Windscreen wiper motor

Have just been running a formerly garaged car to pre-MoT it, and found wipers not working. The fuse is OK cos the headlamp wipers and the tailgate wiper both do their thing when the switch is activated. Then I realised this is the fourth car to have no functioning wipers that I've played with this last year: is there a weak link somewhere - is it a common fault? A local Volvo spares place says so, but he may just be touting for business.... I haven't yet put a meter across all the circuits, and as this GLT was formerly a cherished 1-owner car think they worked when I collected it last year. Has anyone else had bad experiences with these motors? I gather there are different types - not sure if all my troublesome ones have been of the same make. Sorry to ask but electrics are not my strong point! Paul

Check the feed on the multi plug with a test light, if you have no feed check back down the circuit for poor connections. If you have a feed then check the earth and clean the muti plug connectors If all is good then it has to be the motor Never had a motor fail in 23 years of 240 ownership Richard Its rained a lot in 23 years

Hi, came across this once when I rebuilt my car. All leads were connected correctly but the motor would not work. As the motor had been working I was curious! Found that temporarily running a wire from the top of the strut to the motor body / mounting bolt 'sparked it' back into life. I'm not electrically mided so I cannot explain why! Worth a try though1 Cheers Scott

Motor Magnets 

Another frequent cause of failure in Volvo wiper motors is when one or both of the permanent magnets in the armature casing come adrift and jam the motor. When this happens the motor is usually noisy before it jams completely. It's probably in the FAQ's - but it's easy to diagnose as the magnet will generally come out with the armature when the cover is removed. It's glued in place - repair requires cleaning the mating surfaces (easy to see from the old adhesive) and sticking back in place. I used stud and bearing glue, but other types of adhesive will work.

Just had the same problem with mine. I was able to glue the magnet back on without removing the motor from the car - just unscrewed the cover and slid the casing off the end. Thanks for the tip! Julyan

I've had a motor fail. I just swapped it for a spare. Thanks for the magnet tip - I might just have a look inside the old motor some time.

Magnet position 

Thanks GLEN, just had exact same problem ... and there was the magnet once I got the casing off. However the "shadow" on the casing suggests the magnets are offset and not exactly opposite each other, as I would have thought. Any input gratefully received.

Chester .... any view on the position of the magnets ... directly opposite or offset ???? Cheers