My 86 fastback's delay wipers went out some months ago, and I guess I hadn't really needed them until now.
They run properly on low and high. When I set them to delay, they will wipe once, delay for the proper time, but then they start going and don't stop until I turn the wipers off. Also, the fluid pump will not run when I use the wiper controls, but the motor definitely ran when I hot-wired it.
Could these things be the same electrical problem? Is it likely to be a board or relay, or harder-to-replace wiring or the switch?
I had my motor out to clean and lube because it was running slow when hotwired for testing, and I don't recall seeing anything like another board. I'll take another look and probably end up buying the rebuild kit. Thanks everyone.
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02:10 PM
cptsnoopy Member
Posts: 2587 From: phoenix, AZ, USA Registered: Jul 2003
I used Rodney's rebuild kit and the wiper functions all work well except it did not fix the fluid spray issue. the other day it was raining here and i was using the wipers for most of my driving that day. at one point i tried spraying some fluid and it worked just fine. then later in the week I tried it again and it did not work. i think the fluid pump motor is working fine but maybe a relay or switch in the wiper motor is not contacting every time. this leads me to believe that the wiper delay functions can be fixed using Rodney's capacitor repair kit and then we need to find out what relay or switch is causing the fluid spray pump not to work when it should.
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03:09 PM
BC-GT Member
Posts: 719 From: Burnaby BC, Canada Registered: Mar 2001
There is a cam operated “park” switch in the wiper motor that can cause problems with both the washer and delay operations. See http://www.fieros.de/en/articles/wiper.html.
The park switch senses whether the wipers are in their normal “park” location or in an off-normal state. It will keep the wiper motor energized until the wipers return to the home position after being switched off.
The park switch also resets all delay timers after one wipe cycle. Without that reset the wiper motor would operate continuously after the initial delay.
And, voltage from the washer switch is routed through the “park” switch to the washer motor.
well, here's the deal. I went to the junk yard on Saturday and ran across an 88 coupe. someone had already removed the wiper motor and it was just setting there waiting for me to grab it. the car looked like it had been in good care before it made it to the yard so I thought why not? I can always use the wiper motor as a spare. I changed it into my 86GT tonight and put in an 88 wiper delay board that has Rodney's repair kit installed. the wiper functions work great and now the wiper fluid pump motor works like it should too. It appears that the park switch in the wiper motor housing is to blame when your wiper fluid motor stops working but it still checks out good when you put 12v directly to it. I had noticed that every now and then my windshield wipers would park mid swipe and not at the bottom of the stroke like they should. that was my second clue, the first being that the fluid would not spray 99% of the time. I think that someone has done a write-up on opening up the wiper motor housing so you can clean the switch in there but now that mine is working I won't be doing that until I run into problems with it again. so... if your wipers are working but the fluid pump won't spray... consider that the park switch in the wiper motor housing may be corroded and not getting a good enough connection.
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01:09 AM
Pyrthian Member
Posts: 29569 From: Detroit, MI Registered: Jul 2002
good to hear. I've been wondering what I gotta do to get my squirty pump squirting again. sound like I need to pull out the motor, and clean that switch up. maybe even find a new motor assembly, if I can. any other cars use the same motor to make the find easier?
