Slow wipers = no wipers. Fast wipers = working

[CorsePerVita]

So it's raining pretty good today. Never had a single issue with the wipers. Turned the slow wiper knob a bit delayed. Oddly, the wipers jerked for a second. Then they worked again.

I thought "well that's odd."

Few minutes go by, rain gets heavy, turned off the knob, turned the slow wiper lever on the column to first notch. Again, an odd jerk, then it worked.

Not 30 seconds later, they just stopped entirely. Stuck in the upper position in the middle of my windshield. Embarrassing.

At first I thought the motor stripped or something. I played with the lever, then all the sudden on fast mode, it started working fine. So I have FAST wipers, no SLOW wipers. So anything with the slow knob, or first speed on column (also slow I would imagine) is not working.

Any ideas here? No burned out fuses I can see. It must be something in the circuit I guess? A relay maybe?

I swear this car doesn't want me to get rid of it, the last 2 weeks it's been one thing after another every time I fix something else. IT WANTS ME TO KEEP IT. lol!

[JAR0023]

Sounds like it's the switch, inside the column cover. Mine didn't work at all when I picked up my car. A good cleaning and all is well. You may have other problems but the switch is the first place I'd start. Search. There are several good threads on this. I know I've posted pics.

As far as the intermittent knob goes. When the column stalk is in the off or park position it is then sending power to the knob. If the contacts for that position are dirty or not working you lose the intermittent function.

-J

[CorsePerVita]

Originally Posted by JAR0023

Sounds like it's the switch, inside the column cover. Mine didn't work at all when I picked up my car. A good cleaning and all is well. You may have other problems but the switch is the first place I'd start. Search. There are several good threads on this. I know I've posted pics.

As far as the intermittent knob goes. When the column stalk is in the off or park position it is then sending power to the knob. If the contacts for that position are dirty or not working you lose the intermittent function.

-J

Thanks J, I'll do a search and hunt down some threads. Your explanation makes a good bit of sense, since it didn't actually stop and do this until I used the column switch. Looks like another project before the car goes on my day off.

Thanks for the fast response! Much appreciated.

[kidrock]

the wiper stalk has similar internals to the turn signal stalk. Bend a contact tab or 2, clean and re-install.

[CorsePerVita]

Glad to hear it's that simple!

[JAR0023]

Off the ipad and on a real computer. Link below to one thread where I have some pics of the switch. I picked up my car this spring and it had spent it's whole life on the west coast. At that point there is no telling how many years it had been since the wipers were used. The contacts in my switch had a nice green patina. Once I had access to the switch I sprayed it down with electric parts cleaner and then scraped and swabbed all the contacts until they were clean and shiny. Wipers have been 100% since.

You'll need to pull the steering wheel and then the clamshell column cover. Careful with the cover. I just knew at any time I was going to break the brittle plastic. Once inside you can see the switch no problem. Move the switch around and you can see how all the contacts work.

-J



Wiper Switch Question

[Quicksilver]

The wiper will park itself without anything from the switch. Sounds like it is either the direct power from the fuse, the ground, or the motor itself.