NOok

Howdy,

I have the common problem of one slow wiper sped in my 86 and can't seem to get it resovled. I have gone through 3 replacement switches, and even purchased a guaranteed working switch assembly from mazdamark.

Still, only one slow wiper speed, so im assuming the switch is not the problem.

What would the next most likely fix be, OR, can I just hard wire a two pisition switch to run the wiper manually?? I already have manual hard wire controls for most of the electrical functions anyway ( track car ) so one more little switch on the switch panel would be fine, I just need to get fast wipers before race season kicks in.

If anyone has done this or knows how to sketch out a diagram or what to wire wher for this, I would apperciate it and be glad to make it worth your while to sketch out,

N

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

I would PM icemark and ask him. He is generally good about answering questions related to the wiper switches, especially since you bought one from him.

Icemark

sounds like you have a bad wiper motor, but I am more than happy to check out all your existing switches for only the cost of shipping.

NOok

I already emailed mark, he's right on the ball offering to check out the switch
I Don't want anyone to think I was slamming him or anything, just looking for other solutions as Im sure the switch is fine.

N

HAILERS

You might be able to determine things by experimenting.


Turn the key to just ON.

Get a piece of wire and put one end to ground.

With the other end bare, back probe the Blue/Red wire at the wiper motor plug. That is the ground the switch puts on the HIGH speed part of the motor. Count the times the wipers make a full cycle in five seconds.

Now do the same with the Blue/White wire right next to the Blue/Red wire. That wire is the LOW speed part of the motor. Count the times the wipers make a full cycle in five seconds.

I find that the high speed makes about five cycles in five seconds and the low only three.

You might try this for ten seconds instead of five for a more accurate count. Also, you might idle the engine when doing this so the voltage does not drop too much when you do it, for a more accurate count.

I just did this on my car a few minutes ago, so it does work that way.

This should give someone an idea of how to make the wipers work when the switch goes out and you need wipers in a hurry. See the FSM, wiring diagram and you'll see this is how the wiper motor works. The switch puts a ground on a wire to make the motor turn over. The 12vdc is always on the BLUE wire of the motor as long as the key is ON. It does not pass thru the switch.

EDIT: I did this while it was raining. If you do it with no water on the windshield, then the results will be different than mine.

NOok

Nice, Im going to check that in the morning

NOok

Hi,

Hailers, thanks for the help, the tests worked. I checked the ground-outs, and they made the wiper motor work fast and slow correctly when the particular ground-out wires were grounded, so the motor seems ok. I do have another concern: When grounding the wire, the ground wire got pretty darned warm, and I would assume wold get hot if the wipers were left on very long.

I have manual switches already set up for most of the electrical functions on the car already, and don't mind manually wiring a two position ratshack switch to ground out the wiper motor, but should the grounds be getting really warm like that??


N

NOok

ANyoen else just used a two position switch for this? Are the ground wires supposed to be getting really warm?

Icemark

wires should not get really warm at any point. Really warm/hot wires indicates that either the wire is too small or there is a short. This circuit uses less than 5 amps, so the odds of the wires being too small are pretty non existant.

If you want you can send your switches back in and I can double check them free of charge.

NOok

OK Ill get them out, can u PM me your addy again ? It is entirely possible that wiring between the two is bad.