Avensis Rear Wiper Unit

[sjrainsford 6]

Hi guys!

There seems to be a fairly common problem with the avensis rear wiper on the hatchback model (not sure about the saloon). Basically the wiper becomes juddery or just stops mid wipe. The problem seems to be with the contact disk and brush setup within the motor gearbox unit.

Here's how to have a look and try to cure it. If i've missed anythin then i'm sorry in advance ;)

- First, remove the wiper arm by pulling the little cover and undoing the nut that secures it on the spline. (A little persuasion will be needed to get the arm off).

- Then, open the boot and locate the grab handle inside that is used to close it. Inside it there is a screw. You need to remove this so that the inner panel can be removed. To do so, ease it off around the edges where it is fixed by press stud sort of plastic things that can be seen in This Picture

- You will then see the wiper motor and retaining pins. There will also be the connection plug. These will need to be removed and the motor unit will then pull from the boot lid for easier working. (It will be fairly tight where the drive shaft goes through the lid and a rubber gromit. No Walace though! :P ). See here

- Following this, the silver coloured cover with loads of Torx screws can be removed and you will see this view. Then the arm that is labelled in the picture can be pulled out. This just connects the main drive wheel to the main shaft. See here. The shaft can be completely removed if you wish.

- The pink coloured main drive disk can be removed then. On the underside you will see that there are copper contact disks with brush wipers mounted in the casing. (View here). These determine where the motor (and arm) will stop. It also provides a supply during intermittent wiping until the wiper reaches the stopping position. These need to be cleaned with wire wool or a light grade of sand paper. Leaving a fairly rough surface will help the contacts bed in again.

- Then blow out any dust and replace the contact disk. (It doesn't matter if it's not rotated into the same position that it came out).

- Replace the arm making sure it is kinked the same way as before to ensure the arm wipes downward instead of upward. Re-distribute the grease around the geared areas and replace the cover.

- The motor can then be re-mounted and electrically reconnected.

- Before the arm can be refitted,the motor will need to be re-parked. Turn on the ignition and operate the wiper motor to check the operation. It helps to put it into intermittent mode enabling you to watch it at the rear. Then turn it off and allow the motor to stop in the correct position. When it is parked the ignition can then be turned off.

- Finally re-attatch the wiper arm and enjoy happy wiping!

And if it don't work, dont blame me!!

[vmax1 0]

Good job Stuart.

I'll file this info. for future reference as I'm sure that eventually I'll have to do mine.

Vmax

[adi 0]

good info ! i was close to snapping mine off in frustration..

[sjrainsford 6]

Glad I stopped you snapping it off then!

Now you can break it properly instead!!

[billsinc 0]

Amazing. My wiper motor has done the same again, don't think toyota will replace it this time though, so it looks like I'm going to have to follow Stuart's instructions.

[billsinc 0]

I should add a new motor was £133 + Vat + labour for fitting.

[limegreen 0]

Just to confirm that this procedure works perfectly and from a totally non-working unit I now have a fully functioning one, so thankyou very much sjrainsford.

My own additions are...

The easiest way to start the removal of the trim is to pull at the corners that are highest up the hatchback on either side as you can get some good leverage to pop the first clip.

I found it easier to undo the 3 bolts on the wiper unit before removing the electrical connector to get better access to the connector and to have a small screwdriver to help ease off the clips on the side of the connector.

My rear wiper unit was very rusty inside, for some reason I did the job late at night when it was freezing and I had a massive ball of rusty ice in there!!

The wiper end of the shaft just needs a quick tap to loosen the arm mechanism, the arm is not fastened at the pink plastic gear end.

I used a pair of needle nose pliers to remove the pink plastic gear by pulling on the thick plastic between the central hole and the hole for the mechanism arm.

The arm mechanism was badly rusted up for me, so it need a good clean and soak in WD40.

To check that everything was moving freely inside once reassembled I removed the metal motor cover, you can then spin the screw gear yourself to check it's all good. Note that if you do remove the motor cover that it's a bit tricky getting the wound core and screw gear back in place, there are a couple of sprung arms that you need to pin back to get it in and the end of the screw gear must be touching the far metal plate.

[Budhabelly 0]

I'm trying to follow this procedure but have failed at the first hurdle. I can't get the wiper arm off the splined rod. I can open up the inside of the gear housing and have cleaned out the rusty grease as best I can but without taking the wiper arm off I can't reach the rear of the yellow plastic gear.

Anybody got any ideas what sort of 'persuasion' might help. I've soaked the splined area with WD40 and attempted to do the same from the underside too. I've used screwdriver to try and prise off the arm, but I'm having no luck.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Donald Munro 0]

does the power cable just pull out?

[marsbar989 0]

yes, I used a flat screw driver on the right side of the connector and got the connector off.

Its like claw shaped, so I used the screwdriver to open up one side of the claw and pulled it off.

Now can anybody explain why I cant see the pics in the first post?