[siragan]

The rear windshield wiper on my 95 LX waggy doesn´t work. I bought it used, so it never worked, but I´d like to know how to go about fixing it.

I opened up the hatch and tried to basically take everything apart and get to the motor and test resistance with an ohm meter to see if perhaps the brushes on the motor were shot, but I don´t know how to get into that part.

The rear sprayer works, though, so I know I have electricity back there... help me out please!

 

[siragan]

help me, you´re my only hope(s)!

 

[mowslawn]

Sorry it took me so long to reply. I have the same problem with my 95 LX station wagon, but I didn´t know how to check it either.

You can take off the panel covering the motor as follows:

Remove the covering over the stop light. Then push the weather stripping away from the top of the panel. Grab the bottom of the panel and pull. The bottom is held in by a bunch of clips.

There is a connector to the motor. You can test your motor there.

My motor worked fine. The sprayer works OK just like on your car. I wanted to check the wire running from the inside fuse panel to the back of the car, but the battery in my meter was dead. If the wire checks OK, it must be a bad switch. Good luck.

 

[siragan]

I´ll check this out, thanks a lot for the help... I didn´t think anyone would ever reply!!

Ahem. *retain composure! refrain from exposing feminine side!*

So what voltage does the wiper take? straight 12V DC? I don´t have a multimeter (I may go borrow one), but I do have a 7.2V R/C car pack!

I will also check the resistance of the cables on the SWITCH side, so I can see if maybe the fuse is blown (I checked, and it isnt) or the switch is bad. The weird thing is that the squirter thing works, but I don´t know if that is on a different electrical lead altogether.

Also, does anyone know what OTHER accessories run on the same leads as the rear wiper? I´m kinda wondering, because my rear brakelight works, but just recently, the little light (the normal incandescent) on the inside of the back hatch (used to light up the rear of the car for unloading and stuff) went out. Maybe the bulb, but I never did anything to the bulb. I´m kinda worried. I hate ...

I HATE

having stuff like this go on a car. It´s prefectly fixable stuff to fix, and I am smart enough to fix it, and I hate cars where nothing works. This should never happen. I´m going to squeeze every last mile out of this giant maroon gasoline dildo if it´s the last thing I do! muhahahah!

ahem. thanks.

 

[mowslawn]

It is annoying to have a lot of things broken on the car. When the car gets old, things break all of the time. It is difficult and expensive to keep up.

The motor should use 12 volts. If you take the connector apart, there should be a 2 hole socket. Put a wire in each, and run the one with a blue/green wire to the + terminal of the car battery and the other one to ground. Motor should run.

I think that both the sprayer and the motor use the same 10 amp rear wiper fuse and the blue/green wire from the fuse. I think only the motor uses the blue/black wire which goes to the switch and then to ground.

 

[siragan]

I got the panel off, and I´m going to get to work on it tommorrow morning, with an ohmmeter, hopefully.

Thank you SO MUCH for your help, I really appreciate it.

strange: the rear hatch light (not the brake light) worked when I started the project, then it stopped, then on, then off again. I think I may have a grounding problem if the windshield wiper and the light have a common ground...

 

[siragan]

question:
there´s a plastic cover over all the electronics. Can I take this off and still put it back on? What is the use of it? What will happen if I take it off?

If I cut a hole in it, where should I cut?

 

[siragan]

okay...
I took everything apart.
Here´s what I found, when using a multimeter:
The motor is good.
The switch is good.

I´m getting 12V DC through the switch, when it´s on, through both the "wipe" and the "wash" leads.

Problem:
I can´t find out where the wires go from the switch to the motor. I know both ends are good, but somewhere inbetween things go bad...

where is the ground for the motor???
Is it attached to the frame of the car? Where does it end up?

I opened the electrical tape for the leads from the wiper motor, and I got to the edge of the hatchback and gave up. I´m assuming that it travels along the side of the car up to the front of the car somewhere. I´m guessing my problem is the connection between the end of the wiper motor leads and the switch... WHERE IS THIS INTERFACE?

I´m getting really worried. You know the lights for the liscense plate? the right one doesn´t work... left one DOES. My "center" (in the window) brake light doesn´t work anymore for some strange reason. Things are lookin down... my brake lights aren´t working...

omg what have I done...

_________________

[ Edited by siragan On Date 11-24-2002 ]

 

[siragan]

help me! please!
I´ll get pulled over if the cops find out my brake lights don´t work!

