Wiper switch relay replacement didn't fix a damn thing....
 

What other problems occure in wiper switches? I replaced the relay with a new upgraded unit and nothing changed. What other failure points are there in the switches? This is off of an 89 gtu without a rear wiper.


Santiago

I replaced the relays for 2 different cars. One worked fine and one didn't. The whole switch is a failure point (cold sodder). The one that didn't work I sent to Mazdamark for a rebuild and now its fine.

As covered before, replacing the relay will only fix a switch that does not work on Hi and intermitent settings.

what is the problem with your switch???

My wipers don't work on intermitent or high, and won't park. I replaced the relay and nothing changed. RHD 'vert wiper switches are rarer than rocking horse droppings... :(

Hey Mark, on my vert when my wiper motor is plugged in they work all the time, even when the switch is off. the only way to get the wipers to stop is to manually unplug the motor under the hood, any ideas what this could be?

And yes i've searched to no avail.
Thanx,
Matt:)

Hey Mark, forgot to tell you, that I recieved my switch, and everything works beautifully now. Thanks.

The Hi and intermitent settengs wouldn't work.

Do you have the relay that you removed???

looking at it (the old relay), there should be nothing but very thin metal legs... if you have any of the legs that have a thicker coating around a leg (usually copper colored) then you burnt the circuit board when you removed the relay and damaged the board.

I can fix that, but it requires running new traces or a new circuit board.

This is what Dr.jones63 problem was and comes up about 50% of the time for people replacing the relay themselves.

Hey Matt... this could be a couple of things. Usually the most common is a burnt SMD transistor or a resistor resting against a pin in the wiper switch, or even that the wiper motor has shorted internally.

Unfortantly if it is in the switch, it requires the board to be removed from the switch to fix which is beyond many peoples abilities.

If it is one of my switches I do warranty the switch for 6 months (soon to be extended to 12 months) and would be happy to check it out for you.

I just have a next to impossible time getting those... you could still send it too me and I would be happy to fix it for you for only $40 USD + Shipping.

I'll keep that in mind, but it'll have to wait until summer. Since it's spring here, I sort of need it in the car at the moment. ;)

Icemark is amazing, fixed mine and it's perfect now

How can you avoid damaging the circuit board when replacing the relay? I was planning on ordering a relay from you soon, but I don't want to make problems worse by burning the board. I read the DIY on your site, and it seems people just burn the board by holding the soldering iron there too long? Any tips or secrets?

This would be on a 91 vert if that makes any difference.

First, no it makes no difference if it is a vert switch or a coupe without a rear wiper.

As far as damaging the board... the key is to remove all the solder from the joints on the relay on the red spots:
http://www.mazdamark.com/wiperswitch6.JPG (orange spots are for the rear wipers on coupes with rear wipers, so don't pay any attention to those if youa re working with a coupe W/O a rear wiper or convertibles.

If you don't remove all the solder, then when you go to pop out the relay the circuit board will stick to the relay pins (pretty much wrecking the board) or even worse.. if you overheat the solder the same thing will happen. So there is a fine line on getting the solder hot enough to suck it all out with a solder sucker, but not too hot

My experience with Mazdamark is a turn around of about 1 week. Very fast, of course I don't live in AU. I think the car will run without wipers. You can rain-x the wind shield while you have no wipers.

http://www.rainx.com/frame_auto_glass.htm

Neither do I... ;)

Sounds good, thanks for the tips. Now I know to get my friends that are electrical engineers to give me a hand instead of probably ruining the board myself. :D I'm pretty decent with a soldering iron, but I've never really soldered anything that small and precise before.

I have the same problem as one of the posters above on my 90 GTU: my wipers run the entire time they are connected and I have to manually unplug the cable to get them to stop. I found a troubleshooting guide for the wiper motor, and it looks to me like the ground wire is bad on my wiper motor (according to the write up, the top right pin of the connector when looking at it with the locking tab on the right is supposed to be a ground and it's definitely not grounded in my case). Anyone know if this is easy to fix by disassembling the motor and determining where the wire is bad/rerunning the ground, or should I just get a new motor?