I started to have problems with my wipers during some light rain. I found that gently pushing up the wiper arm gave a useful single wipe. However after a while I starting having problems with the parking function. The wipers would park either flat in front of the driver or half-way across the screen.
A quick check of the forums on Pistonheads revealed that this was likely to be the wiper park switch.
Sourcing the Part
I wasn't really sure where to get the part, I guess I could have called the dealer or one of the specialists but I thought I'd try eBay on the off-chance. Searching for "wiper park switch" revealed a few options. Generally they were advertised as being suited to Minis, MGs, Jaguars for about 12GBP.
However I spotted what appeared to be an identical switch for 4GBP, advertised as a part for a London Taxi! I won the auction and it is indeed the correct part!
Fitting
To start with it's worth parking the wipers in the middle of the screen (by turning off the ignition). This gets the cam lobe that activates the switch out of the way so that you don't break the switch while fitting.
Loosening then wiper motor is pretty easy, just a couple of bolts hold a clamp in place. With this removed you can angle up the motor to access the switch. I made a quick note of the wiring before sliding the old switch out:
Here is the motor sans-switch:
Here are some close ups of the space left by the switch:
At this point I was able to do some final checks to make sure that the new part was correct, they certainly look the same:
The switch is held in place with a clip which allows it to slide on. It's quite a tight fit so it took a couple of tries. Here it is in place:
Then it's just a matter of putting the wiring back. I cleaned up the spade connectors as much as I could and crimped them slightly to ensure a secure fit.
With that done it's just a matter of replacing the clamp. Note that the studs are bonded into the body so don't over tighten it:
A quick test showed that it all works perfectly, job done!
NB. Some people recommend putting some grease around the connections to prevent future water ingress. This is a good plan and I'll do it (once I have some grease).
