Wipers not working

[GetSlideways]

finally got my hands on an e30, its a 325ix i bought from another member on the forum here, when i bought the car the wipers weren't working, so yesterday i checked the fuses, and number 5 i believe in the box was blown it was a "30" fuse and i didn't have any of those to replace it with. So i used a 25 thinking it would be good enough and it was, all day long yesterday they worked just fine. Then right before i got home last night they just stopped working.. i checked the fuse and it wasn't blown, the fluid won't spray and the wipers are dead.

I replaced it with the proper fuse i bought and still nothing is happening.. i dont think its a a motor cause they would probably have slowed down before dieing and the fluid isn't spraying either so i don't know where else to look..


Any ideas?

[DLite]

First I would perform the following to rule out that the K10 relay is working or not.

Remove the K10 wiper relay. (if you don't know, this is the long relay on the passenger side of the fuse box).

Firstly, make sure you have power to the relay...with the key on, check voltage between Pin 15 and ground...you should see battery voltage.

Test the slow speed operation of the wiper motor by jumpering from pin 15 to 53. If it does not operate, then it's the motor. If itdoes, then you know it's either the relay or the switch on the steering column.

To test the washer fluid motor, take jumper 85 to ground (any good ground on the chassis).

If both the motor and the washer fluid motor work, then you can go one more step and test the column switch by the following:

With the washer relay K10 removed, and using a DMM:
1. Test continuity of Pin 31 to ground...this should be a short circuit...if this does not show continuity then you have a ground issue to the fuse box (probably not the case), but good to check any way.
2. With the wiper switch all the way up (in the fast position), test continuity of pin F2 to ground...this should be a short circuit...if not, then your column switch is the issue.
3. Check the same thing with the pause and slow ciruits, 15b and F1 respectively.

If both the motor operate, and the column switch checks out, then you can safely say that it's the K10 wiper relay.

You can locate the pins by looking at the bottom of the relay and seeing which plug in the fuse box lines up with it.

You can also simply remove the K10 relay pop off the cover and take a look at the circuitry, sometimes a toasted diode or resistor is pretty obvious, in which case you can replace it.

Hopefully this makes sense to you.

If you don't already have it, go here and download the wiring diagram for your car...325i should be similar engough for most purposes. http://wedophones.com/BMWManualsLead.htm

P.S. Fuse 5 should be a 30 amp fuse