Just need some help here if possible.
My windscreen wipers only work at slow speed
Fast speed and intermittent do not work.

Some things I have done to date
1 test both relays in the bench and they are both switching so I am thinking they are ok
2 I have also swapped these relays with each other and no change
3 I justed installed a used stalk and no change
4 with the live data from my reader I can see that when I operated the switch all the function seem to be seen buy the live data so I am assuming the switch is fine

Wiper washer work correctly and the pull forward for one swipe is ok and the wipers park correctly.

I can see an error codes which say the slow high speed relay circuit is short circuit to ground and I can't seem to clear that error

Has anyone any idea. Next easiest thing to do is replace both relays but the are 40 Euro each and don't want to waste that money.... I hoping it's not the control unit

I have spent over 3k on various repair since I bought the car 3 months ago and am getting a bit distracted so want to try and be a bit more accurate with diagnosis first so any help would be appreciated

Many thanks every I have got good support and advice from the club since joining so really appreciate it

 

What is the exact fault code you are getting with the short circuit to ground? That may pinpoint it better and someone on here may be able to help.

 

Pic of exact error code...I pulled the replay and metres across the coil contacts with the ignition on and with the wiper stalk in high speed position and I am only getting 1.5 volts....so I think that something is holding that pins high but I am a bit confused when looking at the wiring diagram how it all works The intermittent wipe is working now so the wiper stalk replam

I'm hoping it's not the front module holding that pin high. Don't now how to confirm so don't want to get a used one yet..

I bought a couple of cheap relays and tried them and no change.

The intermittent now works so the stalk was part of the problem but not the full one

 

One of the three grounds behind the headlights???

Just a guess.

 

Haven't looked at them yet but will have to do so

 

Yeah the grounds behind the headlights do have an impact on the wipers as I had a problem with my wipers working on there own (very slowly creeping up the screen) before the car would cut out on the highway, ending up rolling along with no power or brakes or steering at 70mph+. Very scary. I replaced the ground points behind the headlights which fixed all my electrical problems.

Your problem is clearly some grounding issue.

 

So I did a lot of checking over the weekend. And I have confirmed the stalk iS fine. The wiper motor work at high speed. The rain sensor is fine. I checked all three ground connecttions behind the headlights and I check continuity on all three and they seem fine also visually they look good as well.

The only thing I haven't yet confirmed is the FEM the fuse box or a broken wire.... There is a high resistance on the line is question and this is a line that goes straight to the FEM...may have to find a good auto elect to figure out the rest....no sure I can go much further with my limited toolset and skills

 

Did you loosen the nuts on the grounds, & clean, or just look?

 

Just clean and looked didn't loosen spayed some cleaner and cleaned around the nut. I checked continuity feom them to the top of the abs pump and that were good....this is the pump next to the fuse box

 

OK your choice, when i looked at mine they looked fine.
Loosened the nuts, and white powdered corrosion comes out.

 

Me too Wingrider. Mine looked ok after cleaning but replacing them completely fixed all my electrical issues.

 

On the earth points behind the headlights (2 on one side, 1 on the other)....When I went to loosen one of mine it just dropped off!
They may look OK but you need to loosen remove the earths and clean with a brush. Don't tighten up too much or they will snap off

 

Hi Guys
Thanks for all the tips on the earth points... A couple of questions....

1 did you all have other starnge errors electric problem with you cars... Some have reported this.... Currently I don't seem to be having other electrical problems
2 Did any of you have to drill new earth bolts
3 mine aren't as fragile as the last post but I have yet to try and take them off
4 what type of climates do u live in do you guys use a lot of slat used on the roads during the winter

I just want to make sure I'm chasing the right issue...the real problem I have is that one of the pins on the FEM which is the control signal for the slow high speed relay has too high a resistance on it. This is a staright line connection from the relay to the FEM.

Granted there still maybe an earth problem and it would be good practice to make sure that are good... I just want to try and make sure it's related to this problem

 

1.I had problems with a flickering left headlight, had the front off to replace the intercooler coolant pump so redid the earth points while I was at it
2. I redrilled and replaced all three earth points/bolts after the first one literally dropped off
3. My car has spent its life in Ireland, so in a climate very much like the UK.
4. Its a job that needs to be done at some point on all X350s

 

Hi Paddy

Thanks for the info....u may have hit the nail on the head. My car and I are in Ireland too so same climate as u. As u mentioned more than likely a job I will have to do at some point regardless to whether this is the cause of my current be issue or not

 

In answer to your question I did the following:

1 Had random LH indicator bulb failure and short life of headlight bulb in the left hand cluster
2 Existing ground bolt on the LH side cleaned but problem did not cure. Completely replaced with a new drilled ground point and relocated cables to new ground point. This solved the problem immediately.
3 I took off the LH side one and it looked fine and even after cleaning thoroughly it still kept throwing LH indicator faults.
4 I live in the UK

I had the following with the right hand side:

1 Had windscreen wiper creep even when they were not on, car then threw low brake fluid, DSC not available, Engine system failure/fault, Stability control light on the dash illuminated and then the engine would stall whilst driving.
2 Cleaned both ground points on the right hand side. One ground point snapped and the other I was able to clean. Decided to also replace the ground point that I managed to clean. Drilled and fitted both new ground points on the right hand side and relocated cables to the new ground points. This solved the problems immediately and cleared all the dash warnings.
3 Although one of the right hand side ground points looked ok when cleaned the other one snapped when trying to undo the nut. Just replaced both as I had to replace the broken one anyway. I also was not willing to take the risk of relocating the cables from the broken one to the remaining one so as not to overload that single ground point.

Thanks,

Chris

 

So updated....as advised I had a look at the earth points on the front so I took apart all three and clean all three and then as as happened to many people one of the right had ones snapped....

Had to repair that and with everything back together no improvement on my wiper issue... So all I really got out of yesterday was wipers still not working correctly and something else broken...which I had to spend time fixing

So I am going back to my original suspicion of possible broken wire. Or faulty fuse box/FEM

 

At least what you did was not a waste of time. As you found out, one of them was clearly heavily corroded and would have failed completely at some point very soon. So replacing it was well worth doing. At least you have now hopefully ruled out the grounds at the front as a cause. Unless the one you replaced is not the one that the wipers are connected to.

 

This is a job that had to be done so its done now. As one of the grounds dropped off it was going to start sending your electrics bonkers sometime in the near future....All as JX350 says, you can eliminate this as the cause.

 

Look at as a detective, or Doctor, both trying to solve a mystery, or diagnose a problem.

Both have a series of issues to deal with, to solve a problem, good hunting.