06 rear wiper dead, wiring harness diagrams?

20457 Views 45 Replies 11 Participants Last post by plain OM, Feb 22, 2019

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · Jul 26, 2017

im pretty sure my rear wiper motor is dead but i want to test the wiring first, i know ive seen in multiple threads a link to the rear wiring diagram but now im having issues finding it, sifting through the pages and using the search bar, i feel bad for asking cause i know its here but could somebody please direct me to it? thank you in advance

1 - 16 of 46 Posts

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 27, 2017

l88m22vette said:
Index of /share/FSM and wiring/Legacy-Liberty/USDM

http://files.jdmvip.com/SubaruFast/...ty/USDM/Subaru Legacy 2005 FSM (sl-i.net).zip

WI-158 and WI-218 are relevant in the Wiring section. This should also help: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/3rd-gen-outback-4th-gen-lgt-bl-bp-wagon-hatch-223423.html

i dug through and cant find section WI, but i did find how to test so that at least gives me positive and ground

Radar said:
Inspect the wires in the two rubber boots that carry the wires into the hatch. It is very common for them to break. That's more likely to be the problem that the wiper motor.

ive pulled them back on either side and tugged on the wired but they all look and feel solid unless one is corroded inside out which is why the motor is suspect, id much rather fix wires

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jul 27, 2017

eagleeye said:
updated thread title.

lol i couldnt find the thread! but your title should be much more helpful :wink:

plain OM said:
There's a wiring diagram in this post that should be applicable to your 06.

Does the rear washer pump work? If it doesn't then fuse #23 might be blown. That, I believe, would disable the wiper motor as well.

The most likely wiring problem is in the harness going from the car to the hatch. In the wiring diagram, it's the wiring that goes from connector D35 to the rear wiper motor. There's only four wires in that harness related to the wiper.

The harness connectors (including D35) are in the cargo area, right side, slightly below the "D" pillar. The cargo area right side trim panel might have to be removed to gain access to the connector. (The other ends of the related wires are at connector D43 to the wiper motor.)

If you suspect the wiper motor, it can be checked at connector D43. There should be continuity between pin 2 and body ground.

pump work, all lights work, antenna works, rear defog works, everything works except the wiper itself, until winter its fine, just annoying that its not in the home position, but i for one dont want to be driving a wagon in Wisconsin winter w/out a rear wiper lol

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jul 27, 2017

plain OM said:
There's a wiring diagram in this post that should be applicable to your 06.

and thank you, hopefully this should do, what i was looking for was +/- wire colors

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jul 27, 2017

plain OM said:
Hope you'll let us know what you find, and the fix . . .

will do...as soon as i have the time to dig into it....

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #15 · Aug 5, 2017

CNY_Dave said:
Did it seem to get slower and slower as time went by? Could just be it needs to be taken off, taken apart, and the shaft lubed.

didnt work when i bought the car in March, salesman swore it worked the day before.....

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #18 · Sep 23, 2017

plain OM said:
Hope you'll let us know what you find, and the fix . . .

2 months later lol finally got to test it, my luck to have the only outback on earth that its not the wires :/ sure enough motor is dead but it was my lucky day, found one on the bay for $50!

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #20 · Sep 24, 2017

plain OM said:
I guess anything is possible.

Can you describe how you tested it and concluded the motor itself is bad? This might be helpful to others reading this thread and not finding breaks in the wires in the flexible boot area?

with the car running and the switch on, using a multi-meter i put ground to black on the plug then red to the different wires, one is constant power for "ON", one is intermediate and the 4th i assume triggers the wiper with the sprayer (this one would have needed 2 people for testing) but since it doesnt work on full on or inter then can kinda guess what the last result would be.

i suppose im actually better off with the motor than trying to work on wires in that tiny gap!

these vids may help others

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #22 · Sep 24, 2017

plain OM said:
Yes, constant power at one of the wires, but I'm not sure what your measurement results were at the others.

When measuring with the negative meter test lead to the black wire, there should be constant battery voltage at the wire that's yellow with a green stripe (connector pin #1 , as long as the ignition switch is at ACC or ON. (Rear wiper switch can be Off.)

When the ignition switch is at ACC or On (engine need not be running) and the rear wiper switch at the On (continuous) there should be battery voltage at the wire that's light green (pin #2). This is critical. If there isn't battery voltage at pin #2, the motor won't run.

The voltage at the fourth wire (blue with white stripe, pin #4) isn't important until the motor starts to run, at which time it will be at battery voltage when the wiper is in its sweep, and no voltage when the wiper is down at the park position.

