Hello all,

I just started having an issue this afternoon with my 2001 XJ8 L.

I was driving down the freeway, hit a bump, and then my windshield wiper did one swipe. This occurred 3 minutes later after another bump.

4 minutes later I got off the freeway and was at a light. The wiper did one swipe, again. It then started again. This time it was consistent and I finally turned it from Auto to off.

What could this issue be?

Hoping its just a relay?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Could be a relay, there are two under the the hood up near the left of the radiator and are brown/fawn. One is run and one is park. You can pull them and swap them to see if there is a change. I would also suggest that it could be the onscreen rain sensor. These are stuck on on and if detached at all slightly, will then trigger a sweep.

Look up Rain sensor Gel Pad for details.
Like these

I am not sure if the XK and XJ are the same.

 

Very helpful!

Thank you!

I ordered the gel pads so far.

Is there a specific part number for the relays? I may just replace both of them at the same time.

 

You don't need to replace the relays just swap them round and spray a bit of WD40 on the connections. For some reason doing this fixes them.

 

This happened to me recently. I tested it all, and it was actually a fault in the motor and not the relays. This is a very pricey fix, and the wiper motor alone from a Jag dealer is around $900! My advice: go onto Ebay or obtain a reconditioned generic motor compatible with what you have -- even if it's reconditioned (that's what I did and it cost around $180). If you need to replace the motor, just know that you will have to take off the upper, plastic coolant tank and for goodness sake, make sure the tubes on the anterior region of this tank are CROSSED when you or the shop puts it back on....less you will dump all your coolant (see old posts). Let us know what you ended up needing. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the information. I will be working on it this Saturday morning and will let you gus know of my findings.

 

I think it is fixed. I swapped the two relays and that did the trick. Sprayed water on the sensor and it started wiping. Took some pictures.

 

pics...Most are random

 

Thanks fro the pics , very decent ride indeed

 

So, my issue regarding the wipers are back and are still random. I have resorted to driving with the wipers in the on/off mode versus automatic.

I did end up replacing the relays up front to be on the safe side.

I have the gel pad and will replace it this weekend.

Is the gel pad removal and repalcement straight forward?

Just remove the old I assume by peeling it off and cleaning the surface until residue is completely off. Then just place the new gel pad in its place? I tried to have it done when I took my car in for a coolant leak issue, but the shop told me they could not do it and needed to contact a windshield repair person. Is this true?

Thanks for all the helpful advice so far.