Windshield wipers suddenly don't work

[Barrpete]

Started the car the other day & the wipers went on by themselves, cycled once & stopped. I'm thinking WTF??? So I flipped them on via the stalk and - nothing. Turned them off & tried the intermittent switch and they cycled once & stopped in the parked position. Turned that switch again and nothing. Shut the car off & started it again and with the same result. When it's first turned on theres nothing from the stalk but I can get one cycle when I turn on the intermittent switch. Did a search, but can't find anything similar. Although it appears that there are two possible culprits. 1. the stalk switch or 2. the relay. Since they do cycle (at least once) I don't think its the motor. Any advice on how to identify the faulty part?

[oneblueyedog]

Perhaps you can switch the wiper relay with a known good one of the same type. On my 78 there are equivalents on the fuse board in the trunk.

[DonMo]

The contacts in the steering column are notorious for moving and not making contact. Take the steering wheel off and move it a little and you are there.

[Barrpete]

Perhaps you can switch the wiper relay with a known good one of the same type. On my 78 there are equivalents on the fuse board in the trunk.

From searching it appears that this relay is particularly difficult to access, so I was hoping there might be a way to verify that's the problem before I started down that path.

The contacts in the steering column are notorious for moving and not making contact. Take the steering wheel off and move it a little and you are there.

I haven't tried this yet, but it's certainly much easier to do than getting to the relay. I will give it a try.

[spuggy]

The wiper relay isn't so bad to get to once you've done it a couple of times, you just need to figure out how much of the ventilation system to dismantle, and how it comes apart. My advice would be "Don't make the mistake of cheaping out with a used one that's not guaranteed to work"...

My guess would be the wiper stalk. Try cleaning the switch contacts and bending them back into the correct position first to verify - then I'd suggest buying a replacement, even if it's working fine for the time being.

Because the improvement in the feel of the switch action is something you'll notice every time you use it.

[Barrpete]

DonMo & spuggy thanks for the advice you guys were dead on. I took the switch out and sprayed a little electrical contact cleaner into the works. Out came 20 years worth of dirt and everything is working again! Including the intermittent switch.

Now if ever rains again I'm ready.