posessed windshield wipers

[Alibi]

Hello. As the title suggests, there is something wierd going on with my windshield wipers.

They were working just fine up to a couple days ago. It was raining so I had them on and left them on when I shut off the engine to get some gas. I start 'er up and nothing. They did seem to move just a little bit on their own on the trip back home though.

Tonight, I went to my local mechanic and was going to install a new motor...but the old one checked out fine. We tore into the dash and found that the fuse had power, but the switch and wires going to the motor itself are not getting any power.

The fuse is still fine and everything seems to be in order. We ran a wire from a 25 amp fuse to the motor just to be sure it worked (which it does, but it doesn't work right with just power, needs the swith to operate right).

Soo...is there a relay I don't know about or a control module of some sort that has gone south to prevent any electricity from flowing in the proper way to the motor?

I just hope it doesn't rain soon....

[HotZ28]

I would suspect the wiper on/off/ delay, cruise control combination switch, has developed a lazy attitude. This seems to be quite common on these cars! You can still get the whole switch/control assembly at a reasonable price. A little trick you might try, would be to push & hold down (toward the dash) on the switch, after you turn on the wipers. If the wipers start working, replace the switch.

[Alibi]

Is this an autozone item, or a junkyard item?

This is the part that the multifunction knob (blinkers, cuise, etc.) slides into and the part has a "ribbon" of wires going through the column and connecting into a large block of wires under the dash, right?

Thanks for the info!

[HotZ28]

That is it! Were you able to get the wipers to come by wiggling or pushing down on the switch/lever? You might find one on eBay, if not try the bone yard.

[Loekee75]

They also have these switches at O'reilly's stores...$39.99 down here. The problem is everywhere I've looked (including online) only have the black finished ones, and all pre-94' Lesabre and PAs came with chrome finished column shifters and switches. The boneyard is your best bet for a matching chrome switch.

[Alibi]

No luck on Ebay and I don't have much trust in junkyards for electronic components, so I just ended up going to AutoZone and getting one there $56. The store didn't have one in stock, so the guy helping me had to order it. I'll pick it up tommorow and see about putting it in tommorow night, before it is supposed to rain later on this week. I really hope that this is the culprit.

No luck on trying to jiggle the switch any either. I guess when it went, it just completely went.

I think a couple of you guys are thinking about the lever itself, but I'm referring to the part that the lever is slid into. Oh, and my T-type has most of the chrome items blacked out so I'd have a better time finding one anyway

I'll post back with results, hopefully positive ones

[Alibi]

Worked

It was a PITA to change out since it involved pulling my column apart. At least I sorta knew what I was doing since I have pulled the column apart before to change the ignition lock cylander. I spent about 2 hours sitting out front of the shop of my local mechanic (friend's dad). He is a cool guy and just told me to grab whatever tools I needed and have at it. I pirated a couple parts that I messed up in the process from a dead bonneville he had so that was convenient too.