Hello!

New to the forum but not new to Subarus. Working on my 4th right now.

 

I have a 98 Outback Sport and it just turned 98K.

 

My problem: Rear wiper decided to quit. I can hear a click in back when I turn the switch to use it. Tested the motor today and it's fine. The dealership said I'd need a new wiring harness installed to the tune of $500. I checked the wiring as far as the rubber tube in the upper right corner of the hatchback & there's continuity from the plug of the motor to there. Must be somewhere else.

 

Anyone have ideas of where to begin looking for the short or broken wire.. or, maybe something else?

 

TIA..

 

.........b

check that relay you heard go click, see if its operational. Also when you find out where that bugger is, let us know, as somone else needs to know where it is.

 

nipper

Is the motor running? Check the nut that holds the arm to the motor shaft (should be under a little cover), I've seen these come loose on many Subes.

 

Gary

Today 05:15 AMAll_talkIs the motor running? Check the nut that holds the arm to the motor shaft (should be under a little cover), I've seen these come loose on many Subes.

 

Gary

 

Nope, wished it were. Tha'd be an easy fix. Had a devil of a time tryin t'flip the lil cover off the shaft but finally got it. Fairly simple to remove the motor & gear assembly... & get it all back together w/o parts left over.

 

......b

Check the wires inside the rubber boot where the wires pass from the hatch to the roof of the vehicle. In my 97 OBS the wires were broken here, probably due to flexing in extreme cold, which in turn caused the wiper to stop working and then a while later the rear defrost too.

 

If I recall correctly i was able to pull the wires out of the roof a bit and splice in a new wire(s) that then run to a harness behind the passenger side rear taillight.

 

HTH

Ben

the relay is behind the rear passenger side trim, by the lights back there, you have to pull it all out, it's screwed to the back sub frame there. I had the same problem, i had to re-sodlder all of the wires in the rear going to the hatch, after a while they wear out. It worked fine for a while but then stopped working again, i think there's a bad ground somewhere....