Winshield wipers quit working...

[sprucegoose]

Hey all,
My wipers on my 98 Riv recently quit working, but they still work when you hit the wash button! I checked the wiper fuse (#23) and that is good. When I pull that fuse the wash botton won't work anymore either...

What else could be wong? Is it the switch itself (inside the turn signal stalk)? I hope not as that would have to be a b*^&h to replace! Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,
Dave

[jetsfan1128]

i belive its going to be a b then

[sprucegoose]

Anybody else experience this in ANY car? I never have... I suppose with over 200K mi. that switch has seen a lot of use. I would have thought it would have been sproratic before it just went out totally though...

I suppose I can get a good dose of RainX on the shield for a while till I have time to sort this out. That stuff works pretty good, but you have to keep applying it pretty often...

[sprucegoose]

Well, finally got around to doing some electrical testing and troubleshooting on the circuit. It sure seems that the switch is the problem now... I tapped into the circuit under the hood on connector 102C, pin J3 and with 12V and the wipers move.

Now I have to find the time to break down the column and also find another donor switch. There is no way I am paying $400 for a new one (GM Partdirect.com)...

[GMFreak38]

Any update on this situation? Mine recently did the same thing. The car has only 65,000 miles on it. Worked fine yesterday, and then today nothing. Only thing that works is the washer button.

[sprucegoose]

Originally Posted by GMFreak38

Any update on this situation? Mine recently did the same thing. The car has only 65,000 miles on it. Worked fine yesterday, and then today nothing. Only thing that works is the washer button.

Nope, sorry I have been swamped and never got around to fixing it yet. I'm sure that is what my problem is though. The cheapest USED part I have been able to find is about $90! That is rediculous!

Now I have a wheel bearing that apparently let loose, so that is my higher priority repair right now. Fortunately it has been very dry here and the Rainex has been working fine on the windshield so far!

[sprucegoose]

I finally got this thing fixed! And it was definitely the multi-functional switch in the column. I took the old one apart and it was mechanically broken someplace inside in the stalk so that the rotating switch wasn't rotating when being turned....

I found a used part out of a '97 Riv at a boneyard down in SC. What a project! Man, you have to take the whole front of the dash apart just to get off that lower knee bolster. There was proabably about 15 screws and numerous snap in place fastenres holding that mess together. It helps to have a shop manual for sure, but you are constantly fipping from one section to another to read on how to disassemble each section.

The wiring harness came out in one piece and the resistor circuit for the pellet in the key came along with it. One of the bigger holdups was trying to find a tool to take apart the 2-piece trim around the column. It is a male torx head screw (I suppose for security) and I ended up buying a 5mm nut-driver to get those out.

Good to have it back on the road and all is funtioning well again. Glad my son finally bought his own new car (09 Malibu LT1) so that I didn't have to rush getting this back together! Should be good for another 217K miles now right?