Can anyone identify what this is...

[Planner]

... and if necessary how to repair it?

Following on from a fixed problem with my front wipers, while I was poking around in there, I noticed this in the engine bay where the wiper motor is.

it has three thin strips of metal (all broken off) which then attach to wires which run along the same wiring as the power for the wiper motor.

[Herbie]

Can you take another photo from a bit further out to give us some context please?

[Planner]

Since I put the wiper motor plastic cover back it's now more or less hidden, but I'll try and take another picture

[C Mclean]

I would imagine that it’s a rheostat for the wiper speed. More than likely the cause of your wipers going on strike.

[Planner]

I fixed the problem of the motor wipers... the cable that attaches to the thing in the first pic broke off and got wound around the motor, stopping it from moving.

my wipers seem to be acting normally at every speed, despite the fact that this isn't attached anymore.

I've attached a picture of where the location is and the cable that was previously attached

[Herbie]

Never seen anything like that before, and I'm not entirely sure that it's an official Lexus widget. More likely to be some homebrew thing, possibly a windscreen defroster - staying with Colin's suggestion of it being a rheostat* but for heat rather than wiper speed as you say the speeds are still variable even though this thing is no longer in circuit.

*Rheostat - variable resistor giving low, medium and high.

[Planner]

That's an interesting suggestion. There's no aftermarket switch or anything inside the vehicle, and the wiring is wrapped around the same loom as the power to the wiper motor, before it branches off.

looking at some wiper motors/linkages on eBay, I saw one that has the same additional plug (which would connect to the same thing that I'm curious about)

I suppose I shouldn't worry too much if it doesn't seem to do anything. 

 

[Brian26]

Is it the power supply for the heating element that runs along the bottom of windscreen? At first glance they look like heating element connectors to me. Also looking at the photo they are in about the right place.

Bri

[Planner]

That would make sense. I've not been able to find any Google images that relate to this part to compare.

And considering it's all snapped off I wonder how easy it is to repair. The three metal elements seem very thin.

I suppose I could run a test where I plug it in and see if they get hot? Or is that kind of thing likely to get me killed

[Brian26]

Hi Simon

I honestly would'nt be too concerned about getting it working again. I would think that there is very little chance of being able to connect the snapped of bits back to the element even if you could get access to it without removing the windscreen!  Back in the days when I had an IS200 I had issues with water leaking down the wire after a screen replacement. My local garage finished up removing the wire and sealing it all up. The heating element is there in theory to make sure your'e wiper rubbers do not get frozen to the windscreen and in the UK I cant see that being a serious problem any time soon.

Bri

[Planner]

On 1/17/2020 at 4:34 PM, Brian26 said:

Hi Simon

I honestly would'nt be too concerned about getting it working again. I would think that there is very little chance of being able to connect the snapped of bits back to the element even if you could get access to it without removing the windscreen.

Bri

Even though windscreen removal isn't necessary to fix it, this is sound advice....."let it go..."

A bit like my left pop up headlamp washer.