wipers turn on by themselves

[Beige]

I drive an '02 Intrigue. The other day the wipers came on all by themselves and I had a hard time turning them off. I found that I can get them to turn off by hitting the washer button and letting them cycle. Once was spooky, but now it happens almost everytime I turn the car on.

I'm guessing it's a bad switch and is probably going to cost me around $300 if I take it to the dealer. Anybody experience a similar problem?

[panzer dragoon]

For $25 a year you can get an alldatadiy.com account. They have diagnostic charts for the switch with correct voltages etc. But your problem is correctible and just a nuisance right now. Maybe let the condition go for now and see if it improves or gets worse.

They had something for wipers always on. With your condition I would wonder if the wipers have enough room to actually park. Did the wipers get caught on something and move a little bit in their sockets?

I don't have the service manuals so I couldn't check those.

[Beige]

I don't think it's a parking problem - the wipers will still park correctly if I cycle them on/off and then run the washer.

So I took it to the dealership yesterday for the following problems:

1) the wiper problem above
2) AC cuts off intermittantly when it is very hot outside

Here's the estimate they gave me:

1) $307 for a new wiper switch
2) $440 to replace the control head

This is why I never take my car to dealers for service!

Did I mention that they didn't have either part in stock and would have had to order them?

I'm gonna pick up some cheap blades so I don't destroy my windshield and hope these problems resolve themselves when the weather cools down.

[Beige]

Problem resolved.

I had the local dealership replace the wiper switch on the column. $175 for the part + labor + taxes and fees = $310 grand total. New wiper blades and washer fluid refill not included.

I had considered replacing the switch with a used part and doing the work myself. However, when I tried to take the steering column apart to get at the switch, I found that the way it is bolted in would require me to remove the steering wheel.

[panzer dragoon]

glad you got it fixed. $310 ain't too bad. $700 is two car payments for me and is pricey. I would have probably loaded up on the 22N wiper blades and put them on low speed for a few months until I could have figured it out.

But I'm used to looking like a dork in my Intrigue. My flasher acted up for almost a year before I fixed it (I had to keep toggle-ing my hazards to work) and my wipers were on for at least a year before I could diagnose and fix the bent park tab.

I saw your topic at:
http://www.oldsmobileforums.com/forums/
also before I saw it here. I like that forum better for posting etc.