'94 Dodge Dakota (4x4 pickup) wiper motor delay

My windshield wipers quit working. I discovered a fuse was blown, namely the 15-amp fuse at the bottom of the photo, labeled "3A/B" on the fuse block under the dash.

https://i.imgur.com/vOX4wZQ_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium

After I replaced the fuse, the wipers started working again, only in low or high speed full on, not in the delay setting or when using the windshield washer.

The problem appears to be the small round metal canister, barely visible in the shadows at the upper left of the photo, which is a generic "Time Delay Relay" of sorts. It is blown, too, but I am having trouble finding a replacement.

There was a Mopar #4503104 listed as "discontinued" in some catalogs, and the picture showed a black box plugged into a wiring harness, but I rather believe it never was the right part in the first place. The correct part appears to be a WG3178T DODGE B250 ACCESSORY DELAY RELAY.

https://www.partsgeek.com/wg3178t-dodge-b250-accessory-delay-relay.html

I will post again when I am able to obtain the part, plug it in, and try out the windshield wipers. Does anyone have any other ideas?

If there is a new part that supersedes the old part, then you will not be able to get the original part, as most times it is discontinued. But the parts stores or online distributors will have a new part number for you, just ask.

If there is a new part that supersedes the old part, then you will not be able to get the original part, as most times it is discontinued. But the parts stores or online distributors will have a new part number for you, just ask.

That is usually the case, but in this case the part originally listed appears to have been miscatalogued.

The correct part appears to be a rather generic and commonly available plug-in "time delay relay" of sorts.

There are owner's manuals, Haynes and Chilton's etc. I hate to see things headed so much in that direction toward automotive "closed shops" with "no user serviceable parts inside."

I don't want to replace a perfectly functional $75 wiper motor assy because of the failure of a $15 relay, not to mention the labor apart from simply inserting the new relay into the fuse panel.

You can unplug that relay and bring it to the parts store to match up to another one. But I'm guessing if that isn't your problem, then the motor shorted out somewhat. Most times, more often than not, I can remove a wiper motor or starter, take them apart and clean them and they are good to go. Most of them just get dirty inside and need cleaning. Or the armature clogs up. So I hope yours is just a relay, easy and mostly cheaper than the alternative.

You can unplug that relay and bring it to the parts store to match up to another one. But I'm guessing if that isn't your problem, then the motor shorted out somewhat. Most times, more often than not, I can remove a wiper motor or starter, take them apart and clean them and they are good to go. Most of them just get dirty inside and need cleaning. Or the armature clogs up. So I hope yours is just a relay, easy and mostly cheaper than the alternative.

That relay is not the problem, (even though it definitely needs to be replaced), nor is the motor shorted out. The wipers worked on delay with it unplugged, then quit again, but still work at full speed. There are corroded and faulty electrical connections everywhere.

I still need to replace that relay. It was blown, and it must control something else, but I can't figure it out right now. The airbag circuit started working after reporting a fault, but then the ABS quit. There is a lot of other electrical damage due to corrosion, the oil pressure sensor, too.

I need to get a manual with a wiring diagram, otherwise wait and see. Spring is coming. The weather will thaw out, and there will be enough light to see what I am doing.

I love electrical gremlins ---> Irony

Dealing with some myself on my 88 Mustang. Some idiot hooked up the battery cables opposite one night while working in the dark. Didn't take but a half a second to make an inline 30 amp Alt fuse glow. Since then, everything is a lot slower, slow windshield wipers, some lights out interior and exterior. Waiting for warmer weather to go through the fuse box and see what's what.

The original Mopar was the right part after all. Buried deep in the dash, almost inaccessible behind the radio.

https://i.imgur.com/qruuIvg_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium

One of the contacts was slightly corroded and charred from arcing. It only needed to be cleaned off a little and plugged back in.

The other module "T/DELAY" on the fuse panel, the round metal cylinder, still confuses me.

Good catch.

More problems yet.

Post 6 years ago on the Dodge Forums by "Brian in Tucson" with a Washington State University logo.

Wacky Tach, pegged all the way to the right.
#1
Brian in Tucson's Avatar Brian in Tucson , 01-24-2014 11:14 AM
A month or so a go, we had a rare, really rainy night. I had left my Dakota out in the rain. It appears that living in the desert has made it accustomed to staying dry (it came from the Seattle area.)

Same same. I've got automotive problems coming out the local University of Alaska Fairbanks frat house.

Can't register on that forum because of preëmptive antispam block.

I used to have an older Buick Park Ave 99, very nice riding car, ran well. Any time I worked on something electrical and had to unhook the battery, it would send a spike through the system upon rehooking, that would almost always shock the tach into going all the way to the right side. Once my tach got to halfway, it automatically went all the way to the right, meaning it only needed a spark to get just past the halfway point, and it would go all the way due to the way it is springed inside. The first time I removed the cluster and wiggled a small tool in there to push the tach arm back to left, and once I got it just past halfway, it sprung back to the left like normal. Well, this happened a lot, so needless to say, I drilled a small hole in the cluster glass just above the center of the tach, barely visible. SO every time it did it, I could just stick a small tool in and wind it back to left. Anyway, some fixes for this could be a failing battery or alt, or bad grounds, or bcm.

Once my tach got to halfway, it automatically went all the way to the right, meaning it only needed a spark to get just past the halfway point, and it would go all the way due to the way it is springed inside.

