Has anyone set it up so the washer button does not turn on the wipers?

 

To me this is the most monumentally stupid feature conceivable, at least for those of us who have winter!

 

I am sick of the wipers dragging across a bone-dry dirty windshield before the squirter starts squirting, and don't even get me going on the agony of the line being frozen or the reservoir empty.

Has anyone set it up so the washer button does not turn on the wipers?

 

To me this is the most monumentally stupid feature conceivable, at least for those of us who have winter!

 

I am sick of the wipers dragging across a bone-dry dirty windshield before the squirter starts squirting, and don't even get me going on the agony of the line being frozen or the reservoir empty.

 

not much snow here, but idoes kinda "offend my sense of order" that first wipe-and-a-half or so are dry.

 

interesting

 

might just require pulling a wire or 2 off of a timer or relay somewhere.

 

or, alternatively, wire in a separate push button just to squirt washer fluid.

Edited October 22, 201213 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

alternatively, wire in a separate push button just to squirt washer fluid.

That should work.

The wiring diagram for my 2002 Forester shows that the wiring connections for the washer motor are mostly inside the combination switch.

The washer switch feeds two pairs of wires: One pair connects internally to the Intermittent Switch module (this is what triggers the wipers); the other pair feeds externally to the washer motor.

One could disconnect this external pair of wires from the combination meter, and then reconnect them to a new push-button. The P-B would then energize the washer, but not the wipers.

I was willing to bet if I pulled the switch apart I could find the right circuit-board trace to cut (taking apart the un-dissassembleable is a talent of mine), someone pointed me to this:

 

http://offroadingsubarus.com/spraythenwipe.html

 

There's a resistor you pull, and it disconnects the washer button from the intermittent wiper control.

I was willing to bet if I pulled the switch apart I could find the right circuit-board trace to cut (taking apart the un-dissassembleable is a talent of mine), someone pointed me to this:

 

http://offroadingsubarus.com/spraythenwipe.html

 

There's a resistor you pull, and it disconnects the washer button from the intermittent wiper control.

 

 

great find!

Ive thought about putting a check valve in line, so that the fluid is always at the ready, instead of the lines needing to be filled each time, causing the delay.

Under the best of circumstances on my '03 the wipers beat the water (or any significant amount of water) to many parts of the windshield, especially when at highway speeds, even for a 'second squirt'.

 

I hate to say, I can't wait to do this...

if you look kind of opposite that resistor's location, up around the 12 o'Clock position, there appears to be an unused spot for a component. I'm wonder if there's an unused option and what it might be?

 

if you pull this part out, see if you can trace the lands from that location.

 

I'm reluctant to do this to my wife's car. she's VERY sensitive to any alterations to it. Always asking why and crap like that lol!

I wonder how much a new switch is?

I don't see the spot you mean.

 

I don't see the spot you mean.

 

 

start at the top, just as you come down, past the very first solder pad, there are 2 large thru-hole connections, vertical to each other, which are kinda dirty/smudgey looking. Look to the left of the lower one. There's an unused surface-mount position. I was just wondering what its purpose could be.

Edited October 23, 201213 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

I see it now... someone needs to cough up a bad one for analysis, but do these ever fail?

 

Maybe this same module is inside the rear wiper controller and has a few positions populated differently.

 

I can try to pin out mine if I get to messing with it.

I don't see the spot you mean.

 

 

Well, crap, mine is different.

Looks like that one had the wiper on the left side of the column, mine is on the right, as my board looks a little like a mirror-image of that one but the layout is different.

 

I think I have the correct resistor isolated, stalk connector looks different.

Edited October 24, 201213 yr by CNY_Dave

Success!

 

Pic of bottom of board, and of the track I cut that goes to the resistor.

Success!

 

Pic of bottom of board, and of the track I cut that goes to the resistor.

 

good job buddy!

 

thanx for posting

The track you cut. Is that the one with the light colored line in it?

The track you cut. Is that the one with the light colored line in it?

 

Yes, the track that leaves the upper-right corner of the resistor that says "183" then goes under the one that says "133", you could also remove the resistor, but cutting the track is easier, I think.

 

Yes, the track that leaves the upper-right corner of the resistor that says "183" then goes under the one that says "133", you could also remove the resistor, but cutting the track is easier, I think.

 

 

 

cutting the trace is good technique. It's reversible. scrape the solder mask off the trace on both sides of the cut and bridge over with solder - or a strand of wire (like 28 gauge wire-wrap wire) and solder over the gap.

I know this is old, but you'd be better off just removing the printed resistor (183) as it's not as easy to fix a cut trace as Texan leads you to believe.

 

 

Also, with the resistor out of the circuit, you can probe it for it's resistance. With it's resistance known, you can temporarily solder in 2 very small wires (one at each end where OEM resistor was) and try attaching another resistor close in value as the default one. I suspect you could possibly fine-tune the delay effect. If willing to risk it, could possibly try a straight wire jumper in lieu of the resistor and see if the spray vs. wiper relationship looses the delay. Could also lift the resistor out, get it's value, buy a 1/4 watt traditional resistor and a small switch, and wire a switch into the circuit.

 

 

Glad to see I'm not the only one that doesn't like the way wipers work nowadays. Worse effect I hate is when they spray once, then wipers keep going 2-3 rotations after the sprayer stopped. It almost always causes streaking. 

As a subie newbie this kind of information is just what I'm usually looking for.  I can't resist the urge to make things work the way I want them to, not the way the manufacturer thinks I want them to.  I'll just about get my new old car the way I want it and the northeast's rust and road salt will consume it (it has happened many times before!)  The extra photos made all the difference-- thanks.

Cool-

 

To address the older post, I believe it's a 0 ohm resistor, just acts as a jumper. Often done on 2 layer boards to avoid a via or get out of a bottleneck.