crunchybuttr

The wipers quit working on her about a week ago. What's happenning is the fuse for the circuit is blowing every time I start the truck, even with the wiper motor unplugged. I looked for frayed wire, but there was none to be found (immediatly visible). Whats the best way to deal with this? Tear the wiring apart looking for a short, or rewire the wipers completely ?
thanks,
mike

G1625S

I don't have a wiring diagram to go from, but I'd say it would be worth the effort to pull the fuse box down and at least look for obvious shorts. Sounds like when the starter is energized, there's some stray current back-feeding to the circuit the wiper motor is on...I'd guess the wiper fuse is the weakest link on that circuit, so it blows first. Keep us posted on your progress.
greg

crunchybuttr

It blows the fuse BEFORE the starter kicks on. I tested the wires at the plug going into the wiper motor, and two of them complete a cicuit, so I guess thta's where my short is, right? I dunno, I'm a greenhorn at the electric stuff.
thanks,
mike

kc8ksg

Okay I am just guessing here, but on my 91, and my 95, both of them have intermitent wipers and when you turn on the wipers you can here something click under the dash, so I am guessing there is some kind of wiper control under the dash somewhere which might be your problem, you might want to find that and then disconnect it and see if you still end up blowing fuses.


Chris

ChrisLib

the park circiut in the wiper motor is hot all the time so the switch does`nt necessarily have to be "on" to pop a fuse. Try unplugging the wiper motor and see what happens.

crunchybuttr

Ok, tried that... still blows as soon as the electrics get hot. I haven't found the switch in the dash, which I suppose will be my next step... It's a friggen rat's nest in there. Thanks for everyones input so far... I'm narrowing it down... I may even fix the problem, who knows.
mike

crunchybuttr

Ressurecting this one 'cause I have a question. Can I just wire the wiper motor to the battery and put a simple switch in the cab??? I can't find the short in the system, and everythings all bound up. I know if I did it, it would only run on one speed, but honestly, I don't care . Lemme know what you all think.
Mike

Alec

You could even put in a two speed switch -- most wiper motors select the speed by powering different windings, i.e.: feed 12v to one wire or another wire.

Just don't neglect to put a fuse in the circuit!

kellypckp

Had the same problem. Under the dash is a box for the delay of the wiper. When I unplugged that it stopped blowing fuses. There was something rattling around in the box - opened and didn't see anything. Cleaned the board and reinstalled didn't have the problem again.

crunchybuttr

SO... If I unplug the intermittant control box, I should be able to use the original wiring? I'm already in this with a new wiper motor.... I tested the old one directly to the battry with no movement (I had a fuse in there... never fear). Could the motor have fried as well as the control box? I'm probably just going to wire it from the battery... I have all the parts for that anyway... Any suggestions? Thanks for everyones continued input... you all have been a big help to ignorant old me.
Mike

kellypckp

Not 100% sure on that. You might be able to but you will have to do some testing to deterime if the the 2 speeds go through the box or if you just go directly to the motor from the switch. Sorry I can't be more help.

crunchybuttr

So I wired the NEW wiper motor to the battery, flip the on switch, and the motor buzzes, moves a little, then the fuse blows. The wire is thick enough, the fuse is 20 amp, like it was before... What's the deal??? Do I need a higher level fuse? When will the insanity end??

ChrisLib

Was the wiper motor hooked up to the linkage? If so, possibly the linkage assy is bound up?

crunchybuttr

OK, digging this one up again, hopefully for the last time. Yes, the motor was hooked to the linkage. Apparently, I had the motor wired backwards, I switched the wires around, and it runs.. for a little while, then blows the fuse. I'm pretty sure the linkage is the problem, though it was moving pretty easily by hand before I installed the motor. Anybody have any other ideas??? I'm going to check it as soon as it quits pissing rain outside, and let you all know.. thanks again to everyone for their suggestions.
Mike