Focus Rear wiper (and MOT)

Alan ( snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

The answer, as with every MOT query posted here, is to be found at

Oh, and the answer's "No, the rear wiper's not testable"

at

I kind of thought that, but I was worried about the catch all of "if it's fitted it has to work". Not sure if that's true or just an urban myth...

Alan ( snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

There is no such "catch-all".

They can *only* fail cars if something meets the fail criteria explicitly listed in the tester's manual.

that only applies to certain items, such as fog lights on pre 79 vehicles, and rear seat belts on pre 86 etc. it is not a catch all.

rear wipers on fords often just seize up on the spindle, a quick dismantle, lube and rebuild often fixes them, if you are really lucky then external applications of three in one oil to the spindle and a helping pull and push may get it going. other check is if it has contact pins for the tailgate, (I don't think yours has)

Mrcheerful

Nope, there are no contact pins on the Focus.

Chris

in that case check for power/earth, it may have broken a wire at the hinge area.

Plastic gears. Sadly the spindles tend to seize through lack of use/maintenance or trying to use it when the blades are frozen to the glass. The motor then strips the gears in an attempt to move it.

I'd imagine a replacement from a scrappy would be around £20 or so and they're a doddle to replace yourself.