LHD 1989 BJ70 12 volt
I have been battling an issue with my wipers for the last week that just started during a normal drive on the street. They came on suddenly at full speed and would not shut off, even with the vehicle shut down and the keys out. The switch stalk does not have any effect on the wipers. I have unplugged the motor for the time being.
Now there are similar threads out there but as I have been digging into this there are questions I haven't been able to answer. What I have found are cases where wipers won't shut off while the engine is running, they stop when the engine is shut off. I am also unable to locate a wiper relay behind the dash, I have read in some vehicles the relay is in the switch stock itself. Otherwise, I am seeing symptoms that have not been described my others.
A side note that might be relevant - I recently installed a redarc sbi12 and to test the jump start feature I drained the main battery and tried to jump start it using the override switch. When I turned the key to run I got a tiny crank (not enough to start it), a click from behind the dash, the voltage dropped to the dead battery reading (i.e. the batteries were no longer joined), and the jump start switch no longer worked. The wiper issue started the same day, but I had been driving for maybe 20 miles before it started. I have been in contact with redarc, they have seen my installation and found no problems with it. None of the fuses in that system blew so they think the sbi might be faulty or some factory electronics might be faulty.
What I have done so far in order
1. Open the wiper motor to clean contacts thoroughly and re-grease. - this seemed to fix it for a couple of hours but then the wipers must have come on again while I was sleeping because the next day they were at the top of the windshield and the battery was drained.
2. Moved the aux battery over to the main and disconnected all the dual battery charging stuff. Then Installed a new wiper switch stock and cleaned/re-greased the motor again. - no change
3. Checked behind the passenger and driver kick panels for the wiper relay. - no wiper relay to be found.
4. Took apart the dash to look for the relay. - again, no wiper relay to be found..
Some notes -
There are/were no blown fuses or other electrical issues when the problem started or since. It operates like normal except for the wipers.
The redarc system is completely disconnected and it's back in the normal configuration.
With the keys out of the ignition and wiper motor unplugged - if I move the switch stalk to fast or "mist" the battery light comes on and the factory volt meter shows the normal reading of just over 12 volts. I hear a click from behind the dash near the steering wheel cover.
With the keys out of the ignition and the wiper motor plugged in (regardless of switch stalk position) - it runs on full speed, the battery light/voltage flick on and off on each stroke and there is a click coming from behind the dash near the steering wheel cover (same as when you turn the key to on). You can also hear the fuel cut solenoid flicking on and off at the same time.
So, questions...
Is it possible for the wiper system to work if it's wired up without a relay or is the relay in-fact in the switch stalk itself? I have never had issues with it for the years I have owned it. I assume the relay is there somewhere but it must have been moved.
Does this sounds like symptoms of a bad wiper system component - motor, relay, switch stalk?
Is there some link between ignition and the wipers? Or, does the jump start situation I described seem relevant, even though the wiper issue didn't start immediately after that? I'm leaning toward this being a wiper motor problem since fiddling with that was the only thing that made a difference.
That turned into a book, my apologies.
I have been battling an issue with my wipers for the last week that just started during a normal drive on the street. They came on suddenly at full speed and would not shut off, even with the vehicle shut down and the keys out. The switch stalk does not have any effect on the wipers. I have unplugged the motor for the time being.
Now there are similar threads out there but as I have been digging into this there are questions I haven't been able to answer. What I have found are cases where wipers won't shut off while the engine is running, they stop when the engine is shut off. I am also unable to locate a wiper relay behind the dash, I have read in some vehicles the relay is in the switch stock itself. Otherwise, I am seeing symptoms that have not been described my others.
A side note that might be relevant - I recently installed a redarc sbi12 and to test the jump start feature I drained the main battery and tried to jump start it using the override switch. When I turned the key to run I got a tiny crank (not enough to start it), a click from behind the dash, the voltage dropped to the dead battery reading (i.e. the batteries were no longer joined), and the jump start switch no longer worked. The wiper issue started the same day, but I had been driving for maybe 20 miles before it started. I have been in contact with redarc, they have seen my installation and found no problems with it. None of the fuses in that system blew so they think the sbi might be faulty or some factory electronics might be faulty.
What I have done so far in order
1. Open the wiper motor to clean contacts thoroughly and re-grease. - this seemed to fix it for a couple of hours but then the wipers must have come on again while I was sleeping because the next day they were at the top of the windshield and the battery was drained.
2. Moved the aux battery over to the main and disconnected all the dual battery charging stuff. Then Installed a new wiper switch stock and cleaned/re-greased the motor again. - no change
3. Checked behind the passenger and driver kick panels for the wiper relay. - no wiper relay to be found.
4. Took apart the dash to look for the relay. - again, no wiper relay to be found..
Some notes -
There are/were no blown fuses or other electrical issues when the problem started or since. It operates like normal except for the wipers.
The redarc system is completely disconnected and it's back in the normal configuration.
With the keys out of the ignition and wiper motor unplugged - if I move the switch stalk to fast or "mist" the battery light comes on and the factory volt meter shows the normal reading of just over 12 volts. I hear a click from behind the dash near the steering wheel cover.
With the keys out of the ignition and the wiper motor plugged in (regardless of switch stalk position) - it runs on full speed, the battery light/voltage flick on and off on each stroke and there is a click coming from behind the dash near the steering wheel cover (same as when you turn the key to on). You can also hear the fuel cut solenoid flicking on and off at the same time.
So, questions...
Is it possible for the wiper system to work if it's wired up without a relay or is the relay in-fact in the switch stalk itself? I have never had issues with it for the years I have owned it. I assume the relay is there somewhere but it must have been moved.
Does this sounds like symptoms of a bad wiper system component - motor, relay, switch stalk?
Is there some link between ignition and the wipers? Or, does the jump start situation I described seem relevant, even though the wiper issue didn't start immediately after that? I'm leaning toward this being a wiper motor problem since fiddling with that was the only thing that made a difference.
That turned into a book, my apologies.
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