A couple of years ago, the windshield wipers on my 2005 RAM 3500 started acting up.

The intermittent function stopped working entirely, so only the low and high speeds would work. Sometimes even those wouldn't work for a moment when I first turned on the switch. I ended up replacing both the motor AND the multi-function switch. This seemed to solve the problem for a while, but after six months or so, it was back to doing the same thing. And over time, it's gotten worse. I never know what is going to happen when I turn on the switch. The intermittent function is long dead, sometimes the low/high speed functions work, sometimes not, sometimes the wipers refuse to properly park themselves, and SOMETIMES they they even magically turn on for a moment when I unlock the door with the key fob.

How weird is that?

...and TODAY they just parked themselves in he middle of the windshield after making a few weak passes. And nothing would make them move again except climbing out of the truck and physically forcing them. And then they'd make one pass and park BACK in the middle of the windshield. Most of the time, anyway. If I flip the switch back and forth and push and curse I can occasionally get them to park in the correct spot.

But the situation is no longer tenable. I basically can't drive my truck in the rain.

As I said: Both the motor and multi-function switch were replaced a year or so ago, and it KINDA solved the problem, but not for very long. I've examined and cleaned all the related connectors that I can see and access. Everything looks fine. No obvious problems with wires.

Any ideas? (I mean, before I just give up and call a priest to perform an exorcism ...)

~Elias

 

While this is more than likely not your issue it may be worth a few minutes.

On my 01 (I know a completely different animal than an 05 but...) I had some very weird wiper issues like yourself. Couldn't figure it out. One day I was under the hood messing with something totally unrelated and jostled/hit/nudged whatever a bolt on the firewall. My wipers wiped, the key was not in the ignition nor were the wipers in the on position. I am thinking what the heck and at first hadn't even really connected the wipers wiping with hitting the bolt as they had been acting weird. Then it struck me hey what the heck. So I started fiddling with the bolt and could get the wipers to move just messing with the bolt. It was somewhat loose The only thing I could see that the bolt did was hold a 14 or 16 gauge wire to the firewall.. I tightened it up and ever since I did that I never had another wiper problem. I few days later when I was home I dug out the service manual to try and figure out what the heck that bolt/wire was for. I couldn't trace the wire back very far as it went into a loom. In any case I did find it in the FSM and low and behold it was the ground wire for the wipers. Might be worth finding it on your 05 and checking it. On my 01 the bolt was just to the drivers side of the center of the engine high on the firewall a single bolt with a single black wire going to it.

 

Faulty grounds are the single most guilty culprit of weird electrical problems in my experience...Over the years I learned to add redundant grounds to many of the vehicles I worked on, as well as all my own personal cars and trucks......Ben

 

Thanks, guys. That really does make a lot of sense that it's a faulty ground somewhere. Definitely gives me a place to start

 

Hi did you do what Barry suggested? Mine are doing the same thing yours are doing.

Thanks

Steve

 

Had the same problem along with a AC clutch problem it was the TIPM. installed a rebuilt one from TIPM Rebuilders out of Cali. no problems since.