thegreg1 Posted August 12, 2021 Report Share Posted August 12, 2021 I just bought a used C-Max. I love it so far (1st hybrid!) but I have 1 issue... When I use the intermittent wipers They sometimes stop in the correct position, sometimes they stop in the up position and sometimes (the worse times) they stop right dead in the middle of my windshield. Why is this and how can it be corrected? I have tried restarting the wipers, yet they don't move. Eventually they do, but it takes a long time and I am trying to drive. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arrival Posted September 7, 2021 Report Share Posted September 7, 2021 You might try putting the wipers in "service position" and see if that resets things: Turn on ignition (or press button so radio etc comes on). Wait a few seconds then turn off. Now (within 3 seconds) press down the wiper stalk (as though you are doing a single wipe). Hold down for a couple of seconds. Wipers should now move into the service position in the middle of with windshield. They will return to regular position when you next start the car. This is also how you change the wiper blades. thegreg1 and fbov 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreg1 Posted September 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2021 Thanks. I will try and let everyone know how it went jzchen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreg1 Posted September 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 On 9/13/2021 at 12:11 PM, thegreg1 said: Thanks. I will try and let everyone know how it went Unfortunately this didn't fix the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzchen Posted September 20, 2021 Report Share Posted September 20, 2021 On 9/14/2021 at 12:36 PM, thegreg1 said: Unfortunately this didn't fix the issue. Sorry for the delay in approving this message! How about the other wiper positions? For example constant speed? How about rapid speed? Does it exhibit the same stopping? If not I actually suspect the stock. Hopefully someone else can chime in if I'm mistaken... thegreg1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreg1 Posted September 29, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2021 On 9/20/2021 at 2:11 AM, jzchen said: Sorry for the delay in approving this message! How about the other wiper positions? For example constant speed? How about rapid speed? Does it exhibit the same stopping? If not I actually suspect the stock. Hopefully someone else can chime in if I'm mistaken... When I put on any full mode it does the same thing, but freezes faster. I have an appointment on 10/5/21 to have it looked at. It should be covered, I just didn't really have time to drop it off, but it's been raining a lot and snow is coming soon enough, so I have no choice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldengrumpee Posted October 2, 2021 Report Share Posted October 2, 2021 So what ended up being the fix ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreg1 Posted October 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2021 On 10/2/2021 at 8:30 AM, Oldengrumpee said: So what ended up being the fix ? Unfortunately the warranty I was told I bought I was not charged for. So now I need to find time to take it to my regular mechanic and see if he can figure it out. No way am I paying dealership prices for repairs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreg1 Posted October 7, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2021 I am told by amateur mechanics that it is most likely the motor going bad. I will try to make a appointment with a real mechanic next week and let everyone know what he says Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreg1 Posted November 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2021 OK.... Long awaited follow up I took it to my mechanic and he switched and checked all the relays, nothing. He bought a new motor, nothing. The only thing we have not tried in the multi function switch because the people he buys parts from claim that is a non refundable part (Unlike the motor). I spoke with a Ford dealership shop and they claim the switch is a huge issue on Ford F-150s and he is pretty sure that is the issue here (similar issue, even though he thought I was calling on the F-150 at 1st, brain fart on his end, lol). So I have told my mechanic to give me an estimate and I will pay for the part even if it isn't correct. The Ford guy said it could be software related also. I will be trying the switch 1st though as my mechanic can handle that at a much more reasonable cost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cr08 Posted November 12, 2021 Report Share Posted November 12, 2021 I'll have to do some checking this afternoon when I'm off work, but I seem to recall ForScan had the option to view the status of some of these switch inputs as read by the BCM. At the very least I do recall being able to do this on my old '07 Focus so should be able to do the same with the C-Max. At the very least this can confirm from the software and switch ends if the theory about failure at these points is correct. But it seems like they've ruled out the other obvious points. I'll report back what I can find in ForScan regarding this functionality. The weird part though is that in theory the wipers should always return to park when the system sees an 'off' signal from the stalk or software. The only time it should ever stop in a raised position is the service mode which is activated at key-off (You turn on the car then shut it off and