Rear wiper cycles one time when vehicle is started????

[AZ4RunnerSE]

I have a 2006 Toyota 4runner and the rear wiper cycles one time when the vehicle is started. It does not do it each time, but most of the time. Dealer wants to charge $120 to diagnose with no guarantee of being able to find anything. Any ideas on how to resolve this?

 

[Carl_G]

Did you try disconnecting and reconnecting the battery and resetting the windows? The rear wiper is somewhat linked to the window thru the computer

 

[AZ4RunnerSE]

The dealership had told me that my battery was bad my last two visits, but it continued to start everytime without any indication of being bad, so I thought they were full of it. All other functions on the rear door functioned. I finally took it to AutoZone and they tested it and they said it was bad too. Since I replaced the battery on Saturday afternoon, the rear wiper has not activated. Interesting electronics...

 

[Carl_G]

Very interesting. What kind of battery did you get?

 

[DaveS]

Wonder if my battery is going too - I have a variation on this - when I turn the wiper on to intermittent just to clear the window then turn it off, when its a bit cold say -10c the wiper sometime goes down then has another swipe and continues to do this. It seems to be ok if I let it run a little longer before turning it off.

 

[DocMT]

Toyota built this feature into the 4th gen 4Runner to alert owners when their batteries are starting to die. When the battery drops below 50% of it's original cold cranking amperage rating, the rear wiper will cycle one time to alert the owner that it's time to think about installing a new battery.

Just kidding...lol...but that is interesting that installing a new battery stopped the rear wiper from cycling.

 

[AZ4RunnerSE]

It has now been several weeks since replacing the battery and the rear wiper has not cycled once since the day I replaced the battery.

I replaced the battery with the best level that AutoZone sells. My brother, a retired Master Mechanic told me today that the AutoZone batteries are not very good batteries. In our other cars, they seem to last less than 2 years in this Arizona heat, but they have a good warranty. The Toyota battery was original and worked well for about 4-1/2 years.

 

[4katydid]

It worked!

I have an '08 4-Runner/V-6 and the rear windshield wiper just started with one swipe upon startup and then return to its original position. This would only happen when I turned the car on in the morning. I was worried that since this was such a random occurrence it would be extremely difficult for a mechanic to replicate and then fix. To see if there were any recall issues I did a web search and came upon this thread. I was very wary of going with a fix solely based on the internet but it sounded right and my battery was definitely due to be replaced since it was the original battery. I purchased a new battery a few days ago and haven't had a rear wiper issue since.

 

[having fun]

Toyota built this feature into the 4th gen 4Runner to alert owners when their batteries are starting to die. When the battery drops below 50% of it's original cold cranking amperage rating, the rear wiper will cycle one time to alert the owner that it's time to think about installing a new battery.

Just kidding...lol...but that is interesting that installing a new battery stopped the rear wiper from cycling.

Interesting you say this as a joke, but, the wiper does this for that very reason!

Just replaced mine earlier this year do to the same reason.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Interesting you say this as a joke, but, the wiper does this for that very reason!

Just replaced mine earlier this year do to the same reason.

Its not documented by Toyota, but it does seem to only occur when he battery is failing/failed; so maybe some engineer coded it in for fun and never mentioned it to anyone?

Or its just a weird programming glitch that benefits techs/owners as a quick diagnostic reference.

Also to the OP, all the battery testers at our dealership provide printouts that we attach to the RO. The customer can look at these if they want to see what CCA/JIS# (most factory batteries do not have CCA printed, but use a JIS Number) is being tested and the resulting measured CCA; if you have doubts.

 

[jsmith21]

Your battery is dying, mine does it too when it's super cold but hasn't died yet.

 

[having fun]

Its not documented by Toyota, but it does seem to only occur when he battery is failing/failed; so maybe some engineer coded it in for fun and never mentioned it to anyone?

Or its just a weird programming glitch that benefits techs/owners as a quick diagnostic reference.

That is strange though.

I never seen any documents either, but, for some reason it seems like it was programed.

Just happy it is in there, hate to had to find out the hard way, like stranded.

 

[steveni70]

Mine does this too on cold mornings. I figured it thought it was snowy out so it cleaned my back window for me. Maybe it's time for a new battery.

 

[Bthbama]

My rear wiper has done this also and when I charge the battery on trickle charge it stops for a while. I've gotten a little more life out of my battery thanks this feature. Not sure where I read that 4Runner does this but it seems to be a normal feature.

 

[gimbalsoph]

The dealership had told me that my battery was bad my last two visits

 

[TN_4runner]

Well I guess my '04 V-6 doesn't have this option. I had to change my battery the other week. Been starting fine the last 4 years until that day I went to work, then went to get lunch and 2 hours later getting ready to leave and slow turn over and then clicking. Turned key back off and tried again and just clicking. Had to jump start it fired right up. Put a new battery in and been fine ever since.

I never got the back wiper swipe on the start up or any other kind of issue with my battery going bad. It started fine till that 1 time. :noidea:

 

[ddnww]

yup, battery going bad. I had this happen a few years ago and did the research and found this thread I think. Turned out it was the battery. Then when the cold hit recently it started doing it again, so I went to the auto store and it failed the load test. Swapped under warranty and they don't make the battery I got no more so they upgraded me and started a new 3 year warranty. I just call it the bad battery notification now.

 

[jonzerstyle]

Same deal with 2007 4runner sport edition

Same thing just happened to me recently. Battery would not hold a charge. Also, concurrent with this wiper behavior the back cargo door would not open if I pressed on the button. In other forum posts people said the computer when not getting enough power can do whacky things like not like you open back hatch. They said you can get things back in order by cycling the driver side lock unlock at least three times. I did it four times and then tried back cargo open button and it worked. Strange stuff. Good luck with your runner

I think this feature is awesome as the local parts store tested my battery and said it was fine but alternator was suspect. After youtubing diagnosing battery versus alternator I was very suspect of battery being good. As a final test I disconnected the battery after it was charged up by the alternator left it unconnected while at work. Reconnected before leaving work and car would not fire up. Battery definitely couldn't hold charge (parasitic discharging not involved). If I drove around for a while the battery would have enough juice to start car several times. But if left alone for hours it would fail to start the car but be able to power lights and such. Lights were a little dimmer than usual. Hope this helps someone out.

 

[Renol]

I've noticed the same thing on my car. Only happens once in a while and only the one time. I'm due for an oil change so maybe I can convince my wife to help me drop off the car for oil and battery check tomorrow.

 

[ZebRuaj]

Ironic that I saw this thread this morning.

Was noticing my rear wiper would cycle upon start up over the cold spell we had. Thought I was seeing/hearing things. Then one day, car wouldn't power over.

I hooked up the battery to a charger/maintainer to get a bit more life out of it, but it has also been warmer (above 0) without the rear wiper moving.