Faulty rear wiper

[Will72672]

Hey folks 

I'm new here and was looking for advice, I have a 2001 1.8 Avensis and a few days ago my rear wiper stopped halfway down my rear window, and there was no action when I turned the wiper on/off, I moved the wiper back to its "home" position and now it's almost like it doesn't know where it is on the window and goes the opposite way coming off the window completely, any advice? 

[gazza1286]

Is it possible that the wiper arm has slipped on the drive spindle when you manually moved it back to its parked position? 

If so unbolt it and adjust. 

I can't explain why the arm would have originally stopped mid-wipe. It could be an intermittent earth issue at the motor. Or possibly a faulty switch. Poking around with the tail-gate trim removed might trace the problem. 

[Konrad C]

This is one of the Mk1s problem items - rear wiper misbehaving. The seal around the spindle may have aged letting moisture into the electrics. I had problems where the wiper would keep going on intermittent function or stop in the middle, but was fine at the slow and faster speeds. I tried sealant around the seal, which partially worked.  

A few other solutions are to replace the motor with a working one, replace the seal (maybe use the seal that comes with the replacement motor), and I have read somewhere in the past that the wiper control can be faulty, but I am not sure. Get the power feed to the motor checked. This will confirm the motor has failed and not the switch.

Do what Gary says and realign the wiper arm. There is a lot of damp and condensation at the moment.