yes, i have haunted windscreen wipers also on my 1.4 polo. They come on and can't be turned off. The slightest bump can set them off.

They come on and stay on permenantly, (front and back), changing the switches does not turn them off/intermittent, however, turning to "fast wipe" does speed up the front motor.

When i bought the car it had a siezed boot lock and handle, no biggie, so i thought!

The seller freed the lock and oiled it and i was happy.

Turns out the rear wash does not squirt water....but the pump sounds.

THE REAR WASH UNIT IS DIRECTLY ABOVE THE HANDLE LOCK.

It has clearly been soaking the inside of the lock handle.

This was no big problem, until i realised there is some electrics/switches in this mechanism (interior light/boot light/door open indication light/other stuff)??

I also had shorting of circuits when turning the ignition barrel, and all power (even the lcd clock in the dash) would die. I could only reset this by slamming a door open and shut, where a small motor winding sound would emerge from behind the dash and all power would come back, however the clock is reset to 12:00 and the radio has lost its code.

There is no water seen in the boot area as the water that i think causes all this drains out drain holes from inside the bottom of the tailgate.

I will take this to mechanic/auto electric and i will update...this short might have fried other relays...maybe why the front wipers come on when it is a back wiper failure??? do they use the same relay? shorting at the switch stalk?

It might be easier to just get a new tailgate from scrap yard than accessing the corroded secure lock as these are usually secured behind plating...bah.