Citroen C5 X7 Windscreen Wipers

[myglaren]

You should send those photo's and your description of your remedy to Valeo and Citroen.
Won't help you but may improve their construction methods and quality management.

Well done with it, seems to be a far too common problem, frustrating and expensive for most to fix.

[GiveMeABreak]

Thanks for posting that detailed information. It really shows how vulnerable these motors are to the elements.

[FlyMike_88]

Hi I have the same issue as others have described here.
1) after a brief jam, drivers (RHS) continued to work but only on intermittent, LHS moved to starting position and thereafter gave small "lurch" on each wipe.
2) On inspection, the magnet? described by Ask_dj was found to be loose. this was glued back to splines. Otherwise internals were good, no sign of moisture overheating or dry joints.
3) After removal and inspection of the units, neither operate.
4) original fault codes were cleared
BSI reset done now "unspecified error" 5FF
Does anyone know of any test procedure for the individual wiper ECUs?
Or any other ideas?

I had these exact symptoms on my car. Took a guess that the passenger motor had gone/seized as it was receiving the signal (small lurches) and trying to move. Bought a reconditioned part on eBay, replaced and all is well again.

[mihkel]

You should send those photo's and your description of your remedy to Valeo and Citroen.
Won't help you but may improve their construction methods and quality management.

Well done with it, seems to be a far too common problem, frustrating and expensive for most to fix.

The failure is most definitely a built in "feature". Otherwise there won't be any after sales expensive services.

Thanks for posting that detailed information. It really shows how vulnerable these motors are to the elements.

You're welcome!

[mpellegri]

Hi guys. Yesterday in the middle of a long and were journey my wipers stopped working.
Today I checked all the fuses and they are fine but the wipers still won't work. I then cleaned around the hinge which was quite dirty and checked briefly the RHS motor connector under the cover and wiggle it a bit and like magic the wipers started working again. I am suspecting a lose/bad connector.

Do you think the connector might be bad or that the motor is about to die? Any experience like mine?

Matteo

[justas]

I had problem on my wiper in winter - it started to freeze...

[Estately]

Just had the passenger side wiper begin to twitch and not wipe with each sweep of the driver's wiper and was interested to read of other people'e postings and especiallly the pictures.

In particular the post by ASK_dj 24 Jan 2021 where the magnet on the drive of the passenger side motor is in a different position to the driver's side and moving and glueing got things going again. Mine appears even further down the shaft.

Could I ask if moving the magnet was the real repair or does anyone think that it was the disturbance etc that brought the motor back to correct operation.

Could it be that the magnet interacts with a component on the PCB when in the "moved" position so starting the passenger wiper?

The reason I ask is that mine is tight on the shaft and appears to be as manufactured.

Before further dismantling, any thoughts?

Andy.

[Estately]

OK, bit the bullet and used a pair of long nosed pliers to grip and slide the magnet back down the shaft per ASK_dj's photo. Placed and plugged the electrics into both motors and am really pleased to say they began to operate.

It was stiff to move and actually plastic, so I suppose the magnets are encased in the plastic. Not sure of the cause of the movement but when the passenger side stopped the wipers were going as fast as I have ever seen them go in a very heavy rain storm.

Plastic is dished on the side that you cannot see so I did my best to get some thread lock onto it and the shaft, left it so set before adding some grease to the worm drive and gear wheel before re sealing the case.

Took the plastic covers off both motors and cleaned and re greased all the moving parts. Re installed the motors and put the wiper arms and blades back on and pleased to say still working at all speeds.

So thanks to the forum and ASK_dj.

Andy.

[Ross_K]

Caution! Always remember to 'Park' the wipers on an X7 before attempting to remove the wiper arms! Switch ignition on, then off, then press one downward flick on the wiper control stalk (right hand stalk), This should park the wiper arms in the upright position for removal. Failure to do this can result in the bonnet paintwork being damaged and scratched if you try and lift the wiper arm when they are not parked.

As I contemplate setting fire to my car for the insurance money, in my case the wiper arms are pretty much locked in the horizontal position...so I'll have to suffer some scratched paint if needs be...

Good thread by the way. I might as well dismantle the motors and try to fix them before shelling out a few hundred on replacements.

Found this on t'internet too...worth a watch

EDIT lol never mind...it's two posts above this one

[GiveMeABreak]

It's just bloody annoying when coming from other vehicles without recessed wipers. It took me several paint repairs to remember to park the wipers when cleaning the windscreen and blades

[Paul_719_AB]

Can someone advise me about the alignment marks for the wipers, on the windscreen please. There are 3 lines of 2 curved markings. These are not the same as the manual shows. A video on YouTube refers to them, but does not show precisely where the blades are supposed to sit.

[GiveMeABreak]

The markers will be something like this:

Align the wiper at the marks shown at 'b'. There will be similar marks for after-market windscreens.

If you're still confused, pop a photo up of the marks in question, using the Full Post Editor option button when replying to the post to upload files.

[Paul-R]

Presumably there will be different marks for RHD and LHD vehicles printed on the windscreen. Given the position of the topmost wiper blade in the drawing I would say that it is showing a LHD vehicle. Not an unusual situation to be in with RHD cars.

[mypinknee]

Thanks Marc, I have proper manuals with wiring diagrams and connections, but thanks anyway. I think I may have identified the fault, which I now believe is in the PSF1 unit. The loose magnet may have been caused by the removal of the wiper motor assembly, if it was not fixed well. After rechecking the wiring, there appears to be a short where there should not be. I will post my findings when I get to the bottom of it.
I just need to research how to get the PSF1 out and find R5 (relay?).

I searched and found this thread. I suspect I have a similar problem with my wipers. Driving along yesterday the driver's side blade literally jumped off its arm. I think it was flipped off because the lefthand one got out of sync. The left one moves but only a tiny bit. Does this mean a gear has disconnected or is it controlled electronically? The area around where the arm is fixed looks like it has trapped all sorts of gunge over the years and although I cannot see the control part I can understand how moisture and thus corrosion would easily build up in that area.

How do I get to the box with the magnet in?
My temporary solution is to remove the whole nearside arm!

[GiveMeABreak]

The arms need removing but note the resting location of the blades on the windscreen first as some replacement windscreens may not have them, though in your case it has already come off on one side I appreciate!

Then the scuttle panel comes off which will give you access to the wiper motor units.