Rear window wiper only works in reverse - sometimes

[Niner-Fiver]

Hi everyone,

Do we have any Saab electronic wizards here? Maybe you have some wise advice for me with this little problem: The rear window wiper on our 2003 9-5 2.3t Linear station wagon doesn't work anymore.

- Sometimes it kicks on intermittently, but only when we set her in reverse gear and the rear wiper switch is on. But we can't even rely on that.
- The rear window washer doesn't work at all, though the front windshield washer and the headlight jets work perfectly fine.
- I noticed both failures around thew same time.

Our great guy at the workshop has done pretty much everything he could: He measured the ins and outs, checked the DIC, made sure the electric motor is working, the nuts and bolts are tight, and the water hose was not blocked. So when he put voltage locally on the wiper motor worked fine. At the end our mechanic couldn't track it down at all, and I am still grateful that he didn't bill me for his 2.5 hour quest.

After reading the fabulous documentation in http://saabworld.net/f144/saab-9-5-w...tems-wis-1017/ I had only one suspect left: I assumed that the contacts in the wheel stalk are maybe corroded, but I can't feel any wiggle room, so I guess the switch is not mechanically worn out. Plus, it would be a strange coincidence if the wiper switch and the washer jet switch would give in at the same time to mechanical failure.

So, what the heck could it be? Any ideas? Your help would be greatly appreciated!

[Pbuck1]

Don't drive backwards anymore.!?

[Niner-Fiver]

Thanks, I'll take that into consideration, Pbuck1.

[Niner-Fiver]

If anyone is interested - the culprit was the wheel stalk. The contacts had slowly given out, and though there was no tangible wiggle room, the contacts were weak. We put a used stalk in and Bob's your uncle.

[Pbuck1]

Good you were able to track it down and repair !