2012 Expedition Rear Wiper

[Zellerj]

I recently bought a 2012 expedition and found out during the latest rain that my rear wiper did not work. I opened the glass window and turned on the wiper, and the motor was not working. I therefore thought that the issue was the motor, or electrical going to the motor was the fault, and not the wiper mechanism. Since the truck was still under the 90 day dealership warranty, I took it to the dealer and they said the motor was working. It turns out that with the window open, the motor will not work, so at the dealer they pushed in on the latch switch with a screwdriver, and with the key on and the rear wiper on, the motor did indeed spin the disc, so the problem was the typical frozen wiper mechanism, that I fixed as described on a number of you tube videos by dismantling and cleaning up the shaft that goes through the glass window. There is a clip ring, washer, and rubber 0-ring that needs to be removed before you can get the shaft out of the sleeve. I cleaned the shaft with emery cloth and the sleeve with a round file, then put grease on them. Worked fine once reassembled. Took about 45 minutes for the complete job.

The message I want to convey is that when troubleshooting the rear window wiper, you need to push in on the latch switch to simulate a closed window, before the motor will work. If the motor does not spin the disc, then you can look for a blown fuse or a bad motor. If the motor spins with the key on, the wiper switched on and the latch switch depressed, then the issue is with a frozen wiper mechanism that can be fixed without buying parts.

 

[mjp2]

Good info. Thanks for posting!

 

[Plati]

I dont mean to be a wise guy with this, just another "tip" .. since I've had frozen rear wiper 4 times now on my 2003 XLT. I pop the liftgate window glass and open it. If I can easily move the wiper easily through its range of motion by hand ... its not frozen. Just have to take it to home position before closing.

I've known more than one owner with frozen wiper / dead battery syndrome that just moved wiper to home position by hand so it wont drain the battery and just left it there permanently never using the wiper again.