That should be covered under warranty, just take it in. I feel like it's a bad wiper motor, had it on my previous car (Audi).
Goodluck!

 

I wish it was that easy, 42,000 miles into a 36,000 mile warranty. SOL on that one. Even the most affordable service centers around charge a $100. diagnostics fee to look at it.

 

Copied from another forum...

I had the exact same issue. I did some reading and kept seeing issues of corroded wiper linkage. That in fact was the issue. I couldn't get the wipers to work at all for several days. I heard a faint click under the dash but no wiper movement. I removed the wiper motor with linkage attached. It is not that difficult to do. After removing the connection to the motor I could barely move the linkage. I pulled it all apart and cleaned everything real well with fine grit sandpaper and cleaned it all up. I then reassembled it with lots of marine grease. The wipers work better than ever now. I park outside in Illinois and they have been going strong for 2 weeks now. Maybe you have the same issue.

$100 is standard for a diagnostic, regardless of make.

 

If you can find the info, you might consider checking the relay that triggers the wipers.

I personally don't know where this may be, but I'm sure that someone around here either knows, or can find it.

good luck

Exco

 

I just experienced this same issue....-10F and washer worked but then washer froze to windshield because wipers wouldnt activate,...answers here are vague...did you ever figure this out?

 

Hello, I am having the same issue with my 2011 VW Jetta 2.5 SE. Wipers aren't working in the cold weather... but as soon as it warms up or the vehicle is pulled into a garage... wipers begin to work. Oddly enough my horn is also doing the same thing. My vehicle was brought to a trusted VW mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle with 3 different codes and found no problems with the horn or wipers individually.

03303: Response closing status of rear left door
00077: Windshield wiper stop switch open circuit
03591: Control circuit to horn

Mechanic feels it may be one or two problems. First; faulty wiring or a break in the wiring not allowing the full conduction of electricity to pass through the cold wires. Second; a faulty control unit. To search for and replace the "faulty wiring" is a $300+ job and to replace the control unit is a $500+ job.

Funny thing is; I had this issue exactly 2 years ago. VW replaced the bad horn and windshield wiper relays because thats what they thought it was. But now it is happening again and because the fix was over 1 year ago VW won't touch it or consider it to be a bigger issue.

Seems like this is a common issue with VW from what I am reading on many different forums? If you are still having this issue maybe consider calling VW (1-800-822-8987) to report the issue so they can create a recall for faulty wiring? Anyone else have any other suggestions for me?

 

I am having the exact same issue! I've called VW and they dismissed me very quickly without caring. Wipers are incredibly important to a car's safety! Did the VW mechanic say he will investigate? Possibly begin the process of a recall?

 

I am having the same issue with my 2012 VW Jetta. I took it to my dealer's service department, which told me there was nothing they could do about it. Called VW customer service, and they instructed me to take it to a second dealer for a "second opinion". I think this is the beginning of a wild goose chase. Bottom line - I can't drive my car in cold weather with elements.

 

New owner of 'gently used' Jetta...and having this issue. It was easy to let it go until today. I drove a few miles to work in the snow with no wipers. It is 17 degrees Fahrenheit out there and so I have this issue. As long as I could keep moving, it was not so bad. But then, there's the traffic lights and those who are a little more afraid than I am in the snow. The roads were AWFUL, I might add, so it was slow-going all the way in to work. THAT is not conducive to having a semi-clear windshield.

BEFORE I call my local dealer, I googled the issue and found this forum. I am not afraid to fix my own stuff, but pulling linkage and using fine sandpaper...that makes me super nervous. Guess I'll just get 'er to the shop.

UNLESS anybody has come up with a definitive answer to this issue...it's NUTS if you ask me. (Add to that, no rear-window defroster / defogger, and the bluetooth switch in the overhead compartment broke away...I know she can't be PERFECT, but I want ALL of this FIXED!)

NOW, guess what?!?!?!?! I've been at work about an hour and a half, it is STILL 17 degrees out, and they asked us to move our cars so the plow could clean our parking lot. The wipers came on. Hmmm...this is most perplexing...and frustrating...no, aggravating.

