I recently got back my T6 from smash repairer, after fitting a new tailgate (no other visible damage).
They used the existing tailgate wiring harness. ALMOST everything works OK - but there's a mystery. Rear wiper would not work. Auto Electrician says there's a wire broken somewhere between the front and the tailgate. My opinion - not possible. Maybe, someone pulled too hard on the harness inside the van roof, and disconnected one contact only???
His fix: take a thin wire from the number-plate light to one wire on the wiper motor plug (one edge of the connector, I can't read the laser-printed wire code) - and he said to me, the wiper will work with the usual stalk - as long as you have the parking lights (or mains) on.
Well, it did that, for a bit. Then it became intermittent, juddering around like a dying electrical clock, quite unpredictable. Then back to "Normal".
On the phone, the Auto Elect man was quite bemused by this, couldn't imagine what might be the cause.
Instead of waiting for him to look again, I did this: (1) Replaced his very thin wire with a heavy-gauge one; (2) Cut the original wire from the motor to the harness (leaving the end in a terminal block so as to be able to restore the contact if needs be. So that there was no chance of conflicting signals getting to the wiper motor through 2 different wires.
The result - odd, but I guess acceptable: if the light switch is on (pos 1 or 2), then the rear wiper stalk control does bring it on OK, without any mid-range stalling or jerky/juddering/clock-type movement.
As I am totally mystified about the cause or the "proper" fix, any opinions/experiences would be appreciated by me.
Wiring diagram for the rear wiper motor would be helpful - 4 contacts for a motor - why??)
Thanks!
(I'm also going to try posting some of this as a new thread under "Rear wiper" when i can remember how to do that!)
They used the existing tailgate wiring harness. ALMOST everything works OK - but there's a mystery. Rear wiper would not work. Auto Electrician says there's a wire broken somewhere between the front and the tailgate. My opinion - not possible. Maybe, someone pulled too hard on the harness inside the van roof, and disconnected one contact only???
His fix: take a thin wire from the number-plate light to one wire on the wiper motor plug (one edge of the connector, I can't read the laser-printed wire code) - and he said to me, the wiper will work with the usual stalk - as long as you have the parking lights (or mains) on.
Well, it did that, for a bit. Then it became intermittent, juddering around like a dying electrical clock, quite unpredictable. Then back to "Normal".
On the phone, the Auto Elect man was quite bemused by this, couldn't imagine what might be the cause.
Instead of waiting for him to look again, I did this: (1) Replaced his very thin wire with a heavy-gauge one; (2) Cut the original wire from the motor to the harness (leaving the end in a terminal block so as to be able to restore the contact if needs be. So that there was no chance of conflicting signals getting to the wiper motor through 2 different wires.
The result - odd, but I guess acceptable: if the light switch is on (pos 1 or 2), then the rear wiper stalk control does bring it on OK, without any mid-range stalling or jerky/juddering/clock-type movement.
As I am totally mystified about the cause or the "proper" fix, any opinions/experiences would be appreciated by me.
Wiring diagram for the rear wiper motor would be helpful - 4 contacts for a motor - why??)
Thanks!
(I'm also going to try posting some of this as a new thread under "Rear wiper" when i can remember how to do that!)
