So I was driving to work this morning and all the sudden my windshield wipers turned on and i couldn't turn them off again. When i stopped the car i unplugged the wiper motor from the wiring harness (shouldn't cause any problems right) i tried plugging it back in and the wipers started by themselves again. so for now i left unplugged. i figure the problem is either switch in the steering column, or in the wiper motor itself. I am still not sure what caused it to just turn on. any suggestions as to a possible cause? When i get a chance to go to a junk yard i'll pick up a new wiper motor (looks like an easy swap). How hard do you think it would it be to replace the switch in the stearing column?
Agreed, The tech section for this is here if that helps any: http://www.st165-all-trac.net/st162manu ... %20025.jpg I suppose you could try electrical contact cleaner like deoxIT before you go and buy a new switch and/or column - worth a shot I guess fingersx
dounbt its the motor they are so simple it should either work or not. So that leaves either switch or loose wiring. The switch itself isnt really that hard to get to. Take off the steering wheel an the coloumn surround (easy just lots of screws). Then itl become prity clear how the switch itslef mounts up (once again just screws). While you were driving did you go over any bumps or round a descently angled turn. If so it could most likely be a wiring fault but i hope for your sake thats not the case. good luck mate
the switch may be stuck, like my dads turn signal was once, try some wd40 or some circuit cleaner, in the switch it may help,
YEa its real strange, i didn't hit any bumps or make any sharp/hard turns. but i sware it was almost adusting with the speed of the car. when i came to a stop it turned off, and it would become more intermitant as i slowed down (go from a fast setting to a slow one). for now i'll just have to deal unplug the wiper motor when its not raining/snowing. once it warms up i'll go to work on it. thanks for all the help guys
Interesting that even the switches are backwards on LHD models, I'm wondering if ther'e interchangable as my old car of 20yrs had a LHD setup and I'm used to that. Which side are your column adjust levers on? - ours are on the left side I have a RHD set in my spares box in case anything like this should ever happen Wonderz - sounds like something broke inside the switch and was moving around with vibration etc? Try driving with the switch unpugged to make sure it's not a short or bad relay etc- obviously not in traffic, busy roads etc
well its been 2 days and the problem hasn't resurrfaced againg @_@ so i think it was triggered by the cold weather/snow we had in vancouver that day. clearly this is a sign i need to move somewhere it doesn't snow fingersx
I'll keep that in mind, I think the one from the Trac an the GTS are the same (Can anyone confirm this) and i have a spare GTS one
I had a similar thing happen, I stopped at a red light hit the gas wipers turned on really really fast, lights all light up very bright and the radio started to smoke and my little red Toyota never ran again. Lol