What say ye?

 

I keep thinking about this - all you very smart individuals out there...here's a question for you: Doesn't that sort of point me in ONE direction? The fact that the conditions did NOT change, but the wipers came on after a shut-off, wait, start-up of the vehicle? I wonder if I will need to do that until it is fixed (start up, wait, shut off, start up again, try wipers)...weird.

 

I am having the same issue myself. I go to my car in the morning start it up on a cold morning and no wipers. If I take my truck out of the garage and put the Jetta in to warm up a little the wipers start to work. Once they start working they generally stay working all day.

I found a different thread on this common VW issue and the other individual having the issue said it's not the cold but more the freezing of water that gets down in the windshield wiper wells. Come to think of it he may be on to something because I think everytime this happened to me it rained then dropped below freezing or snowed.

 

Hello, I'm a little late to this discussion, but it's still relevant!! My car is a 2012 Jetta and I've owned it for four years. And for the past four winters, I have had intermittent issues with my wiper blades working or not working. I'm at the whim of my wiper blade motor choosing to work or not work. Usually determined by the outside temperature. But not always. My little Jetta LOVES to keep me guessing. Apparently, that's the same outcome with the VW dealership mechanics as well. When I have asked them (each year at my xx,000 mile check-up) to look at finding a solution to why my wiper motor chooses when to run, they said it would be a cool $400 for them to take a guess - and then there were no guarantees. Lucky me??? Yeah, not really. I said thanks but no thanks and thus far, have lived with my finicky wiper blade motor working/not working for over four years now. Will I keep my little Jetta? Sure, it's now paid off. Will I buy another one? Ahhhhhhhhhh, noooooooooo. Sad, too, because this was my second Jetta. My previous one was a 2003 Jetta. Lovely little car that I traded at 212,000 miles. For this. Ugh!!
This venting session was great!! Thanks - any suggestions from others who MAY HAVE found (there I go hoping!!) a solution to our little motor issue, please feel free to share the solution with me - and hopefully the cost is not $400 to hold a fishing expedition for a maybe fix.
My other experiment that I've been trying is a flat piece of cardboard and a large piece of plastic. I place the cardboard over both wiper blade sticks, which causes the cardboard to tuck "under" that lip of the hood near the wiper blades base. I then tuck a piece of plastic (type used as a drop cloth while painting) and place that over the entire top of my windshield and tuck in the base under the cardboard, and the sides get secured by the doors. I'm curious to see if the cardboard will act as an absorbent to the moisture near the blades (and motor???), and the plastic to give a little insurance. If this works, I will let you know. I'm doubtful, but at this point, I'm also desperate. Today's drive into work was not pretty (all that slushy ice melt spraying everywhere - geeze, my only clear view was my side window). Can we say completely UNSAFE?? And there's no recalls, and a lot of "I don't knows...."
I talked to a woman from Canada. CANADA. And her VW has the same wiper blade issue. Oh boy!!!

 

The problem is electrical in nature I believe. Not mechanical. You just need to have the wiper motor removed and serviced. The draw on those contacts is pretty high given the motor and load. I pulled my 81 Caddy out the other week and completely went through it and I was surprised at the lack of lube in the arms and the corrosion on the plug ins. It was serviced by the PO about three years ago.

 

Hi ORCoaster, when I got into my car last night after work, the wiper blades worked great. I am very confused to why it will work or won't work. It was 16 degrees when I drove to work (no power to the wiper blades - just click-click). It was 16 degrees when I drove home. Wipers worked great. Will adding lube to the arms help this phenomena? Thanks.

 

Mostly taking it apart and cleaning it up will assure you that the plug in the back of the wiper motor is securely in there and the contacts are nice and clean and you don't have a poor contact problem. Next time it goes south on you, see if you can slip your hand in the cowling and touch the wires. Yeah, gonna have to pull those Minnesota mittens off to do this. Just don't do it with the car running and the wiper switch on. You might get bit by the arms moving around in there. My guess is it will be dark when it happens.