It's also important that the black wire (pin #3) has good continuity to the car body (ground). This should be measured using the lowest resistance range (Ohms) on the meter. The reading should ideally be zero Ohms, but might show a few tenths of an Ohm.

blue wire did nothing thats why i thought it was for when the sprayer was used, i had voltage on pin 2 only when the switch was set to intermediate and then just a few second pulse as it should be but nothing at full on, but the wiper isnt "home" its at say 10 o'clock. being as the ground wire worked to test the power with steady current i just assumed it was good as a bad ground would lead to lower and or unstable current, ive had a lot of stereo systems and aux lighting and just old cars, (un)fortunately troubleshooting electrical is something ive had a fair bit of practice at lol.. the diagram you have provided is the one i used somebody maybe you posted it earlier in the thread

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #25 · Sep 26, 2017

plain OM said:
Are you measuring the voltage at the wires with the connector attached, or disconnected, from the motor?

If there's no voltage at pin 2, the light green wire, then the motor won't work.

If the connector is attached to the motor, and wiper is at 10:00 o'clock, with the ignition at ACC or On, and the rear wiper switch at On (continuous) then there should be:

battery voltage at pin 2 (light green)
battery voltage at pin 1 (yellow with green stripe)
battery voltage at pin 4 (blue with white stripe)
zero voltage at pin 3 (black wire) relative to car body ground point.

Also, did you check the resistance through the motor, from pin 2 to ground?

(Added "inspection" tests of the motor -- attached)

with the connector disconnected so i guess that means the blue wire would have no voltage

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #27 · Sep 27, 2017

plain OM said:
Yes. And, if disconnected, that might also mean there's no voltage coming from the BIU to pin 2, the light green wire.

there was voltage, if i had the switch on intermediate the voltage would pulse like its intermediating?

Reactions: 1

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #31 · Sep 28, 2017

CNY_Dave said:
I think it's the same as the front wipers-
the wiper motor always gets +12V when the key is on, so they will return to the park position, and switching of the motor on and off is done by connecting the ground lead to ground (or not).

Intermittent wipes are done by briefly grounding the ground line, for less time than it takes for a full wipe, then allowing the park mechanism to take over.

the ground here is screwed right in the area so im not sure that its ground switched

plain OM said:
How long was the voltage "pulse"?

Even when the wiper switch is set for intermittent operation, there has to be battery voltage on pin 2 of the motor connector (D43) for the motor to run. When working properly, that power would be on for the full time it takes the wiper to make a sweep and return to the park position.

Are you able to make resistance (Ohms) measurements with your multi-meter? Also, is it a digital multi-meter?

Are you familiar with making voltage measurements by back-probing connectors?

My summary: We know the motor doesn't run. We know there's battery voltage to pin 1 of the motor harness connector. We have not yet seen battery voltage at pin 2 of the motor with the wiper switch at On (continuous), but that could be because the measurements were made with the harness connector removed from the motor. Proper measurement might require back-probing the connector with it attached to the motor. Also, we don't know if there's continuity through the motor (pin 2 to ground), and between pins 4 and either pin 1 or pin 3. This can be resolved by resistance measurements.

um lets see, id say the pulses were roughly 3-5 seconds

yes it is a digital meter with Ohms option

i have no idea what back probing is

the new motor is supposed to be here tomorrow, i have to put my exhaust back on the car on saturday, hopefully i can get to it, i do plan on just plugging in the new motor in hand to see if it works (it is claimed as working) but as i keep buying parts for this thing that i cant use or dont need we'll see how this goes lol

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #34 · Sep 29, 2017

plain OM said:
If you already have a replacement motor coming in, I guess that could be conclusive. But I agree about not throwing parts at it. If the motor doesn't work, let us know. We'll look at helping with back-probing the attached connector contacts with the voltmeter.

only going to throw 1 part at it lol

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #35 · Oct 20, 2017

plain OM said:
If you already have a replacement motor coming in, I guess that could be conclusive. But I agree about not throwing parts at it. If the motor doesn't work, let us know. We'll look at helping with back-probing the attached connector contacts with the voltmeter.

i have promptly installed the new motor lol and it works!!! my rear wiper lives! bring on the snow

Reactions: 1

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #37 · Oct 21, 2017

plain OM said:
Still have the old one? If so, any chance you can now measure the resistance of the motor winding? It would be between pins 2 and 3 of the connector on the motor itself. Obviously there was something wrong with the old one, but this can check if there was a problem in the motor itself (brushes or a failed winding/connection). If the motor itself seems good then the problem was in the related switching that's also part of the motor assembly. (This was the subject of the tests using back probing, but this wouldn't be necessary now with the old motor out.)

i do have the old one still, no multi-meter at home though, wouldnt it be more fun to pull the drive off and test the motor on its own? lol

jonnylaw13

Discussion Starter · #39 · Oct 21, 2017

plain OM said:
Could do that as well. The resistance test is a quick, initial way to possibly identify why the motor wouldn't run which doesn't involve connecting power to it. If the resistance between pins 2 and 3 is very high, that alone is sufficient -- there's a problem in the motor itself.

how many ohms are we talking here? 10? 20? 100?

1 - 16 of 46 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.