1999 Galaxy wipers/washers front and back stopped working

[paulrich]

Hi All,
This is my first ever post and I hope someone can help me.
I have recently purchased a 1999 Galaxy Tdi and though its is not without its little problems I can live with,the biggest problem is that the front and rear wipers and washers have suddenly packed in(working when I bought it).I have followed advice on here regarding fuses but to no avail.Someone mentioned that the stalk switch could be faulty but I have had it to bits and tried crossing the contacts with a piece of wire but there is still no response.I know that the rear wiper motor works as I have tested it with a spare battery directly to the contacts.There is no noise at all coming from anything.I have had the relay panel out to check the relevant relay and according to the book it is on the 3rd level position 21 and it says number 109 on it and when I turn the ignition key position 2 the relay clicks.I removed it and opened the cover to clean the contact but it made no difference.One thing I noticed that when I tried to start the car it wouldn't fire up(cos I needed to move it back a few feet)then I realised I hadn't replaced the relay and when I did The car started first time which suggests that it was not the relay for the wipers,it appears that the book is wrong as it is also wrong regarding fuses.
I hope someone can shed some light on this as I use the car very often but now I can only drive it if there is no threat of rain.
Thanks in advance.

[Mirez]

Hi Paul and welcome!

109 is the engine management relay for the TDI engine - it's often faulty but not to do with the wipers!

Front:
F29 - Ignition to Relay
F8 - Front Wiper Supply
F28 - Signal Supply

Rear:
F12 - Rear Wiper Supply
F28 - Signal Supply

Wash:
F28 - Signal and Supply

[paulrich]

Hi Mirez,
I have checked all the fuses you mentioned and they are all fine and I have since managed to test the front motor with a spare battery and it is also fine.The fact that all the wash wipers front and back had stopped at the same time suggests a single fault common to all.I have used a multimeter to test the feeds to the motors and they seem pretty strange,I'm getting voltage readings of around 10.5 volts when the ignition is on and about 5.5 volts when the ignition is off.Does the wash wiper system have a control unit somewhere which may be faulty?some people have said that the main ecu is under the front passenger seat but it is not on mine.If the wipers have their own dedicated ecu module where would it be on the car.Could it be something simple like a bad earth?

[Chrispb]

Is there any other electrical item not working?

[Mirez]

It's only very early Galaxy's that had the ECU under the passenger seat (1996/97) but no, there isn't a separate controller for the wipers.

The values are very weird - this is measured where? At the the wiper motor's multiplug? The 5.5v is the weird one as that should be 0 with the ignition off. To me, that indicates it's shorted somewhere and the most likely candidate would be in the tailgate wiring loom where it enters the cabin.

[paulrich]

New development today.
Got the rear wiper a the front and back washer working cos after closer inspection fuse 12 was missing,I had been counting the fuses not the sockets as there was nothing in the 1st socket it threw my count out(doh!!!)however the front wiper still wont work.The connector to the motor has 5 wires going to it and it appears that the 2 outside ones(they are in a line) are the feed from the battery cos they are thicker and the 3 centre ones must be the wiper control circuitry.I have noticed that there is a black box connected to the motor where the wires connect to and I have managed to prise it open a little to reveal the edge of a circuit board.I have check these wires with a multimeter and the middle of the three reads the same voltages as I mentioned in an earlier post so I assume that these are control voltages and not power volts.Is it possible that the circuit board attached to the motor could be faulty?

[paulrich]

The central locking doesn't work either the tailgate remains unlocked cos The barrel lock needs replacing.

[knobbiewilliams]

hi, new on here but while searching for a front wiper motor myself a while ago, i heard that the pcb within the front wiper motor box can get water logged and fail. i believe this box of tricks also sorted the timing \ operation of front & rear wipers