My 13 year old Mazda has a better wiper motor than my Model S.

[SabrToothSqrl]

This video, was approx. 9 months ago

This, was today. (Approx 9 months with my 2nd motor)

This, is a 13 year old Mazda Tribute, with 180,000 on it.

Clearly the Mazda wins. The Mazda has a real wiper motor. Tesla can make a 360 HP motor, but forgot how to wipe...
Goes in Tuesday for its 3rd wiper motor. Even brand new it's weaker than a power wheels!

Anyone upgraded to a real wiper motor? It has to be fairly the same size... never had this issue with any gas car... can leave wipers on for a solid week. Wet or dry. Even snow!

 

[AmpedRealtor]

There's something wrong with your car. I comb through these forums on a daily basis and have yet to come across a single wiper motor failure like yours. This is not common. If you have gone through multiple motors, there may be an issue with your car that is causing all of the motors to fail.

 

[hacer]

This video, was approx. 9 months ago

This, was today. (Approx 9 months with my 2nd motor)

This, is a 13 year old Mazda Tribute, with 180,000 on it.

Clearly the Mazda wins. The Mazda has a real wiper motor. Tesla can make a 360 HP motor, but forgot how to wipe...
Goes in Tuesday for its 3rd wiper motor. Even brand new it's weaker than a power wheels!

Anyone upgraded to a real wiper motor? It has to be fairly the same size... never had this issue with any gas car... can leave wipers on for a solid week. Wet or dry. Even snow!

Given this is the second motor, my guess is that there is a problem with the mechanical linkage, or the harness to the wiper motor. So they didn't fix the underlying problem the first time.

 

[cwerdna]

You did file safety complaints w/NHTSA at Home | Safercar -- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) after the repairs were completed, right? If not, may as well.

Before a few folks jump down my throat, Google for recall windshield wiper fail and notice that Motor Vehicle Defects and Safety Recalls: What Every Vehicle Owner Should Know | Safercar.gov | NHTSA says
"Examples of defects considered safety-related
...
Windshield wiper assemblies that fail to operate properly"

 

[tdjvfr]

Your car is broke. Take it in and get it fixed. My old 2012 wipers motors work perfectly.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Thank you guys for reference. I will file a complaint. Ever since new (and after a replacement)! the wiper motor on my car has had less power than a 6V power wheels. It's very disturbing in this price range to put up with wipers you have to be so very careful with. I seriously thought it may just be all Model S cars.... I plan to get a loaner and run the wipers from the time I pick it up, to the time I drop it off. wet or dry! This is nonsense. The wiper motor on our Tahoe, Tribute, and EVERY car I've ever owned has no issues clearing 4" of snow, let alone a dry windshield... Goes in for service on Tuesday! Last time I had to wait almost a week to get it in, driving in the rain, with no wipers! The wipers on my Wranglers could push a small animal off the windshield lol. I interchange "Ford" and "Mazda" since it's the same car... same assembly line. Car says Mazda, engine/parts/transmission/etc. all say Ford... It may be for sale when we get a Model 3.

If this service visit does not resolve the weak motor issue, I will file a complaint.
This has been an issue since the car was new... I'm tired of it.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

You did file safety complaints w/NHTSA at Home | Safercar -- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) after the repairs were completed, right? If not, may as well.

Before a few folks jump down my throat, Google for recall windshield wiper fail and notice that Motor Vehicle Defects and Safety Recalls: What Every Vehicle Owner Should Know | Safercar.gov | NHTSA says
"Examples of defects considered safety-related
...
Windshield wiper assemblies that fail to operate properly"

Stupid. Not you, your advice. File a NHTSA complaint over a wiper motor? You really need to find things to do.

 

[cwerdna]

Stupid. Not you, your advice. File a NHTSA complaint over a wiper motor? You really need to find things to do.

Not stupid. Read your manual. See other windshield wiper and wiper motor recalls.

From the copy I have

Reporting Safety Defects - US
If you believe that Model S has a defect which
could cause a crash or could cause injury or
death, you should immediately inform the
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) in addition to
notifying Tesla Motors.
If NHTSA receives similar complaints, it may
open an investigation. If it finds that a safety
defect exists in a group of vehicles, it may
order a recall and remedy campaign.
However, NHTSA cannot become involved in
individual problems between you, your dealer,
or Tesla Motors.

Next time it rains heavily and continually, intentionally do not run your windshield wipers at all. See what happens.

If the OP's is the only case, likely nothing will happen. No harm done.

A recall doesn't even need to affect a large population of vehicles. There are plenty of examples where it affects only a tiny population. Here's a recent one that affected only THREE units: Ford’s Latest Recall Involves Only 3 Vehicles. https://www.carmd.com/Tsb/Download/88697/56764 affected only 54 units.

I guess these automakers were all "wrong" to issue these recalls (as examples):
Subaru Recalls Legacy, Outback for Wiper Motors
GM Recalls 367,000 Crossovers for Potential Windshield-Wiper Fault
Honda recalls 353K Accords over windshield wiper motor
Mitsubishi Outlander, Outlander Sport recalled for windshield wiper woes: 195,000 vehicles affected
General Motors Recalls 50,000 Crossovers for Windshield Wiper Flaw

If others have had this issue and fail to file safety complaints, what good does that do? Think bigger picture if there is ends up being a recall class issue but yet it's delayed (or never happens) because of misguided beliefs in delaying filing or not filing at all.

Look at the bar graph at It's All Your Fault: The DOT Renders Its Verdict on Toyota's Unintended-Acceleration Scare – Feature – Car and Driver during the Toyota SUA fiasco. Notice when there was a MASSIVE spike? What if those were more evenly distributed over time? Do you think corrective actions (e.g. recalls) would've happened earlier? The installation of the shims in CTS pedals, replacing some pedals, trimming the bottom of accelerator pedals, double checking of floor mats, etc. seems to have resolved the issues. No more media noise on this.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Yah, you have an agenda.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

If a recall was in place, I'd say 'me too' but I don't see one.

My car is being repaired with a new motor and new wiper arms. I'm guessing perhaps the originals were too tight to the windshield, pressing harder than needed, resulting in the poor performance. (Just a guess?)

In any case, I will evaluate after the repair.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Good News Everyone!

New wiper motor, new wiper arms, new blades = happy customer.
This thing wipes like a 40 year old with a hangover who just downed two boxes of tacos from Taco Bell.

So far so good. As always, blown away by Tesla service.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Yay!