The Lemon Fool

Getting the wife's car out for a wash after she returned from a long journey, and I suddenly noticed that the rear screen wiper wasn't working. And nor was the rear washer. Everything else was fine. Funny, it was working fine two days ago.

Checked the fuse. Fuse was fine. Waggled the switch a bit, and it made no difference. Looked in the owner's handbook, and no clues to be found. Could it have been connected with the service that was done last week? Possible, but hardly likely. Drat, I was going to have to get the spanners out.

As an afterthought, I googled the owners' forums. Light bulb moment! Open tailgate, slam it shut, wipers work again. Wipers are always suspended whenever the boot switch isn't fully closed. Grrr, after all these years, how did I not know that?

Laugh at self, open a beer to celebrate, happy days.

BJ

So the design idea here is that if you open the rear door you would want the wipers to stop thrashing about? Presumably that's only the case for hatchbacks, vans or estate cars, where the rear window is part of the rear door?

But even so I'm not clear what problem the designers are trying to solve here. I had never heard of such a feature either, mostly because it would never have occurred to me that anyone might want or need this. Is it to stop water being sprayed at you while you get something out of the back of the vehicle? Seems to me that if it's raining you'd be getting wet anyway.

As with a lot of design features with modern cars, it just seems to me to be something extra to go wrong. Like power seat adjusters.

Lootman wrote:So the design idea here is that if you open the rear door you would want the wipers to stop thrashing about? Presumably that's only the case for hatchbacks, vans or estate cars, where the rear window is part of the rear door?

Do you get rear wipers on anything else?

Normal saloons don't need them.

Slarti

Slarti wrote:Do you get rear wipers on anything else? Normal saloons don't need them.

Oddly, that's the one complaint that my daughter has about her Lexus saloon (which was designed as a yank tank sedan, and which has the most ludicrously inaccessible boot space on the planet). She uses hers mostly on the M6, and she says it desperately needs a wiper at the back. They must have different kinds of spray in the States.

BJ

bungeejumper wrote: it desperately needs a wiper at the back. They must have different kinds of spray in the States.

I found this article that claims to show the science behind why a saloon/sedan doesn't need a rear wiper. The comments underneath the article then list various saloons that actually do have a rear wiper:

http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/blog/8 ... n-saloons/

But do they stop when you open the boot?

Lootman wrote:
But do they stop when you open the boot?

Possibly to stop them sloshing water at you or into the boot, or to stop someone catching their hand on one whilst closing the tailgate?

I know one estate that didn't have this feature.

My old Alfa 33 estate - sheer fun to drive all over Scotland loaded up with climbing gear for yet more fun as I was based in Aberdeen at the time. Once I moved a load of stuff, had to pop the tailgate open to fit it all in. Held it down with a bungee cord. Clipped to rear wiper. Made mental note to self to not wipe rear window. Do you know how hard it is to remember that when you've trained yourself to always keep a good lookout ? End result one new rear wiper motor after I burned out the one I left switched on. Duh...........

Actually my mk4 Golf will also try wiping even when open.

regards, dspp