Windsheild Washers, the back Wiper, and More :(

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Prince_Polaris

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Okay, so in my earlier thread where I got myself a 2003 expedition and nitpicked a lot of minor problems, I am now zeroing in on the only problem left, and also the biggest one: The rear wiper, and the windsheild washers.

In this thread, y'all might remember me having some weird problems with those, and yes, I did have the "Rear glass shaft is messed up and needs too much force to turn, therefore killing the battery" problem. However, that's fixed, and a new one has shown up.

So far, these are the problems:

-The windsheild washer system gives me a "Low fluid level" alert every time I start the car, no matter how much is in the tank. I fiddled with the two plugs coming out of it, and I couldn't seem to see any problems there...

-The washers do work, and right now they still work (even the rear one), but sometimes (haven't seen it happen in a few days) they will sputter a bit, stop working briefly, then it's back to normal.

-Today, my rear wiper stopped working. The arm itself and the rear glass are fine, I can move it with my fingers if I grab the small metal pin. I turned it on this morning, and it shuddered, and got stuck in the center of the window. I got out to check, thinking the rear glass was the problem, and when I got around to the rear of the car, it had returned to neutral. I haven't been able to get it to move again after that.

-When I try to turn on the rear wipers, I hear a quiet mechanical 'Click' from the rear of the car, and all I can determine is that it might be coming from the drivers side. It's not intermittent either, I can turn the rear wiper on and off as many times as I want and I'll hear the little click every time.


On this forum post from 2014, someone mentioned a very similar problem, but not much of a solution. it suggests that the washers and the rear wiper are all on the same circuit- do I maybe have a blown or loose fuse, you think? I sure hope I don't need to go mess with wiring, but if that's what I gotta do then I'll give it a shot, I'm not gonna learn how to take care of my own car by being scared I'll break everything!



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Extra problems:

-People who get in the back of the car seem to have trouble opening the doors, are the door locks on the back doors messed up or are we just doing it wrong? Child locks are off...

-This might be related, today my "door ajar" beep was going off over and over, but after making sure all the doors were firmly closed it only went off one more time as I left the parking lot and it hasn't went off since. So weird...
 
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Prince_Polaris

Prince_Polaris

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Start here. http://www.expeditionforum.com/index.php?posts/305656
That should help you trouble shoot and possibly diagnose any issues other than just the wiper sticking.

Not sure about the fluid level other than a bad sensor which can be as easy as a little white vinegar soak.

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Those two videos are about the wiper shaft in the rear glass, which I've said is not the problem, it's not siezed, or corroded, or even a little bit stiff, it's something between the switch, the motor, and the washer pumps are in on it. Just to be 300% sure, tomorrow morning perhaps I'll go outside, open the back glass, turn on the rear wiper and see if the motor turns or not.
 

lvcjt702

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Sounds like your on the right track then. Good luck!

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Prince_Polaris

Prince_Polaris

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Okay, so today I took apart the back door! Well, the trim at least, it's kind of fun! What is NOT fun is the ******* fuse box placement, I managed to lose two fuses down in there, but, well, I managed to check fuse 1 and fuse 38 which are supposed to deal with the back wiper and since those are the ones I lost, they've been grudgingly replaced. Also, is it normal for fuse... 101, I think it was? to not have the plastic cover that all of the other pink boxy ones have?


Anyway, back door. So, I narrowed the clicking noise down to the motor itself, and once I took all the trim off (my back door isn't rusty at all, heh, unlike our poor 7 chrysler minivan) I narrowed it down even further to a small box hidden behind the wiper motor... every time it tries to cycle the motor, there's a click that comes from the box, unplugging the gray plug makes it stop, and after reseating it a few times nothing's changed.

Is the box some sort of control module for the back wiper, or something? Does it gotta be replaced again? Also, no, messing with the fuses didn't fix the dumb "low washer fluid" alert.

P_20180605_120717.jpg P_20180605_120754.jpg
 

lvcjt702

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The clicking is most likely the motor. From your pics I would say that plug is connected directly to the wiper motor. The dealership most likely cleaned the wiper assembly and sent you on your way.

Heres what I would do.

At the bottom of page 4069, in the manual I posted in your other thread is "Pinpoint Test G" (pic below). Thats where I'd start my trouble shooting.

After staring at that for a minute, I'd break out my Googler and do a search on replacing the motor. Click on videos, and ta-da.

Then I'd utilize my previously inserted search parameters (on the Googler) to come up with a price for replacement. https://www.walmart.com/ip/NEW-REAR...3853&wl11=online&wl12=167975529&wl13=&veh=sem
I'd never actualy use this link but the 1st two were eBay[emoji53].

After weighing the whole time/money thing I'd take my ass to the store and just replace the whole assembly.

Welcome to the "New PreOwned Car" world!b5066c14d3afb58391bf060c87beee80.jpg

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Prince_Polaris

Prince_Polaris

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The clicking is most likely the motor. From your pics I would say that plug is connected directly to the wiper motor. The dealership most likely cleaned the wiper assembly and sent you on your way.

Heres what I would do.

At the bottom of page 4069, in the manual I posted in your other thread is "Pinpoint Test G" (pic below). Thats where I'd start my trouble shooting.

After staring at that for a minute, I'd break out my Googler and do a search on replacing the motor. Click on videos, and ta-da.

-snip-

Then I'd utilize my previously inserted search parameters (on the Googler) to come up with a price for replacement.

-snip-

I'd never actualy use this link but the 1st two were eBay[emoji53].

After weighing the whole time/money thing I'd take my ass to the store and just replace the whole assembly.

Welcome to the "New PreOwned Car" world!b5066c14d3afb58391bf060c87beee80.jpg

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Oh lord, 100 bucks for a motor, that's quite a lot... I had an idea though, last night ;)

When we bought the car, it came with a 60 day warranty, and since they're the ones who got this motor put in... (the old one burned out)... I called in, since grandma thought it was a good idea, and I asked them if they could fix it under warranty, because while I could fix it myself, I uh... well, if I can have them pay for a motor I'd much rather do that than pay for it myself.

For the pinpoint test, I think I might actually be able to do that. Would one of these work? I have one here somewhere in my room, I think...
 

lvcjt702

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That multimeter will work just fine.

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1955moose

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Problem is if you tell them you diagnosed problem, and tore into door, they'll probably deny your warranty. Best bet put door back together, go to them with problem, let their mechanic diagnose and fix it under their warranty. Shops won't touch anything that customer tried to fix themselves, it voids warranty. If they ask play dumb, act like a customer.

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Plati

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Warranty??? ... on a used old 2003 vehicle from a used car dealer? I bought a used 2014 EL w/34K from VISION Rochester in 2015. The warranty was the FORD warranty. Found it had no intermittent wiper function and FORD declined to fix it claiming the windshield had been replaced. VISION (scummy dealership) denied any responsibility. I had to pay $320 to fix. FORD warranty not impressing me, especially with that paint bubbling issue (which I also have).
 
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