1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Rear Windshield Wiper Glitch?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by f1.2, Aug 17, 2012.

  1. f1.2

    f1.2 New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2012
    4
    0
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, California
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Hi all,

    I just purchased a Prius last week after lurking on the forums for a while, but unfortunately my first post is not a positive one :(

    My car was at the shop today for tinting and clear bra installation. On my way home, however, the rear wiper randomly turned itself on while I was on the highway. No matter what I did (flipping the REAR switch from OFF to INT, to ON, and back to OFF again), it still kept wiping, wiping, and wiping some more.

    I'm taking this car into the service dept tomorrow morning so hopefully they can figure out what the issue is.. but does anyone have any ideas? I had a hard time talking due to a majorly sore throat.. but here's a vid I took when I got home:

     
  2. sfv41901

    sfv41901 Masta S

    Joined:
    May 5, 2010
    4,591
    5,292
    0
    Location:
    Palmdale, Ca
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    1st off welcome to the forum & Congrats on ur new Prius.

    Best thing I can suggest is take it in since its still covered under warranty & hope it does it when they look at the car. If it doesn't repeat the problem they may not do anything.
     
  3. eseymour72

    eseymour72 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2012
    46
    6
    0
    Location:
    Lincoln City, OR
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Sounds/looks like you have a bad relay - should be an easy fix.
     
  4. Jonny Zero

    Jonny Zero Giggidy

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2012
    1,388
    351
    0
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    If this happened immediately after tinting, I wonder if water had gotten into the rear hatch wiper motor assembly and shorted something out. They spary a good amount of water in the tinting process and they might have gotten careless.

    Park it in the sun for a few hours and see if the issue is still there.
     
  5. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2012
    7,921
    3,144
    0
    Location:
    Honolulu, HI
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    This was my thoughts as well. Might have to take it up with the tint shop and not the dealer.
     
  6. f1.2

    f1.2 New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2012
    4
    0
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, California
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Thanks guys.

    This issue did appear just a few minutes after driving away from the tint shop, and again a few hours later that night as in the video. The dealership couldn't replicate the issue when I brought it in, so there was nothing they could identify as problematic or replace under warranty.

    The good news, however, is that this issue hasn't occurred since I uploaded the video. I left the car sitting in an airport parking lot for two days over the weekend while out of town which might have helped. The tint shop says they work on at least one prius a week, and this is the first time they've heard of such an issue.

    Nothing unusual happened during the 1hr commute to work today, so I'm cautiously happy things seem to be working normally again.
     
  7. Jonny Zero

    Jonny Zero Giggidy

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2012
    1,388
    351
    0
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    What do you expect them to say? We tint one Prius a week and every other week someone complains of electrical trouble. LOL.