Wipers won't shut off...

[pom69]

My wife has a '98 Civic EX Coupe and tonight we had a pretty good storm. When she got home she told me that the wipers were acting funny and that when she switched the wiper control to "off" they still remained on (at the lowest speed). Any idea as to what the problem is, and is this something that I can fix on my own? I'd hate to have to take it to a repair shop so they can replace a $5-10 piece and then charge me out the butt.

Thanks.

[WGRUMICH]

Did you find anything out on this. The same thing happened to my fiance's car last weekend. I have her pulling the fuse out right now. It is a temporary fix. If you can help, please let me know.

[pom69]

I've heard everything from the wiper motor is bad to just a switch problem. I too am having to use a temporary fix... I have the switch set in between "off" and the lowest setting. It's real fun trying to get it to shut off and have it so that the wiper blades are positioned so I can see out the window.

I have yet to take it in yet to let someone look at it. It will be really nice if I could just replace the switch myself to see if that's the problem... just don't know if it's something I can do.

If I find out anything I'll let you know though. And hopefully you can do the same if you find out something too. Later.

[WGRUMICH]

I am learning as I go with this. I can tell you first off, the switch was not the problem in my case. Getting to the switch is fairly easy. There are three screws under the steering wheel. Remove them, the casing should feel a little loose. I pried it apart, but it did not take much effort since the upper and lower more or less snap together. Now, turn the wheel so the top is pointing toward the passenger seat. Follow your wiper lever to the left and you will see 2 screws on the black rectangular box. Remove them, and pull straight out to the right. It does take a little force, but I removed 3 at the junkyard, plus the one in her car multiple times. No harm done yet. It should now be hanging loose, press the white disconnect button and it is free. Dealer wanted about $78 bucks, and it is not returnable. So I would definitely check the scrap yards. As for putting it back together, I found that if you put your lower back on with the 3 screws, then snap the top back on. That seems to work the best. I am working on getting to the motor. You can see it through the holes by the wiper blades. I know you remove the nuts on the blade. I cannot get the blades off though, and it appears necessary for access to the cover. Let me know if you want more on this, as I am learning it as I go. I called the dealer, and he said they had a bulletin on this issue and it is the motor.

[unknownluder69]

take it to autozone or something comperable. they will look at it for free and show u how to replace it, at least that how they are where i live. the extra bonus to this is if it doesnt work u dont have to buy the part LOL

[sfenton311]

Ive got a slightly different problem. Mine will shut off, they just freeze wherever they are instead of going back down. And the intermiten doesn't work...any suggestions? The manual isn't much help.

[ninjagirl]

Howdy all... my car is ALSO having the same issue. There are three settings on the speed control and mine is stuck on the middle setting. It'll go higher but it wont go lower or off... ((and my car's a 00 Civic))

Seems like this is a pretty common issue for them?!

I called the dealer about the cost of the motor and was told $193 (just for the part). The "switch" is $119 directly from Honda... I was told by Honda that it's more than likely the motor ("9 out of 10 times, that's what it is" he said). I called the local autowrecking yard here and the motor is $45... but, there's a "transmission" part to it that's an add'l $35... THAT is the part that I think it might be. Makes sense, right? The motor is working because it's stuck in an on-position... it's the tranny part of the motor that isn't telling it what position to be in (or to turn off).
The labor is the part that kills me. Everywhere wants to charge an hour and a half. The motor is right up under the windsheild cowl and shouldn't be terribly hard to get at... I'm just worried that the part I buy wont be the right part... AND I will have gone thru the labor of taking the car apart...

Any other news on this since the last post?

[sfenton311]

I have yet to fix mine. I do know that the windshield fluid pump is out on mine. Not sure if that has anything to do with it, if and when I fix the things I will try and stick a how-to up with photos or something. These civics are so easy to work anyone can do it.

[nieve]

I have a problem with the actual wiper control stick (1997 Civic EX) by the steering wheel. Someone was riding with me and reach over and bump the wiper control out of place. Ever since then the wiper stick is kind of loose in the housing and can easily get out of place which causes the wipers to turn on and the sprayer to activate.

Is there something broken or just loose that can be fixed? The wiper control stick is getting looser and looser with time and use.

I am guessing I will have to take the steering cover plastic off to fix it but not quite sure what I need to do from there.

Anybody had this problem?