within a few seconds after, hold the stalk in the bottom 'single wipe' position for a few seconds and the wipers will move up and stop halfway up the windshield. You can then turn on the car and hit any position on the stalk to get the wipers to return to normal). jzchen and thegreg1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreg1 Posted November 23, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2021 On 11/12/2021 at 11:39 AM, cr08 said: I'll have to do some checking this afternoon when I'm off work, but I seem to recall ForScan had the option to view the status of some of these switch inputs as read by the BCM. At the very least I do recall being able to do this on my old '07 Focus so should be able to do the same with the C-Max. At the very least this can confirm from the software and switch ends if the theory about failure at these points is correct. But it seems like they've ruled out the other obvious points. I'll report back what I can find in ForScan regarding this functionality. The weird part though is that in theory the wipers should always return to park when the system sees an 'off' signal from the stalk or software. The only time it should ever stop in a raised position is the service mode which is activated at key-off (You turn on the car then shut it off and within a few seconds after, hold the stalk in the bottom 'single wipe' position for a few seconds and the wipers will move up and stop halfway up the windshield. You can then turn on the car and hit any position on the stalk to get the wipers to return to normal). I am hoping its just the stalk/multi switch. Now I just need time to drop it off again with the holidays coming up. It has to be the switch or software. Both my mechanic and I are excited to try the new stalk (he loves problem solving, lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cr08 Posted November 23, 2021 Report Share Posted November 23, 2021 Looks like I forgot to reply here. Ooops. So I did end up checking what data was available via ForScan. Quite a few interesting bits of info with a small quirk. Wiper stalk position (on mine this is a bit quirky. Both the 'Off' and Intermittent/Auto positions both indicate 'Low'. Medium and High full time positions show accordingly. Single wipe shows as single wipe Wiper motor activity - It'll show active and parked There are others, but those seem to be the key ones. ForScan has these under the BdyCM module. If using the mobile app, you can just search for 'Wiper' in the PIDs under the Dashboard tab and it should be clear. Maybe that'll help add a little extra diagnostic info to the search. I'm very interested in seeing what the final outcome of this is! jzchen and thegreg1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreg1 Posted November 24, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 (edited) On 11/23/2021 at 12:45 PM, cr08 said: Looks like I forgot to reply here. Ooops. So I did end up checking what data was available via ForScan. Quite a few interesting bits of info with a small quirk. Wiper stalk position (on mine this is a bit quirky. Both the 'Off' and Intermittent/Auto positions both indicate 'Low'. Medium and High full time positions show accordingly. Single wipe shows as single wipe Wiper motor activity - It'll show active and parked There are others, but those seem to be the key ones. ForScan has these under the BdyCM module. If using the mobile app, you can just search for 'Wiper' in the PIDs under the Dashboard tab and it should be clear. Maybe that'll help add a little extra diagnostic info to the search. I'm very interested in seeing what the final outcome of this is! I will be dropping it off either Monday or Tuesday night and hopefully it gets fixed the next day. If its the switch I will be ecstatic, cuz that means no dealership (considering they wanted to charge me $400 and the part is only $50 and my mechanic thinks its a half hour job) . If not them its to the dealership for a software update I guess Edited November 24, 2021 by thegreg1 Added sentence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreg1 Posted December 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2021 On 11/24/2021 at 5:22 PM, thegreg1 said: I will be dropping it off either Monday or Tuesday night and hopefully it gets fixed the next day. If its the switch I will be ecstatic, cuz that means no dealership (considering they wanted to charge me $400 and the part is only $50 and my mechanic thinks its a half hour job) . If not them its to the dealership for a software update I guess Welll...... I dropped it of and switched the stalk, but the issue persists. So to recap... Tested the relays and they are ok, tried a new motor with no positive results, The system check says everything is fine, and a new stalk hasn't fixed it yet. Only thing left I can think of is a software reset. I am not sure when I will be able to do that though Very frustrating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cr08 Posted December 1, 2021 Report Share Posted December 1, 2021 (edited) Not sure if anything has been tried yet on the software/OBD tool side, but as a quick attempt in ForScan you can try doing a reset of the BdyCM. That'll basically force it to hard reboot. You'll know it rebooted as you'll get a nice light show as the car seemingly shuts down 100% and all lights go dead and then come back up a few moments later. Reflashing the BdyCM would be my next guess if that doesn't resolve it. If you're adventurous, this can be done with ForScan on Windows with a proper OBD