Engine Hesitation/Stutter When Wipers Move

andyj

There's no F in Quality..
Drove the Mrs' Altea yesterday for the first time in a while, and whilst out it started to rain slightly, not enough to have the wipers on permanently, but enough to do it manually (flick the right stalk down) once in a while.

However, when I did this, the engine hesitated/stuttered everytime the wipers moved.....

Tried putting them on auto & full, and it doesn't do it. :shrug:

Any thoughts?

I'm thinking it's electrical related, and the wipers are using too much power/voltage, which causes the engine hesitation.

Going to try checking the battery voltage this morning, and see if I can see any drops when the wipers are activated.

Will also try with other things turned on to, lights A/C etc.
 

HNT

Active Member
Feb 22, 2015
10
0
Sounds like alternator/alternator voltage regulator. Check how many volts the battery is outputting - should be 14 volts when engine running. If it goes up and down at 14v its the regulator (little module attached to the alternator).
 

m0rk

sarcasm comes free
Staff member
May 19, 2001
27,787
33
Clanfield, UK
Fluke meter across the battery while 'doing' the wipers?

Be interesting to see if there's a voltage drop
 

lumor

Active Member
May 18, 2011
57
0
Isn't there a thread on this very issue on here? Need to check the wiring loom in the bulk head under the wiper motor. It may have worn through shorting the circuit when you turn them on.
 

andyj

There's no F in Quality..
Interesting, I'll have a search.

Managed to find my multimeter last weekend, and tried to measure the battery voltage when the wipers were activated, but the wipers don't work when the bonnet is up! The only way I was able to do it, was to measure the voltage at the cigarette lighter point, which was at a stable 14V.
 
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