2000 Caravan front wiper problem

[red35750]

My 2000 grand Caravan front wipers work fine in the intermittent mode most of the time but on ocassion, especially when it's raining (duh), they stop working. Adjustment to decrease or decrease the delay time has no effect and the only way they can be restarted is by turning off and back on. This has been gong on for a few years and is really anoying. Any ieas?

[Bear]

And I thought Herr Dietsche had worked these problems out. Gremlins in the wipers have plagued us for years, some say it is the multi-function switch and others the wiper motor loading up with gunk. I did once pull the wiper motor on my '96 and clean it out and that worked (for a short time) but the gremlins have returned (I never know what number of passes the wipers will make in the intermittent mode.) i am too cheap to pay the $70.00 at Advance for a new multi function switch so I just play the guessing game of how many passes this time.

[Spit]

I would suggest that you both check the wiper relay(s). there are 2 on my 97 located in the power center under the hood. I think there is a low speed relay and a high speed relay. I think the low speed one is the one that works with the intermitent setting. You can actually switch the 2 relays as they are identical.... I had a huge problem with the "phantom wiper syndrome" described in many threads on this site. I did replace the control stalk and I put a junk yard wiper-motor in all to no avail. When I replaced the relay no more wiper problems. It's worth looking at.

Spit

[Mrbizness1]

Originally Posted by Spit

I would suggest that you both check the wiper relay(s). there are 2 on my 97 located in the power center under the hood. I think there is a low speed relay and a high speed relay. I think the low speed one is the one that works with the intermitent setting. You can actually switch the 2 relays as they are identical.... I had a huge problem with the "phantom wiper syndrome" described in many threads on this site. I did replace the control stalk and I put a junk yard wiper-motor in all to no avail. When I replaced the relay no more wiper problems. It's worth looking at.

Spit

Spit, thanks for the info. I have had the same problem with my delay wiper for over a year. If I set the delay for the shortest time it works good, but as soon as I increase the delay time they stop.

[Bear]

On my '96 I have two relays, Power on and Hi/Lo speed and I assume you mean the hi/lo relay. After checking the relays, I see that about six of them are the same relay and they sell for about $9.00 to $11.00. Off to the store.

[Spit]

Bear, The relays are fairly inexpensive...and you can switch them to test their functioning prior to purchasing to verify if you have a bad one. I know the control stalk cost me $70 and the used wiper motor another $25 or so, not to mention the time to install the motor. A whole lot of people on this forum have talked about a BCM Body Control Module which seems to go for several hundred $ being a possible cause. Wish I had know about the relay first. Can't say for sure it's your van's problem but checking these relays first makes a lot of financial sense. Let us know if it fixes it!!

Spit