adapter (OBDLink EX seems to be preferred for this process) but given it controls a LOT of critical components in the car including the ignition process, I'd be wary of DIY'ing that. It's the one module I have not messed with myself for that particular reason. Last thing beyond that would maybe go old school with a multimeter and verify the lines going from the BdyCM to the wipers (including through the relays) are getting the signal through and there's not possibly a broken wire in the harness somewhere. That's probably going to be a bit more involved. That's basically all I can think of right now. You've exhausted a lot of possibilities at this point. Edited December 1, 2021 by cr08 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cr08 Posted December 1, 2021 Report Share Posted December 1, 2021 I've added a couple of wiring diagrams from the service manuals for '13s if you're interested in them. I imagine it's probably not gonna differ much between years. PG1.pdf Pg2.pdf Pg3.pdf Pg4.pdf thegreg1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cr08 Posted December 1, 2021 Report Share Posted December 1, 2021 Another thing I just thought of more as an additional test point: If yours has the automatic wipers, you can try disconnecting the sensor on the windshield. There should be a connector up there behind the plastic cover you can pull. Last I recall this will revert the 'auto' selection on the stalk to old school intermittent operation. A long shot, but another relatively easy check/workaround. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzchen Posted December 1, 2021 Report Share Posted December 1, 2021 Can you take a video of the wiper action and post it to YouTube or something? Maybe watching it can give us some clue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreg1 Posted December 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2021 On 12/1/2021 at 4:09 PM, cr08 said: Not sure if anything has been tried yet on the software/OBD tool side, but as a quick attempt in ForScan you can try doing a reset of the BdyCM. That'll basically force it to hard reboot. You'll know it rebooted as you'll get a nice light show as the car seemingly shuts down 100% and all lights go dead and then come back up a few moments later. Reflashing the BdyCM would be my next guess if that doesn't resolve it. If you're adventurous, this can be done with ForScan on Windows with a proper OBD adapter (OBDLink EX seems to be preferred for this process) but given it controls a LOT of critical components in the car including the ignition process, I'd be wary of DIY'ing that. It's the one module I have not messed with myself for that particular reason. Last thing beyond that would maybe go old school with a multimeter and verify the lines going from the BdyCM to the wipers (including through the relays) are getting the signal through and there's not possibly a broken wire in the harness somewhere. That's probably going to be a bit more involved. That's basically all I can think of right now. You've exhausted a lot of possibilities at this point. I don't know anyone locally who has the equipment except dealerships. I need to make some calls On 12/1/2021 at 4:40 PM, cr08 said: Another thing I just thought of more as an additional test point: If yours has the automatic wipers, you can try disconnecting the sensor on the windshield. There should be a connector up there behind the plastic cover you can pull. Last I recall this will revert the 'auto' selection on the stalk to old school intermittent operation. A long shot, but another relatively easy check/workaround. This model doesn't have the rain sensor or any other sensors I believe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreg1 Posted December 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2021 On 12/1/2021 at 6:11 PM, jzchen said: Can you take a video of the wiper action and post it to YouTube or something? Maybe watching it can give us some clue. I will see what I can do. Never posted on YouTube, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreg1 Posted December 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2021 Bringing it to the dealership on 12/16/2021 for a software reflash. If this doesn't fix it I may be done trying cuz it may not be cost efficient Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreg1 Posted December 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 On 12/1/2021 at 6:11 PM, jzchen said: Can you take a video of the wiper action and post it to YouTube or something? Maybe watching it can give us some clue. Here you go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzchen Posted December 14, 2021 Report Share Posted December 14, 2021 Wow! Thank you for making the effort to post the video. I almost get the feeling that the motor is somehow overheating then stopping... Crossing my fingers on your dealer visit if someone else doesn't have a potential answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreg1 Posted December 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2021 On 12/13/2021 at 8:12 PM, jzchen said: Wow! Thank you for making the effort to post the video. I almost get the feeling that the motor is somehow overheating then stopping... Crossing my fingers on your dealer visit if someone else doesn't have a potential answer. We switched out the motor for a new one, unfortunately that didn't fix the issue I will update after the software maintenence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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