So I suffered the well-known rear wiper-motor fire today. Came back to the parked car to find it full of smoke, the rear window gone and all the back panelling melted and smouldering along with the parcel-shelf and the contents of the load space, which had melted their way through the floor into the spare-wheel well.

I would never have knowingly left the rear wiper not back in its parked position, but I guess I reversed into the space using mirrors and didn't notice that it had taken a sweep across and was sitting "parked" at the wrong side. I was a couple of hundred miles from home when it happened, and only got back home as it was getting dark, so I've not had time yet to check everything out yet. I'm undecided about this being an insurance claim or simply replacing all the parts myself, but I've already ordered a replacement rear windscreen. Apart from the obvious costs, I think the most difficult task is going to be cleaning the smoke out of the headlining.

The question I have, though, is whether there is any logical way of avoiding any recurrence. I'm wondering about wiring in a thermal cut-out, as clearly the 15A fuse doesn't blow until the motor has overheated and ignited. Or is there an easy way to re-wire it all so that the power is only live while the ignition is on? 2005 D3 2.7 Auto
Previously:
2010 MY FL2 TD4e GS - Now gone at 199,500 miles, about 135,000 of them mine.
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel

This must be why they changed the wiper motor setup on the 2012ish onwards cars, where they now have the 'blocking' function whereby it cuts the power supply to the motor after 6s if it doesnt see a park signal.

For yours, id think a 15a fuse is overkill, so id lower that. Also worth considering adding an additional relay in to the permanent live feed (or rewiring it to be ignition switched only)

I probably wouldnt claim on insurance personally, id get a new tailgate and tsilgate loom from thr scrappy 2014 Metropolis in Loire Blue

2014 TD4 XS in Loire Blue (Sold)

2007 HSE in Black (Now gone!)

Richie, that’s interesting. I wonder how the 6s blocking actually works and would this have been solved with a software upgrade? LR dealer in Inverness told me that software is never upgraded , so it is still running in 2009 spec. I’m not sure what the wattage of the motor is, but will certainly be putting the lowest possible fuse in to cover it. I replaced the motor a couple of years ago, but the fuse was still the original and the diagram calls for a 15A one in that slot.

As far as I can see so far, the tailgate itself seems fine. The high level brake light is still ok and working, so I think the loom is still largely intact. It would be good to find a scrappy for the internal panels, but I’m unlikely to find one this far north and will need to head south for this. Any suggestions for a good scrappy elsewhere in Scotland?

Driving home up the A9 without a rear windscreen was interesting. It was great having a crystal clear view out the back without having to keep cleaning the back window and there was surprisingly little road noise or draft (I kept the heater blowing full, just in case I was sucking in exhaust gases). I expected a drop in fuel consumption, but actually got an improvement, despite taking it at the usual speed. Only downside was loss of radio signal - I thought the aerial was the wires in the rear side windows, but it must be in the tailgate? 2005 D3 2.7 Auto
Previously:
2010 MY FL2 TD4e GS - Now gone at 199,500 miles, about 135,000 of them mine.
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel

Here is the extract from the bit about blocking protection

Click image to enlarge

Richie, Thanks, I'm in Glasgow once a week, so I'll PM you on the wiper motor. I was only a couple of hundred yards from the Ayrshire border when my fire happened!

It still sounds as if the simplest work around might be to wire in a heat switch that will simply earth out the motor if it overheats. I have some 45C, normally open, switches in my toolbox, which might do the trick. 45C should be above any ambient temperature that I am ever likely to experience here (even with it parked in the sun), yet below the melting/combustion point of the motor. 2005 D3 2.7 Auto
Previously:
2010 MY FL2 TD4e GS - Now gone at 199,500 miles, about 135,000 of them mine.
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel

Are you using the NO switches so that in the event of overheat, it short circuits the 12v supply to ground during closure, blowing the fuse?

Might you be better going NC switches that simply go open circuit during overheat, and then require reset or replacement to go closed again? 2014 Metropolis in Loire Blue

2014 TD4 XS in Loire Blue (Sold)

2007 HSE in Black (Now gone!)

Something like this in series to the motor's 12v supply, would be my recommendation. I cant find lower than 55°C, but it should do?

