A few wiper questions

[ozzfreak]

I have a 91 LX. The wiper blades seem to go too far in either direction, especially on high, or if speed is up, and there is a lot of wind. Is there a way to adjust this? If not, what needs replaced? Also, is there a relay that controls the wiper on the first setting. Intermittent I think it is. It rarely works, and when it does, there is about a minute wait time.

[Christ]

If the wipers are going too far, that is one of two things... Either the little rubber bushings on the wiper motor's mount locations are weak, or the motor is nice and worn out.

Or... there is always the chance that you don't have the right size wipers on the arms as well...

I'm not sure about the intermittent control, but I BELIEVE it's on a relay... although it runs off the same power... anyway, if this goes wrong, it's usually the switch, nothing else.

Oh, they could also just be adjusted too far up the windshield when they're in Park... turn the wipers off, and they should literally rest on the plastic cowl at the bottom of the windshield... if they don't, pull the nuts off them, lift them off, turn them, put them back on in the right place.

[ozzfreak]

The blades are the right size, cuz I just put them on. They are also adjust right, when in park. They work fine for the first few swipes. I'll have to look a bit closer to see if the mount bushings are wore out. Hopefully it's not the motor.

I'll have a look at getting a new switch. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Dr0pZ0n3

If the wipers are going too far, that is one of two things... Either the little rubber bushings on the wiper motor's mount locations are weak, or the motor is nice and worn out.

Or... there is always the chance that you don't have the right size wipers on the arms as well...

I'm not sure about the intermittent control, but I BELIEVE it's on a relay... although it runs off the same power... anyway, if this goes wrong, it's usually the switch, nothing else.

Oh, they could also just be adjusted too far up the windshield when they're in Park... turn the wipers off, and they should literally rest on the plastic cowl at the bottom of the windshield... if they don't, pull the nuts off them, lift them off, turn them, put them back on in the right place.

[FrodoGT]

My wipers are the same exact way. They have about 6" of play in the linkage that connects them to the motor. I even replaced the motor thinking it had gone haywire, but no such luck. They still only go up 3/4 till the wipers get wet then they smack the A-pillar and only go down 3/4..or sometimes almost smack the hood. Hell yesterday they come off the windshield and got stuck, I had to push it back onto the windshield.

Also my car didnt come with int. But I put it in, and occasionally it doesnt work when I switch it on.

As for the long delay, I think the time changes as the control module heats up lol.. it starts out long, and then gets faster. Either that or its speed sensitive..which I doubt with the age of our cars.

Try this, lift up your wipers a bit and wiggle them up and down. How much play is there before the motor stops them? I have a feeling our problem is the linkage that connects them to the motor arm.

[Christ]

That could be your problem as well...

My old sedan (LX) had INT wipers... they never took any longer or shorter, even on the coldest winter days, or the hottest summer days. It was a stock feature.

I'm still thinking that when it doesn't perform as it should, it's almost always the switch..

If you want to check your wiper linkage for excessive play, remove the push-ins that hold the wiper cowl cover to the car.

With this cover removed, you can see the wiper linkage and motor, and everything associated, so while you're watching those parts, move things around and see if it looks like they're moving too much.

I believe that every pivot point and junction in the wiper motor and transmission has a bushing of some sort, they may be worn out.

[FrodoGT]

It does. I know for a fact my wiper arm bushing is good, but I fear the others are shot to hell. And my wipers went too far or too short before I swapped the motor, AND before I put the intermittent module in. I thought they were just on wrong too, nope. Went from slapping the cowl to smacking the a pillar lol.

[ozzfreak]

I checked the play like you said, and it moves a good 4 or 5 inches. But when you push down, it wants to stop, and you barely put any pressure on it, and it goes down a another inch or so. I'll have to take the cover off and look at it, when I get unlazy. I need to fix my rear defroster too, *sigh*. I am hoping that's just the switch. Light doesn't come on on the switch, and no lines are working. Any way of testing this to be sure?

[ozzfreak]

scratch the testing. Just took apart the switch, and the circuits are all burnt

[Christ]

Lol... pretty common, just replace it with one from a bone yard... same w/ the wiper switch.

Once you've changed the rear defrost, you can check for impedance across each line with a standard ohm-meter, set to 12v.

I don't remember what the figure should actually be, but it shouldn't be infinite. if you have a broken or bad line, it will either show infinite impedance, or it will show nothing.

[FrodoGT]

Dont look for impedance. The service manual says to read voltage. At the center of each line it should read approx 6 volts. If the line is broken in either direction it will read either battery voltage or 0v. Thats how you pinpoint the break, keep moving down the line until you find it.

This is for a crx but its the same. Positive and neg could be backwards but I doubt it.