Rear Wiper on Mk3 Ibiza has a life of its own!

ibiza owner

IBIZA Mk3 1.0Ltr MPi
My rear wiper on my Ibiza Mk3 comes on all by itself and stays on all the time even when the switch is off but then sometimes will stop for a while then a little bit down the road will start off again on its own. Sometimes the front wipers will work on their own as well with the wiper switch off but its mainly happening on the rear wiper. - Its really annoying and embarrassing! - people are wondering why I have my wipers on when it isn't even raining!

I cant decide whether to just try replacing the wiper relay (can anyone pinpoint the exact location of the wiper relay there are loads under the dash) or I cannot decide if its the wiper stalk or earth.

I would like to try and fix the problem myself if I can rather than leave it into the main dealers or auto electrical place.

Does anyone know if the wipers coming on their own is a common problem on the Mk3 Ibiza's or have I just an electrical fault in my own car?

Also, anyone wouldn't have a part number for the wiper relay unit would they please. I tried emailing SEAT but they said I would have to go to the local dealers to get it. (I think they mean the part not the number)

Thanks,

Andy.
 

hola

Guest
Wipers!

Hi andy

My ibiza does the same thing only front and back go on together without me switching them on. I have other probs as well sometimes I switch the engine on and the electrics dont work, I have to turn off, then turn back on. Ive come on here to see if anyone can help me with my headlight problem as my normal beam has stopped working. The sidelights are fine so are the high beam but no normal beam, Ive checked fuses but its not that. I live in spain and took the car last year to the seat garage to have a full service costing €350, its never been the same since! Its a bit embarresing driving at night with full beam on being beeped by the spanish, just hope someone can help me on here, Im not really happy taking the car back to the spanish seat garage there not very good. My ibiza is a 2000 seat 1.4, 3 door can anyone help me on here.
 

Tuipoodle

Guest
Did you ever get a solution to this problem. My 2001 Ibiza 1.4 Chill does exactly the same thing and it's driving me crackers. The wipers have a life of their own. Either the front or back, sometimes independently and sometimes together come on and off whenever they want.
 

Tuipoodle

Guest
Forgot to ask - if anyone could help with this problem I'd be really grateful. Is it the wiper motor, or the wiper relay? Do I need an auto electrical guy or just the Seat garage? Help!
 

bbob

Newbie
Sep 28, 2004
22
0
I'm also having this problem. My rear wiper goes off whenever I operate the front screen washers! Has anyone worked out whether it's likely to be the relay or stalk? If it's the wiper stalk does the steering wheen have to be taken off to replace it. If so what about the airbag? Cheers.
 
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Glenflyer

Guest
Hi Guys Had same on 2001 16 sport take of the plastic part of boot lid (bit of a hassel to do ) theres a few wire plugs to the back wiper motor chek them for rust the rear wiper is live all the time and feeds back thro to the front wipers unplug and put them back in a few times with wd 40 or something should do the trick .if your front wipers dont swith off pull no 9 think relay doz this stop them .them they will only work at fast setting (that what was happing to mine ) Hope this helps Richard
 

Mat

Guest
Not had this problem TBH. But then again, I've not had a rear wiper for about a year ;)

Get it taken off :D
 

carlisle pete

Full Member
Mar 25, 2006
649
0
i had this about 2 weeks ago..
exact same situation.. i bought a new relay just to see as they are only 20 quid or so from seat.. replaced it and no joy...
bought 2 brand new stalks from seat about 43 quid.. got matt to fit them for me and everything is fine.. so if i was you guys its more than likely the stalk thats the fault rather than the relay..
relay is situated above and to the right of the fuses.. got number 19 on it hope this helps
and yes the wheel has to come off to replace them.. it seemed quite a fiddley job to get them out..
 

studioeng

R.I.P. SXE. Hello Salsa!!
Feb 12, 2007
76
0
Dorset
www.byattsystems.co.uk
I'm getting this exact same problem; only exception is that my front wiper now has a life of its own. I have had to resort to pulling the fuses when I don't want them. There seems to be an awful lot of travel in the wiper stalk; is this normal... Compared to the indicator stalk which is quite solid.

Is the general consensus to get the stalks changed?
 
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cyberspi

Guest
The following is what happens in my '00
1) very strange buzz coming from the fuse box any time the boot is opened
2) rear wiper not working any more
3) fog light dash warning light flashes if rear wiper is turned on
4) front wipers have a life of their own and can come on whenever.

I've been researching this for the last few hours and it seems to be one of 2 things
either a) the relay or b) the stalk.

how have those of you with the same issue resolved the problem? am I right in thinking that its relay 19 for the wipers? I pulled it there a little while ago and could see a little spot of rust at the base of one of the connectors going in under the plastic..
 

Murf

Guest
I had the exact same problem last weekend, buzzing from the relay and everything!
I took off the plastic panel inside the boot and unplugged the multiplugs inside. Cleaned them with wd40 and put them back together and its been perfect ever since.
HTH :D
 

cyberspi

Guest
I had the exact same problem last weekend, buzzing from the relay and everything!
I took off the plastic panel inside the boot and unplugged the multiplugs inside. Cleaned them with wd40 and put them back together and its been perfect ever since.
HTH :D

thanks murf, had the panel off a little while ago to look for any corrosion and all looked spotless so did noting else. will try giving them a clean anyway and see if it makes any difference..
 

cyberspi

Guest
well fair play to you, it worked! :) thanks Murf, hopefully it'll last now :)
 

greenboy

Guest
Just had some similar probs with our Ibiza Cupra R, put the rear fogs on and the front wipers start, rear wiper wont work, some warning lights glowing slightly on the dash. Checked resistance between the earth points behind the back lights and the connections for the fog lights and rear wiper motor connctions, found 4.5 ohms which is too high, traced it to a multiplug in the tail gate, pins didnt look bad but after cleaning and a wee spot of grease the resistance fell to 0.3 ohms and everythings working perfect now, :) Hope this may be of some help to folk having similar problems.
 

Hutch

Active Member
Aug 4, 2009
9
0
My 2000 1.9tdi Ibiza has started with pretty much exactly the same problems as described below - a few weeks ago I noticed some faint glowing/flickering of the rear fog warning light and buzzing from the relay - now rear windscreen wiper won't stop, and front wipers start and stop whenever they feel like it!

I've had to resort to unplugging the rear wiper motor inside the boot and pulling the no. 19 relay. This means I have front only either full on or off wipers with no intermittent option other than doing it manually which is driving me nuts.

I've tried replacing the no. 19 relay and cleaning all the connections I could find inside the boot which hasn't helped. Greenboy mentioned earth points behind the rear lights - any idea where these are? I don't remember seeing them when I had it apart. I'm considering changing the stalks but my gut feeling tells me the problem is elsewhere.

Any other ideas greatly appreciated!

Cheers
 
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