It is normally closed and if it detects heat and opens, it then requires manual action to reset it


 2014 Metropolis in Loire Blue

2014 TD4 XS in Loire Blue (Sold)

2007 HSE in Black (Now gone!)

Yes, the ones I have are NO. I actually have them for a central heating fan, where they operate in-line switching the fan on when the system water heats up. But my envisaged use would be to ground the circuit and blow the fuse. It should be an unlikely scenario and replacing the fuse every so often is potentially simpler than trying to find a way to mount the NC switch on the motor at the same time as having the switch accessible to reset. If it comes to replacing a fuse or taking the rear door panel off to reset the switch, I think I would rather do the fuse. 2005 D3 2.7 Auto
Previously:
2010 MY FL2 TD4e GS - Now gone at 199,500 miles, about 135,000 of them mine.
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel

Just an update having cleaned up the boot space and stripped out the tailgate.

The fire didn't go as deep as I had feared - it burned through the rubber mat, which merged with the melted carpeting on the wheel space cover, but whatever the cover is made of withstood the heat. With the tailgate covers off, only the last couple of inches of wiring to the motor has gone crisp, along with a section of the wiring to the number plate light (which still works). The antenna amplifier casing shows very slight signs of heat but interestingly, was connected directly to the broken rear glass, so although my model has the wires in the rear side windows, it looks as if the aerial is indeed the tailgate window. 2005 D3 2.7 Auto
Previously:
2010 MY FL2 TD4e GS - Now gone at 199,500 miles, about 135,000 of them mine.
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel

Glad to hear that the damage was fairly minimal. I have a land rover rubber mat here i think too that you can have if you need it as well.

What are you doing about replacing the glass itself? 2014 Metropolis in Loire Blue

2014 TD4 XS in Loire Blue (Sold)

2007 HSE in Black (Now gone!)

Richie, Thanks. I've got the glass on order from Highland Windscreens in Inverness. In fact they installed the existing tailgate glass after I had the car broken into in the south of France. I've had several front windscreens from them for various vehicles over the years and had them regas the aircon a couple of times and always been happy to give the work to a local company rather than one of the big chains.

For the panels themselves, I only need the main tailgate panel and the central one above the glass and since the price difference between new and used seems very small, I think I'll go for new. The fixings and mechanics for the load space cover are all sound, although the plastic cover itself is burned through, so I'll "simply" replace the fabric on it - I've had this apart before and it's a real pig to get right, but should be do-able if I can work up the patience! 2005 D3 2.7 Auto
Previously:
2010 MY FL2 TD4e GS - Now gone at 199,500 miles, about 135,000 of them mine.
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel

It would make sense to install a thermal cut out to the wiper motor casing, and reduce the fuse rating too, both of which I'm tempted to do. Hyundai Ioniq 5 Ultimate. The family car.
2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Gone.
2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE. Gone.
Audi A5 convertible, my daily driver.
1972 Hillman Avenger GT, the project.

Yes, the 15A fuse that comes as standard seems a tad too slow in burning out!

I'm not sure what wattage the motor actually is and I'm not finding anything useful on Google. However, I have respect for the design engineers and can't imagine that they would have over-sized a fuse if there was no reason to - especially if it was related to a known fire-risk. The designers would know that the wiper motor will be called on to clear snow and that some folks might try to use it when the blade is frozen to the glass, so it is probably quite a powerful little motor. Just getting the whole mechanism moving from rest in cold weather probably needs a bit of oomph to get it started.

I think once everything is back together (with added thermal cut-out), I will start with a 5A fuse and then up it to a 10 or a 15 if necessary. My gut-feeling, though, is that a 5A will blow immediately and that 10 A will blow every so often and may not be reliable. 2005 D3 2.7 Auto
Previously:
2010 MY FL2 TD4e GS - Now gone at 199,500 miles, about 135,000 of them mine.
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel