Vauhall astra mk4 cdti (04) - wiper fuse keeps blowing

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
View Threaded
Thu 30 Oct 2014 07:36
Vauhall astra mk4 cdti (04) - wiper fuse keeps blowing - longdog

Originally the wipers would only operate at one speed and had to be timed to stop at bottom of the screen using the wiper stick. Wipers then stopped altogether..fuse was blown,I replaced the wiper relay and fuse but the fuse continues to keep blowing. The wiper motor is tested and works fine.

I don't know if there could be a connection.. but just recently the remote locking stopped functioning,this could relate to the tailgate lock playing up which I will have to have checked seperately.. however this originally wasn't effecting the wipers functioning.

Regards

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 30 Oct 2014 08:14
Vauhall astra mk4 cdti (04) - wiper fuse keeps blowing - Railroad.
You have a short circuit somewhere. Connect a 12v bulb to the terminals in the fusebox where the wiper fuse would normally go. Switch on the ignition and observe the brightness of the bulb. If it's bright then your short circuit is live. You then need to locate it. Start by moving the wiring about whilst looking to see if the bulb dims or goes out. If it does you've found the area where the fault lies. Common places are between the tailgate and the roof, and around the front wiper motor.

Edited by Railroad. on 30/10/2014 at 08:15

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 30 Oct 2014 09:34
Vauhall astra mk4 cdti (04) - wiper fuse keeps blowing - elekie&a/c doctor
Disconnect the front wiper motor and check if the fuse still blows.If it does,then there could be a fault with the rear wiper motor as it is on the same circuit.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 31 Oct 2014 10:34
Vauhall astra mk4 cdti (04) - wiper fuse keeps blowing - longdog

Thanks for the reply, trying to fathom this out today. I disconected the f/wiper motor and it doesn't blow, whilst the rear wiper functions.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 31 Oct 2014 10:40
Vauhall astra mk4 cdti (04) - wiper fuse keeps blowing - longdog

Thanks for replying, I'm on with trying to resolve the issue today. I connected a bulb up and it lights brightly, I've been moving wires as you suggested but the bulb stays bright. Whilst front motor is disconnected,the rear wiper functions with the fuse in.. connect the front and it blows.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 31 Oct 2014 11:19
Vauhall astra mk4 cdti (04) - wiper fuse keeps blowing - elekie&a/c doctor
Looks like a fault with the front motor.common problem on these Astra G models
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 31 Oct 2014 12:52
Vauhall astra mk4 cdti (04) - wiper fuse keeps blowing - longdog

Thanks for the reply; Could this still be the case despite the motor works when wired direct to the battery? I find it a bit odd that the rear motor works off the same circuit ok, but when I plug the motor into the connector under the bonnet the fuse blows??

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 31 Oct 2014 13:17
Vauhall astra mk4 cdti (04) - wiper fuse keeps blowing - Railroad.
Does the bulb remain bright with the front wiper motor disconnected? If it does then you know the fault is not in the motor. Much more likely is a wire carrying a 12 volt supply chafed to earth somewhere. The reason why your bulb is bright is because your fuse terminals will be live on one side, and the other side which should be going to the component is actually going straight to earth. The circuit is therefore complete and the bulb lights brightly.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 31 Oct 2014 13:44
Vauhall astra mk4 cdti (04) - wiper fuse keeps blowing - longdog

Thanks for the reply; With the connector to the motor disconnected, I've just put the bulb to the terminals of the connector on the harness (male?), the bulb lights up on two terminals but not neighbouring ones.. I don't know what that might mean.

The only other thing I haven't done is to lift out the actual fuse/relay board to look behind it, should I do that, and what would I be looking to observe?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 1 Nov 2014 12:18
Vauhall astra mk4 cdti (04) - wiper fuse keeps blowing - Wackyracer

If the fuse does not blow when you disconnect the front wiper motor then that is 99% a faulty wiper motor.

You already said that the wiper motor was not self parking before it started blowing the fuse, So I think that is also a big enough clue.

Get yourself a good used wiper motor from somewhere and before you strip out the old one just plug it into the loom and see what happens first.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 1 Nov 2014 13:54
Vauhall astra mk4 cdti (04) - wiper fuse keeps blowing - longdog

Thank you for your reply. Indeed it was a faulty motor all along.. seemingly there's a resistor that sits on the outside of the motor which more than likely had been breaking down.. says an auto electrician,after I described what was happening. I got a good replacement before the scrap yards closed today and all is honky dory now. Thank you once again.

I also wish to thank `Railroad' and `elekie&a/c doctor' for their input.. accordingly they too get a thumbs up.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link