Cold makes things contract and once you loose a connection it might take banging down those iced over roads up there to jiggle it a bit to where it works the next time you hit the switch. You might look at the fuse panel for the fuse that controls the wipers and see if that has a good contact. Find the relay that controls the intermittent part of the wipers and unplug and replug in into the slot. Something is just odd about it.

These never know when it will happen electrical problems are the worst kind. You can't take it anywhere and reproduce the problem. Even worse is when you take it some place and they hit the switch and it works just fine. Can't find a problem when there isn't one.

Some call these things electrical gremlins: And the solution is to hang a bell on your car because they don't like the ringing. Silly I know but then again if it works, you can say it wasn't the right thing to do.

I feel you pain as I spent years in the UP and having a defroster and wipers that worked were have to haves.

 

Mostly taking it apart and cleaning it up will assure you that the plug in the back of the wiper motor is securely in there and the contacts are nice and clean and you don't have a poor contact problem. Next time it goes south on you, see if you can slip your hand in the cowling and touch the wires. Yeah, gonna have to pull those Minnesota mittens off to do this. Just don't do it with the car running and the wiper switch on. You might get bit by the arms moving around in there. My guess is it will be dark when it happens. Cold makes things contract and once you loose a connection it might take banging down those iced over roads up there to jiggle it a bit to where it works the next time you hit the switch. You might look at the fuse panel for the fuse that controls the wipers and see if that has a good contact. Find the relay that controls the intermittent part of the wipers and unplug and replug in into the slot. Something is just odd about it. These never know when it will happen electrical problems are the worst kind. You can't take it anywhere and reproduce the problem. Even worse is when you take it some place and they hit the switch and it works just fine. Can't find a problem when there isn't one. Some call these things electrical gremlins: And the solution is to hang a bell on your car because they don't like the ringing. Silly I know but then again if it works, you can say it wasn't the right thing to do. I feel you pain as I spent years in the UP and having a defroster and wipers that worked were have to haves.

Volkswagen wiper motors will fail overtime and leak moisture into the motor and therefore causing all sorts of corrosion and electrical issues. Water and electricity don't mix and therefore if you have a wiper motor on a VW, and it does not perform especially in the cold, you have excessive moisture and corrosion inside the motor, therefore you will not have sufficient electrical flow. Replacing the motor is generally the solution. Overtime, when the vehicle gets older and older and the wiper motor gets older and older as well it just gradually fails until it does not work in cold weather anymore. When water gets on the electrical components inside the motor eventually, it flows the electrical flow or causes a resistance and electrical flow to the motor. Replace the motor, and or the whole transmission and motoring unit and you should be good for another 10 to 12 years at least.

 

I watched a YouTube video today on removing the wiper motor in a VW Golf - I'm assuming it'll be similar with the Jetta. However, it's conveniently (or inconveniently) tucked way under the dash. To remove the wiper motor, the process involves a careful wiggling process to loosen it out of it's cradled zone, after removing the cowling.
You may be right on the connections not connecting in the cold weather. It could be as simple as the wiring is 1/16" too short and no longer connects together when the outside air arrives at a specific temperature number.
For the four years I've had the car, each winter I have had this issue. Eight months of the year, the wipers work great, they don't hesitate or click-click. I think I'm going to go with the short wire theory at this point. Not a short in the wiring, but physically, the wire is too short and loses connection in the cold. Makes sense.
So, realistically, I will not tackle removing the motor and having a look-see until summer returns. Until then, I'll practice safe driving techniques that I have some-what mastered while dealing with this issue.
Thanks for talking this out with me. Much appreciated!! Helped me think it through - for sure!!

 

Hello....This is a simple fix for almost any backyard mechanic. Its the wiper motor. Somehow moisture gets into it and then when the weather gets cold, it freezes. break out the hairdryer and open the hood. Under the hood on the drivers side you will see that there are some vent holes there. Take the hairdryer and warm up the vent. within 10 mins, your wipers will be working again. That will temporarily fix the issue. My suggestion is buy a new motor, when you can and spray it with electric motor an circuit board spray. it will help to keep moisture out and its lasts for a long time as well. Hope this helps all of you.