Hello,

I have a 90 Legacy FWD with non-intermittent wipers that has been having a problem with the wipers.

What happens that occasionally when I turn on the wipers they do not move and the light on the radio goes out. Sometimes it takes several minutes for the radio light to come back on.

At one point I replaced the wiper motor but it did not solve the problem. Sometimes I am able to get out and pull on the wiper arms and they will start wiping but this is getting rarer. I have also checked the wiper transmissions and they seem to move freely when not hooked up to the motor.

Today when they would not work I stopped and popped the hood and disconnected the plug to the wiper motor this did not change a thing and the radio light did not come back on with the motor plug disconnected. I also noticed when I popped the hood that the radiator fan was running and when I disconnected the wiper plug it shut off, when I plugged the wiper plug back in the radiator fan started again. This is the first time the radiator fan has been running when the wipers did not work and the car had not been running more than 5 minutes when I pulled over. All of the fluids are up to level so the fan should have not been on at all.

Any ideas?

Edited January 5, 201115 yr by Mehoff
More information

Start with the easy stuff, battery and all ground connections clean and tight.

 

With the wippers on, check for voltage at the connector, note you have to have the circuit loaded for a true reading.

 

See www.brighterideas.com for the TesLite Tool that will allow you to do that.

 

Otherwise leave the connector hooked up and back probe the connector with some fine metal strips.

 

You most likely have a short somewhere. Time to get out the wiring diagrams.

Imdew,

Thanks for the info, The battery is new and I have checked all of the ground connections. So I guess that leaves the wiring diagrams..ARRG!

 

I will let you know what I find.

Definitely sounds like a wiring problem, since replacing the wiper motor did not fix the problem. Pay particular attention to wiring connections at connectors, and look for a bad ground wire that may be corroded. Lots of times a bad ground connection is the culprit.

Rooster2,

would this also make the radiator fan run when it should not have been? and shut off when I unplugged the wiper connection?

 

Thanks

Most lilkely NO. You have a wiring problem somewhere. You have to get out the diagrams, the motor is the Load, the Power is the Battery, but you want to find the Fuse that its coming from and then find the Ground.

 

When you have the Load, Ground and Power you have the complete circuit. It's then a matter of checking that circuit.

 

Go to www.brighterideas.com and look at the training on U-Tube. Dan has some great basic electrical troubleshooting tips.