...failing battery or alt, or bad grounds, or bcm.

Thanks.

That sounds like what I'm experiencing. There was (and has been) a lot of wetness, condensation, and melting ice. It's spring now, and when I purchased the vehicle, it had been sitting in a yard all winter without being operated or driven. The tach is indeed sprung all the way to the right.

On my Dodge Dakota's instrument panel, the hole in the plastic window for the trip odometer reset is close enough to the tachometer I should be able to insert a paperclip or something bent to the right shape in there and reset the tach needle as you suggested.

I suspect a water leak. In fact my windshield is cracked and coming unglued at the bottom. If it is letting in water, that could be part of the problem. I need to poke around a junkyard. Might be a wrecked Dakota with a good windshield.

I've never done glass before, but otherwise it's expensive.

Just so you know, drilling a small hole in cluster plastic, really didn't matter much at all. it was barely noticeable, so do that if you need to. Much better than removing cluster ever dang time.

The tach problem went away on its own after the weather warmed and some of the moisture dried out.

The spark jolted the needle back into position when I started the vehicle.

There was a transient engine code, 32, 41, 55, apparently due to a temporary ignition fault, but that went away, too.

Glad it all worked out.

No. There are other problems with the charging circuitry for the functionality of the windshield wiper delay module even when the delay module itself is functional and undamaged. The windshield wipers cease and desist from working at random times, or when the battery is insufficiently charged to drive the windshield wiper motor at full voltage even though it is sufficient to start the vehicle without the full functionality of the windshield wiper and washer subsystem module pursuant to a wiring diagram.

You probably need to check your wiring to the wiper motor then. Its possible they are corroded and there is increased resistance causing your issues,

No. There are other problems with the charging circuitry for the functionality of the windshield wiper delay module even when the delay module itself is functional and undamaged. The windshield wipers cease and desist from working at random times, or when the battery is insufficiently charged to drive the windshield wiper motor at full voltage even though it is sufficient to start the vehicle without the full functionality of the windshield wiper and washer subsystem module pursuant to a wiring diagram.You said battery insufficiently charged? Low voltage will cause all sorts of electrical gremlins. Make sure #1) Battery is fully charged, and #2) Alternator is putting out at least 14.5 volts. The random thing, leads me to believe a wire is shorting somewhere. But you could spend all day looking.

18RD/YL WIPER SWITCH HIGH SPEED OUTPUT
18DG/YL WIPER SWITCH MODE SENSE
18DB FUSED IGN SWITCH OUTPUT (ACC/RUN)
18BR/WT WIPER SWITCH LOW SPEED OUTPUT

Those are four wires at wiper for 94, solid color connector should have 12V when ignition turned on. If it does have 12V and motor not working, pull the motor and bench test it.

And actually it's a social problem. I have hometown "buddies" in the military, on the local police, and even at the U.S. Department of Justice.

They tamper with the windshield wiper circuitry. The windshield wipers will never work as long as I own the vehicle, and no vehicle I own in the future will ever have working windshield wipers.

There's nothing I can do about it.

I found every single connection loosened and ground wires ripped out.

They have keys and access to a locksmith shop to have keys made for my vehicle. 100% legal under-the-table in their court system.

No.

Professional thieves and extortioners downtown Anchorage and Wasilla had been fooling with the wiring and figured out how to disable the headlights, horn, and alarm on my vehicle.

They saw me working with a 10mm wrench. I bought a replacement at the wrong store, and now I'm missing a 15mm wrench as well. If it's what I need to do the job, I won't have it when I need it, as long as those crooks are in town. There are plenty of those crooks and they work closely with local law enforcement, and they have plenty of inside help at the local courthouse. There are military police, who sometimes help out, but it's not really an official jurisdiction.... At the same time, it's really, really serious, and it's not a joke. At all.

Unbelievably frustrating. I think I finally fixed the windshield wiper and washer problem.

Marine terminals for the battery + #4 cables soldered into copper lugs with silver-bearing plumbing solder, zinc chloride flux, and a blowtorch.

Almost an entire 50-foot spool of #10 THHN wire, and four relays, with a separate power supply wired directly from the battery terminal with inline fuses. Furthermore,

washer motor
wiper low-speed
wiper high-speed
wiper park

The relays were necessary to relieve the load on inadequate steering column wiring, and I also had to soak the ignition switch with penetrating solvent and blow it out thoroughly with an air compresser nozzle to clean out enough of the dust and corrosion to restore minimal functionality, and jiggle the connections behind the fuse box.

I still need to do more work to fix the wiring for the heater blower motor circuitry, before winter. There is also an air conditioning system, if I can rewire that as well, fix the leaks, charge it up, and get it working: there's still July and August, it might come in useful.

Shit ain't up to code in a car or truck like it is for residential or commercial building wiring, and it just doesn't work the the way it's supposed to for reliability and fire protection the way they design automotive wiring with inadequate safety margins.

More trouble I found.

There was a connection that had been torn loose and prevented the headlights from working reliably.

There was also trouble with the heater blower motor wiring, which had been tampered with and shorted out in repeated attempts to cause a fire. This had caused the heater fan speed selector switch to melt, but I took it apart and reassembled it after straightening out the warped metal and scraping off bits of melted and charred plastic.

Off-beat U.S. Marshals and corrupt state troopers are at it again.

They got kids, and they want me dead, because they're finding it more and more difficult to fabricate criminal charges against me in cases where I haven't done anything wrong.