Community Forums

DavidH2 · 03-14-2020, 04:59 AM

Driving on I-10 through El Paso yesterday morning in our 16 Cornerstone in some pretty heavy rain. Had finally moved wipers to run constant rather than intermittent and after several minutes they just stopped in the vertical position.
Managed to get to an exit and as I proceeded slowly on access road looking for a place to pull into, they started working again.
Anybody had this happen? Any idea what might have caused it?

Mwoodofd · 03-14-2020, 05:11 AM

Sounds like the motor just got stuck. Could be a sign it will eventually go out.

I remember my first car, 75 Trans-Am, first night I had it, it was raining, and the wipers would not come on, and my parents would not let me take it out. Took it to the local gas station (gas stations worked on cars in those days), and the ole mechanic came out with a hammer, tapped the wiper motor, and they worked ever after. He said $10, for the knowledge, and I handed it over. Since then, when wipers get stuck, I have been able to grab the arm, and slightly move it, and the motor usually takes over. $10 lesson learned long time ago.

Hope your wiper motor does not fail.

brobox · 03-14-2020, 06:54 AM

If it was raining heavy, is there a chance the motor could have over heated? Not sure if the 16 is on a circuit breaker or a fuse. If a circuit breaker it could have been overloaded, cooled down and started working again. The circuit break, if there is one, could be weak.

-Gramps- · 03-14-2020, 07:27 AM

Wiper blades may be too large for the motor. My coach came with 32 inch blades, and the motor simply couldn't handle that in a heavy rain, so I switched to 28 inch frameless blades. Works much better and I can buy replacements off the shelf at Wal-Mart or wherever.

GKW · 03-14-2020, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidH2

Driving on I-10 through El Paso yesterday morning in our 16 Cornerstone in some pretty heavy rain. Had finally moved wipers to run constant rather than intermittent and after several minutes they just stopped in the vertical position.
Managed to get to an exit and as I proceeded slowly on access road looking for a place to pull into, they started working again.
Anybody had this happen? Any idea what might have caused it?

You might try spraying some Rainex on the windshield as a backup if the wipers fail in a rainstorm. I have used it on several vehicles and it does a good job of shedding the water without the blades running. I have found it works well enough I haven’t turned on the wipers at times. Can’t say how long it lasts or often you would need to apply it, but it is fast to spray it on and inexpensive. Available in a yellow spray container practically everywhere.

Johnontheroad · 03-14-2020, 10:45 AM

+1 on the RainEx. But don't spray it on the windshield, follow instructions and spray it on a cloth and wipe it on. Then wipe it off. Failure to wipe it off well results in a hazy windshield.

RainEx is a very light wax and helps to dispel rain off the glass surface. It does wear off after a while, depending on how much you use it. But it really works.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GKW

You might try spraying some Rainex on the windshield as a backup if the wipers fail in a rainstorm. I have used it on several vehicles and it does a good job of shedding the water without the blades running. I have found it works well enough I haven’t turned on the wipers at times. Can’t say how long it lasts or often you would need to apply it, but it is fast to spray it on and inexpensive. Available in a yellow spray container practically everywhere.

fqberful · 03-14-2020, 01:06 PM

If you don't want to buy rain-x you can do the following and it works just as well for practically nothing :

Clean windshield well. duh!

Mix up a bowl of water with about 10% baking soda .. good way to recycle that old box from refrigerator

Use a rag and just wipe it on making sure to cover everything. Don't need to rub hard. Just lightly buff.

After it completely dries to a white haze, just take a clean rag and buff it off.

I've done this for years and it works like a champ. And I'm in FL, we know rain !

Now days when I wax the coach I make sure the windshield has a nice fresh coat of wax as well.

fishchamp · 03-14-2020, 01:13 PM

Check your fuses

fqberful · 03-14-2020, 01:21 PM

For the last many years windshield wipers have been on self resetting circuit breakers.

On all of the coaches I've owned that CB has been located on the panel outside below the toll window.

GeezerViz · 03-19-2020, 07:44 AM

Yes, had the same problem. After a while of working intermittently, they stopped working. Of course you only notice this when it is pouring rain. I had to drive 30 miles without wipers. Took the coach to NIRVC Vegas and they discovered the motor was dead. Then when looking to see what caused the motor to die, they found a controller burned out and took the motor with it. Replaced both, now all is well.

hedhunter9 · 03-19-2020, 07:51 AM

We had the same problem and did the rain x for a few weeks.
When our new motor came in, I went to plug it in and found one of the
wires in the old plug had backed out of the connector and was the culprit.
Nothing wrong with the old motor... Oh well... We now have a spare motor..

Bob