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The Volkswagen Polo is an extremely popular B-segment (supermini) car that has been produced in various iterations since 1975. Models manufactured after around 2004 are most commonly on the road now, and like any other car, the VW Polo experiences its fair share of problems and issues.
One of those (although no more so than any other car) is related to the windscreen wipers.
Like anything electrically powered on a car, windscreen wipers can break. If you’re experiencing issues on your VW Polo with turning the wipers off, changing their speed, or wipers not turning themselves off, read on as this article may be able to address your problem and save you a fortune at a garage!
Damaged wiper relay
One of the first things to look for is whether your wiper relay is bad. There are a number of symptoms that point to a bad wiper relay in the VW Polo, and primarily what you’ll find is that either the wiper blades only have one speed, the blades don’t turn on at all, or they operate at a different speed from what you selected (e.g. if you select intermittent and you have full speed.)
The wiper relay sends electrical signals to the module that controls the wiper motor and all the gearing inside.
If your relay is bad, then the wiper motor will only run at the speed of the last signal it was sent – so it doesn’t matter what setting you choose, the wipers only run at the speed they were running at when the relay last sent a correct signal.
What you may also notice is a mechanical whining noise when the wipers do run, because the wiper motor isn’t getting the power it needs to run properly because the relay is bad. In this situation you will need to replace the relay to prevent further damage from occurring.
Also be aware that a failing relay may leave you with the inability to turn the wipers on at some point – and this is obviously a dangerous situation to be driving in, so if you are experiencing any of the above issues, get your car looked at by a garage.
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Blown fuse
A blown fuse is generally caused by one of two things – either the wiper motor has been overloaded and it’s blown the fuse, or you have a more serious electrical problem in your car.
In terms of the former point, it’s possible if ice or snow build up on the windscreen and you don’t clear it before you turn the wipers on, this can cause the fuse to become overloaded and blow.
Checking the wiper fuse on the VW Polo is easy – simply go to your owners manual where you will have a diagram of the fuses for your generation of Polo and check to see if this fuse has blown – either with a multimeter, or by replacing the fuse with one you know is good.
If your wipers start to work again, the fuse was the problem. However, you’ll want to look at what caused this – as mentioned, if you keep blowing fuses, this points to an electrical issue with the car and one that you’ll need to have diagnosed by an auto electrician.
Bonnet not closed properly
This may seem like an odd one, but it is worth considering as a minor point due to the fact that you could spend a lot of money at a garage diagnosing this issue when it turns out that the issue is in fact, something very small.
Often on the VW Polo, if the bonnet is not closed, the wipers will not work. You should be aware if your bonnet is actually open and hasn’t been closed properly – but actually this could be a faulty sensor, where the car thinks the bonnet isn’t closed when it actually is, and is preventing the wiper from running.
Failed wiper motor
Despite some of the slightly more complicated potential sources of windscreen wiper problems, you may just have a failing or failed windscreen wiper motor. The symptoms for this are very similar to those for the failing or failed wiper relay, in that you may find that the wipers only have one speed.
You may also notice that the wipers don’t reset to the proper position – when you park the car and remove the key out of the ignition, the wipers return to the default position at the bottom of the windscreen. If they don’t do this, you may be experiencing a failing wiper motor.
Additionally if your wipers don’t move at all on your VW Polo this points to a possible failed wiper motor – of course this can be other things as well such as a blown fuse – although if you are blowing fuses this does point to a more serious electrical issue.
You may also find that your wipers move slower than normal – this could indicate that the mechanical components of the wiper motor have become clogged or blocked with road grime or debris. You may also have experienced water ingress into the motor itself which can cause the motor to fail.
If you suspect your issue is that the wiper motor has failed or is about to fail, get your car looked at as soon as you can – a car is not safe to drive without functioning windscreen wipers, even if it’s not raining – all you need is a splash of mud or something to obscure your vision and this can cause an accident.
Defective control stalk
This is another issue that can cause problems with the windscreen wipers not working – and again, the symptoms are similar to a bad wiper motor or bad wiper relay.
If your control stalk is not sending the correct signals to the wiper motor, even if the wiper motor is good, you will experience problems ranging from the wipers working only intermittently when you’ve selected constant, the wipers not working at all or not being able to turn the wipers off.
If you’re experiencing any of these issues and you’re not comfortable investigating these on your Polo yourself (which is understandable given that auto electrical work can be very complicated) get your car looked at by our recommended garage immediately – as mentioned it’s not safe to drive a car with defective windscreen wipers.
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Check out some of our other electrical related articles!
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About the author
Marcus Brown is editor-in-chief of The FatMech and is a mechanic with ten years' experience based in London, UK. Having worked for major dealerships for many years, Marcus now works for a local independent garage and has experience working on nearly every make and model of car. Marcus also has a passion for writing and teaching, which is where the idea for The FatMech came from. In his spare time, Marcus enjoys playing golf, doing home renovations and gardening. He lives just outside London with his wife and son.