Electrical problems W124 Estate

[vin_rouge]

Several things have gone wrong with my W124 which I think might be connected. None of them is a great problem - just a bit frustrating.

Here they are:

1) Rear Windscreen wiper no longer 'mirrors' what the front one is doing when I select reverse... it used to (v. useful).

2) The front electric windows will go up and down ok, but neither will keep going down when I push the switch further... it used to...

3) The intermittent setting on the front wiper is dodgey. Rarely does it work first time - usually i have to switch onto the constant wiper setting and then back to intermittent - then it is fine.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

 

[tom7035]

Arm yourself with a spray can of electrical contact cleaner (available at Halfords etc.). Take the cover off the fusebox, then the six s/t screws and lift the top off. You'll find some relays in there, one of which has to do with the wiper system. I can't remember which one so take them all (three on mine) out and spray the terminals (including their sockets) before replacing. Do the fuses at the same time. I think this will be a simple cure for your problem.
Good idea while you're at it to do as many relays/electrical connections as you can find on the car, probably cure some faults you weren't aware of! - maybe also resolve the window fault.

 

[vin_rouge]

Thanks Tom. Just to confirm, do you mean undo the self-tapping screws in the fuse box - i.e. the relays are under the use box?

 

[nicky]

Thanks Tom. Just to confirm, do you mean undo the self-tapping screws in the fuse box - i.e. the relays are under the use box?

be carefull as the screws are right hand thread,,and allways replace the top on the can after use..

 

[anyweb]

be carefull as the screws are right hand thread <- ? does that mean that you need to unscrew them in a particular direction ?

i only saw that problem once before on a merc, and that was when i replaced the steering balljoint...

'the front right wheel was a different story, the balljoint which controls the movement (left right) of the wheel, was faulty (according to the car road worthiness test) and just pushing it you could feel it was loose, so it had to be replaced. What a nightmare. It took a long time to get any of the nuts to turn and after a while and lots of help from claes (with his welding machine) we managed. To cut a long story short, the reason its so dam hard to get the balljoint off it not because of rust, it's because its threaded backwards, which means to take it off you have to screw it clockwise (reverse threading). we were tightening it !!!. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh. '

http://anyweb.kicks-ass.net/personal/me/mycar/index4.html

i'll never forget those wasted hours on that balljoint....

cheers
anyweb

 

[tom7035]

be carefull as the screws are right hand thread,,and allways replace the top on the can after use..

Hi anyweb, I think this is Nicky just exercising her peculiar Scottish sense of humour!

Yes, the relays are under this lid.