from, it was just in my toolbox. I tried the WD40 red piping, the internals of a BIC pen, air pipe from the fish tank etc, but everything was either too big of too small. The point is, it either has to fit inside the internal pipe or have an external dia of max 5mm to fit over the internal pipe but allow the wiper to move without interfering with the internal pipe.
This is the finished internal pipe. I'll fit the spray attachment when its back on the car so as to get it pointing in the right direction. I used quick setting Araldite glue to fix the plastic pipe to the broken internal pipe and used a smear of cooper grease between the two pipes to prevent further corrosion.
![Posted Image]()
Hope this is a help if only to make people aware of why the problem occurs. My advice is to take the motor/pipes apart BEFORE it corrodes and apply some copper grease. Its easy enough and would only take an hour or two to prevent this expensive problem.
David.
The fix up to now has been to replace the whole wiper motor assembly at a cost of about ?70 but i've bitten the bullet and attempted to fix the internal pipe.
The problem is that the water spray is simply a pipe that runs through the center of the spindle. Over time this inner pipe corrodes and attaches itself to the outer pipe that carries the wiper arm and spray unit. Because its not meant to turn with the wiper, it breaks and all of your water ends up in the boot. This can be prevented by taking apart the mechanism and applying some copper grease to prevent the corrosion in the first place.
The rest of you that have left it too late (like me) have to make the best of a bad situation.
To Start, undo the 1/2inch nut and rmeove the wiper arm. Remove the trim from the boot lid and undo the 3x10mm nuts holding the wiper motor assembly to the lid. Removal of the wiper mechanisim is simply to pull it through from the rear of the boot lid.
Once removed, use a pair of pliers and pull off the spray cap off the end. Its just an interference fit on the end of the internal pipe.
Mine came out with the internal (broken) pipe attached
Undo the 6 or so T15 torx screws on the back cover and remove along with the plastic 90deg plastic thingummy. This should leave you with two ends of the internal pipe with the corroded bit stuck in the external pipe.
To clear the external pipe of obstruction, use a 5mm drill and drill straight through the centre of the external pipe. Your now ready to apply the fix.
Clean up both ends of the remaining pipe, i just used a junior hacksaw and a swiss needle file to make good the ends.
I found a small piece of tube that was exactly the right size although i don't know where i got it from, it was just in my toolbox. I tried the WD40 red piping, the internals of a BIC pen, air pipe from the fish tank etc, but everything was either too big of too small. The point is, it either has to fit inside the internal pipe or have an external dia of max 5mm to fit over the internal pipe but allow the wiper to move without interfering with the internal pipe.
This is the finished internal pipe. I'll fit the spray attachment when its back on the car so as to get it pointing in the right direction. I used quick setting Araldite glue to fix the plastic pipe to the broken internal pipe and used a smear of cooper grease between the two pipes to prevent further corrosion.
Hope this is a help if only to make people aware of why the problem occurs. My advice is to take the motor/pipes apart BEFORE it corrodes and apply some copper grease. Its easy enough and would only take an hour or two to prevent this expensive problem.
David.
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