2004 CL500 C215 Windscreen Wiper Issues

[Meatfeast]

Hi all.

A few weeks ago whilst out in some seriously inclement weather (I mean it is Summer in good old Blighty after all!), my wipers seem to develop a mind of their own.

First of all they stopped dead half way up my windscreen, so I turned them off and back on and they worked, until a few seconds later they did it again, however this time when I tried to restart them, it took 4 or 5 turns of the wiper switch before anything happened, often I had to turn the switch to full speed to get the wipers to come back on. This kept happening so I booked my car in to have it checked, however sods law was at play and no matter what the garage tried, they could not get the wipers to repeat the issues and since then all seemed ok.

Yesterday I was out in the car and the wipers started playing up again, in exactly the same way, but maybe worse as the weather was really appalling and it was getting to the point where I was thinking it might be better to stop until the weather picked up.

I recently had the Rain Sensor module changed but the garage could find no issues with it whilst it was with them so I'm completely lost.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated?

Many thanks.

 

[EmilysDad]

My guess is ...... if the wipers stopped half way up the screen I'd be inclined to blame the actual motor itself rather than rain sensors etc. I know that the Smart Roadster's wiper motor had a habit of letting in water (like the rest of the car) & that could produce all sorts of weird antics.

 

[brandwooddixon]

If it only happens when it's actually raining then I'd go with water ingress somewhere.
Perhaps a windscreen drain is blocked or dislodged.
I was going to suggest that you wait for a dry day and test it out with a watering can full of water, but an inspection for obvious water damage under trim may suffice.
I've found that liberal use of talcum powder once trim has been removed can be very helpful in tracking down the source of any water ingress, even if it is a bit messy.

 

[Meatfeast]

If it only happens when it's actually raining then I'd go with water ingress somewhere.
Perhaps a windscreen drain is blocked or dislodged.
I was going to suggest that you wait for a dry day and test it out with a watering can full of water, but an inspection for obvious water damage under trim may suffice.
I've found that liberal use of talcum powder once trim has been removed can be very helpful in tracking down the source of any water ingress, even if it is a bit messy.

Thanks for this.

Weirdly the first time I experienced the issue, I booked the car in with my local Mercedes Specialist to see if they could work out what was going on.

They were unable to replicate the fault, apparently they were driving up and down the road with a water bottle and pouring water onto the screen but it worked without issue.

I'm at a bit of a loss, I'm concerned that I could get caught out in the rain and my wipers stop working altogether.

 

[EmilysDad]

.....

I'm at a bit of a loss, I'm concerned that I could get caught out in the rain and my wipers stop working altogether

how involved is it to remove the motor to give it a coat of looking at?