Been having an issue of late. Seems when I select any setting except high speed, the wipers will stop operating. It started with wipers on intermittent and they would just stop functioning. Turning them off did nothing to allow them to operate. Selecting normal speed did nothing unless I then selected high speed and then returned them to intermittent and they functioned again. Recently while the wipers were in normal speed, they began to bog down and then stopped in mid sweep. Again turning them off did nothing until high speed selected and then they would return to normal operation. But now it has degraded even further. They will stop almost immediately after selecting high speed. It takes some doing but I can get them to resume operation after several attempts cycli9ng them to high speed, but not always successful. Stopping in odd locations in the sweep cycle. I do not know what is causing this, is it in the switch or the wiper motor. Totally have no idea what is causing this. 2013 Prius 3? with the solar roof option, 165,000 miles
Sounds like it's a problem with the stalk mounted switch. You could try cleaning the contacts, but it would probably be better just to replace the switch. FYI, it seems your wipers have been problematic for a while, and didn't stop working suddenly. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
You can go new or used. Not too bad off eBay: 10-15 Toyota Prius switch, steering column turn signal wiper lights 84140-33202 | eBay Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
On the other hand it seems that the speed control is located on the motor unit. Changing the motor unit might solve your problems, but if it is the switch, then you will have replaced the motor uneccessarily. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Thanks for the reply. Not sure about how to go about cleaning the column switch. Does the column switch control the wipers power to the motor? When is operating it will slow down and then eventually stop in mid-sweep when in normal speed selection. When in intermittent, the failure will result in just not even moving unless I go to high speed and then return, then it will resume at its selected delay but after a while it will stop again and would get progressively worse the more I used it. As for normal speed, it will operate normally for a period of tike but then will again begin to bog down resulting in failure to complete a cycle.
I had the exact same issue on my 2010. Changed the wiper motor and all works as it should now. We pulled a wiper motor from a 2011 at the junk yard. My husband and I were undecided about whether it was the switch or the motor. When I explained how it was behaving and that the wipers would bog down and come to a stop in the upright position midsweep, he finally believed me that it was the motor and not the switch. Now all is well. I took the old motor apart and sure enough one of the three brushes was worn down to a nub. It was the one that controlled the intermittent and low speed.
Glad it was a simple fix! Those brushes do wear down. Just like the ones in the window regulator motors. I've replaced the brushes in they and cleaned the commutor successfully several times. Usually the rear windows will not function since they are the ones opened/closed the least. Which can be fixed by removing the motor and cleaning the brushes and commutor. Most motor's are inexpensive and people just replace them because they don't want to have to take everything apart, again... But you can save the motor and clean it for next time.
Well it appears that the issue was in fact the wiper motor. Local auto wrecking yard pulled the wiper motor off a 2011 and I installed it. Took about 30 minutes and I have not had issues since. Thanks for the inputs and hopefully this will also assist others looking to repair their own wiper issues. Swapping out the wiper motor was easy and a lot cheaper than replacing the column switch
Cleaning the contacts would have been no cost. Replacing the brushes would have been a few dollars... But at least you the wipers are working! Did you keep the motor so you can rebuild it? So when the junkyark one fails you'll have to newish one to replace it with?
My wiper motor suddenly stopped working yesterday. I don't recall when the last time I tried to use it. maybe a month ago? But it was foggy and misty so i had to use another vehicle to get to my appt. After I got back, I started troubleshooting, took a working one out of the other Prius and it works great! The motor was the issue. Motor was also warm when I took it out which meant it tried but couldnt move. I disassembled the stator housing and the issue was in the motor itself. Moisture was able to enter and rusted inside. Armature was unable to turn as the rust "welded" the armature to the magnet. I was able to move the armature around and free it but it still wasn't turning well. I sprayed some lithium grease and played with it until it was relatively turning smoothly. The carbon brushes were still pretty good. To put the armature back in the wiper assembly, you need to push the carbon brushes all the way back to the wall. the springs are designed to keep it there. Mark where the brushes are on the outside with a marker so you know its position, then put the stator housing back in until you have a 1/2 inch gap. Use a pick and gently gently push the brushes back out. you should hear a faint click when that happens. When all 3 brushes are back. screw on the stator housing, install safely and test it out. When everything is working, take it back out and unscrew the stator housing a few threads and add some RTV around the circumference so moisture wont go back in again. screw shut, install and enjoy. The other Prius is a 2014 and had wiper motor part number 85110-47240. which according to Toyota parts, replaced 85110-50140 which is what i had (2012). The main difference is the new one's stator housing has a O ring on the circumference to keep the moisture out. glad they figured that out. . Stay safe and enjoy the Prius.
