Wiper Recall Question

kgingras

Member
The wiper motor on my 2008 3 just conked out. I do realize there is a recall for this problem and have setup an appointment with the dealer for next week. The recall mentions that they will replace the ground harness. I think in my case the motor is actually burned out and when they do replace the ground harness it will not fix the problem. It has been acting up over the last couple of weeks...I was noticing that there was almost no difference in speed between hi and low. Both were pretty slow. Should I expect Mazda to pay for a new motor since this was most likely caused by the faulty ground increasing the resistance to the motor?

Thanks.
 
A faulty ground would just cause the motor to not work, it wouldn't have anything to do with the resistance on the motor itself.
 
Hey, my speed is at Byers right now for this recall. I can let you know what the part they installed or change.
 
The recall was done on my 2008, I didn't physically see it installed. The work order listed parts
used as a wire, Ground, price $4.78

I'll quote from the recall notice what can happen if the ground fails.

"On certain MAZDA3 and MAZDASPEED3 vehicles, the ground terminal of the windshield wiper motor may have been inadvertently bent during assembly. If this condition exists, then over time the electrical resistance or the motor circuit may increase up to a point which would result in an inoperative wiper motor. The loss of wiper function inadverse weather could potentially increase the risk of a crash."

Sounds like yours may have failed and your motor probably isn't burned out. Take it to your dealer. I didn't have any problems, but wanted the recall done.

Although a poor ground would not increase motor resistance it WILL increase the circuit resistance. The high resistance ground can drop most of the battery voltage, consequently the motor will not see enough voltage to make it run.

Clifton
 
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