...not like I brake, though

 

[mowslawn]

Check the following:

Stop lamps: Check the fuse labelled ´STOP´ in the interior fuse panel. If that is OK, check the bulbs. The metal parts on the bulbs and on the bulb holders should be clean and free of corrosion. I think this circuit is completely separate from the rear wiper circuit.

Ground for motor: When switch is on, the ground is supplied by the blue/black wire which runs between the switch and motor. When the switch is off, ground is supplied by the switch that parks the wiper; this ground is opened when the wiper is in its parked position. I think power (+) is always supplied to the blue/green wire. The motor is turned on/off by the switch providing ground.

License plate light: One lamp is working, and one is not. Sounds like a bad bulb or corrosion. Replace or clean.

 

[siragan]

first off thanks a LOT... I don´t know what I´d do without the help.

I checked the "STOP" fuse... it was blown. I´m going to replace it and hope for the best.

I also checked the "TAIL" and " REAR WIPE" fuses. They were in tact. What is the tail fuse? Just the plain jane tail lights?

I´m still baffled as to what´s wrong with the rear wiper. Is it on its own private circuit? I tested it out with a 7.2V battery pack and I got movement.
What other tests should I run to see where the problem is? I´ve got an ohm meter, voltmeter, and a bunch of wire and free time. Please guid me...

Thank you thank you thank you..
definite karma points in the next life.

_________________

[ Edited by siragan On Date 11-25-2002 ]

 

[siragan]

yay!
Got the brake lights on the tail working, but the brake light in the center of the rear windshield doesn´t work. Is it on the same circuit as the tail brake lights?

The bulb is good...

 

[Black_Knight]

I don´t remember exactly but my dad´s 95LX Wag, had a similar problem. It turned out to be the wiring harness between the hatch and car(the bendy piece 4 inches long wears out) he did a bit of splicing and everything worked again.

 

[mowslawn]

That sounds like a likely spot for a broken wire. When I get back to my car, if the switch looks OK, I will have to check there.

According to my manual, the TAIL fuse is for the parking, cornering, rear, license, compartment, and instrument panel lamps.

High mount stop lamp. The circuit is as follows:

Battery(+) --> brake on of switch --> green wire --> left, right, and hi-mount stop lamp. Each lamp has a black wire to ground. Since the right and left lamps work, the hi-mount lamp´s green wire or black ground wire must be disconnected or broken. Check the hi-mount green wire for continuity to the right or left lamp green wires or lamp socket. Check lamp fixture to ground continuity to be sure black wire is grounded OK.

The rear wiper/washer circuit is separate from any other circuits.

 

[siragan]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%>[TR][TD]Quote:

[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]

It turned out to be the wiring harness between the hatch and car(the bendy piece 4 inches long wears out) he did a bit of splicing and everything worked again.

[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]

[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]

Okay... is this that little rubber thing that is near the HINGE part of the hatch?

I´ll check that out. I remember going in there before and it was all electrical taped up and stuff. Thanks for the heads up. You guys are great.

Got all the lights working, except for the right liscense plate light. The screws have been corroded and I can´t open it up. I´m not horribly concerned.

Windshield wiper still doesn´t work. I´m hoping that looking at the "rubber bendy" will reveal a worn out rear windshield wiper wire. Six thick thistle sticks...

I´ll keep you guys updated. Thanks again.

 

[siragan]

Found the problem!

It was in that little rubber snake housing between the hatch and the car. Every single wire was frayed severly, most completely severed.

What is the best way to reconnect them?

 

[mowslawn]

I would probably solder them and cover them with heat shrink tubing.

 

[James92Scort]

Yeah I agree, soldering will be 100% more effective than splicing with connectors and whatnot. take mowslawn´s advice. I believe there´s different types of solder, some for just metal and some for electrical currents. try to find the solder that will hold the currents.

 

[siragan]

soldering at 6AM tommorrow morning in -20º weather is going to suck...

The solder I have is "95/5 wire solder" brand: Dutch boy.

Pretty plain jane stuff. Should I splice in extra wire, or just use the existing wire? What can I do to keep this wearing out shit from happening again?

 

[James92Scort]

Well, after you solder it, let it cool and become solid (won´t be hard in -20 degree weather) then take electrical tape and wrap it around it 3 or 4 times. should keep it good for a long time.