Fixing Cortina Mk3 wiper motor self park function.

I guess at some point you may have had the odd electrical issue with the Mk3 Cortina and if you're like me you might have found that your windscreen wipers don't park anymore.  Well I was getting fed up timing switching off of my wipers just so they sat flat against the bottom of the windscreen and decided to see what the problem was.

If you have wipers which work but do not park any longer then I will explain how I resolved the issue, now this is important!! - I am not a mechanic, you can probably tell from some photos so if you follow my advice and, for want of a better expression, 'bollocks your car up or injure yourself' you only have yourself to blame. Take responsibility for your own actions and safety and seek assistance from someone qualified if you are not confident. Now that has been said lets get on with it:

First thing to check before you go pulling bits of Cortina off is check the wiring.  If you have the additional wiper control pedal on the floor which gives you a wipe function without using the dash switch then check the contacts are OK on this first as this can apparently cause issues.  When the system is operational one press on this pedal will make the wipers do one pass and park.

If looking at these contacts has not solved the issue move on>

Next open the bonnet and check the wiring is OK to the wiper motor. Check the earth strap to the bulkhead is making a good contact too.  

If the problem is still present it is more likely one of the contacts inside the motor is worn or broken.

Cortina Mk3 wiper motor location

You access the wiper motor and plugs by removing the black shroud.

I removed the wiper motor from the bulkhead to get a proper look at it by disconnecting the wiring and detaching the motor from the wiper assembly. It's just basic nuts and bolts really if a little fiddly at times - just take your time and remove anything necessary.  Of course it may not be necessary to remove the motor fully to inspect it so before forging ahead just see if it's possible to take the 'lid' off below without removing the whole motor. 

This is the bit you need to remove held on with two bolts

After removing the plastic lid that houses the connector for the multi-plug this is what you'll see: 

Cortina wiper motor faulty contact.

I've found the culprit!

Mine was missing a little bead (contact) on the bottom of one of the conductor strips so the park circuit was no longer working.

The silver disk forms part of the circuit which allows the wipers to continue a full sweep to their parked position, if both contacts are touching the disk at the appropriate place the wipers will park properly. 

The diagram above shows what the conductor strips should look like and what they look like with the missing contact, I guess they just wear out over time so no connection is made.

To repair the offending conductor strip needs to form contact with the disk again.  You could use a blob of solder but that could always come adrift, perhaps solder is harder than the copper used originally and would rub a groove into the disk?? I don't know.. so I opted to bend the conductor strip down gently so it was just making light contact with the disk.

I may in future open it up again and attach a blob of copper but it's been nearly a year since I did this and it still works, plus I have a spare motor.

Another point is that if your motor is working but not parking and you've found a motor which is not working but the contacts are fine inside then swap the contacts over.  These motors are simple and you can still fix them so think twice before chucking one in the bin!