1997 Pontiac Sunfire:
When I use the wiper delay, the wipers pause straight up in the middle of the windshield instead of where they usually park. Is there a solution to this?
If your wipers work just fine on
"intermittent" (they sweep across the windshield and return to the
bottom of the windshield then wait about 5 seconds until the next
sweep and repeat) but when you turn them to the "Off position then
they stop in the up position rather then park then the parking pawl probably has a broken spring and
is not working correctly. The pawl is a 1.25" long piece of metal external to the motor and is part of the
Stack-O-Plates on the output shaft of the motor and to which the
wiper push rods are attached. When you turn the wipers to "Off"
the motor will reverse direction and the pawl will catch on a
stationary tab that is part of the motor/wiper frame. This will
hold the wipers in the down position while the motor continues to
run and allow the parking Stack-O-Plates-Spring-Wrapped gizmo to
do its magic which drags the wiper arms down into the extra low
"parked" position. If the tiny spring that holds the pawl in the
out position breaks then the pawl will not engage the stationary
tab. The wipers will then continue swinging upward through half a
swing at which point a cam/switch that is internal to the pulse
board (the cover on the motor output gear (three T20 Torx screws
to remove) will tell the motor to stop because it thinks the parking Stack-O-Plates gizmo has finished
doing its job but instead the wiper arms will be stuck in the
"Hello, I'm a dork" raised flag position.
WARNING: Use caution while working
around the wiper mechanism. If the key is on and the wiper lever
is set to "Intermediate" then the motor can start unexpectedly. If
your fingers are down there in the wrong place, the mechanism has
more than enough power to break bones and/or peal the skin right
off of them. Don't be afraid, just be deliberate and methodical
and always be aware if the motor/electronics are energized.
It is very easy to remove the motor/wiper assembly so do not
hesitate to do so:
Remove the plastic covers off the wiper arm retaining nuts.
Remove the wiper arm nuts with a 13mm socket.
Twist and pull with your finger tips
and finger nails at the base of the small rubber squirt tubing off
the hard plastic squirt delivery tubes.
You may have to yard up and down on the wiper arms pretty hard to
get them loose from their tapered shafts. Don't be a mindless
gorilla but be brave and keep at it. They will come loose.
Remove the cowl cover by pulling or
prying out the center of the six retaining push pins. Then lift
the cowl cover up then out at a 45 degree angle. You will find the
cover is a very tight fit between the right hand wiper shaft and
the weatherstrip at the base of the windshield. Be brave and keep
pulling and prying until it comes loose.
Reinstalling the cowl cover and getting the rubber weather strip
over the cover is the hardest part of the whole job. Use putty
knifes (slowly and carefully!) or a very small slender
screwdriver. It took me half an hour just to do this part of the
job that. ugh.
Remove the 3 bolts holding the wiper assembly.
Disconnect the electrical connector by squeezing the retaining tab
that you cant see on the backside of the connector. You have to
squeeze real hard.
Lift the wiper assembly out.
Remove the Stack-O-Plates assembly from
the motor output shaft (T30 Torx) to access the pawl to put on a
spring. I wrapped one and a half
loops of spring around one protrusion on the end of the pawl and
around one tab of the stationary clip that limits the swing of the
pawl to hold it in the "swung out"
position. The loop of spring applies very light pressure but
that is all it needs. This will all make sense when you are looking at
the pawl mechanism. I cut off one and a half loops from a spring like
what you would find in a retractable ball point pen but bigger.
Use what spring you can find even if it from a ball point pen.
When the motor runs in the forward direction the pawl harmlessly
swings out of the way as it passes by the stationary tab. Bend the
stationary tab in or out as necessary so the pawl engages straight
on to it. I will try and post pictures of all this.
Before remounting the whole Stack-O-Plates gizmo assembly you will
need to set the motor into the correctly timed position. Plug the
motor in, then turn the wipers to "Intermediate". When the motor
stops then turn off the ignition switch or quickly disconnect the
motor. The motor is now in the correct position. Remount the
Stack-O-Plates so there is about 1/4" to 1" space between the pawl
and the stationary tab. Tighten down the T30 Torx bolt (blue lock
tight recommended) then test the unit to see if the pawl engages
to the stationary tab and lets the parking Stack-O-Plates do all
its parking gyrations before you remount the whole wiper assembly.
When you are all done try not to wear out the wipers by constantly
turning them on and off for the next few hours of driving just so
you can marvel at your handy work. :O)
Buy the way, if you turn the wipers off and they just wiggle a
little bit while the motor goes click-click-click-click trying to
do its parking thing then you need to alter (slightly) the
relationship between the cam/switch arm inside the pulse module
(again, the cover on the motor
output gear, three T20 Torx screws to remove). There are two
switch/contact arms in the center of the pulse board. The one
closest to the board that engages the plastic cam mounted to the
board is the one you want to change slightly. The other free
floating arm is driven by the cam on the big motor output gear and
is the contact to let the electronics know the output gear has
rotated half a turn and the wipers are now parked. I bent the one
arm closest to the pulse board away from its cam just slightly so
that only about 3/4 of the "hook" on the end of the arm (you will
know what I mean when you look at it) is hitting the ramp on the
cam (the cam spins clockwise). Verify that the electrical contact
actually opens a bit when the arm is riding on the high part of
the cam. You may have to adjust and verify a number of times to
find that sweet spot where it runs reliably. It took me half an
hour of fiddling. O_0
Yes the solution is to replace the wiper motor, the auto park circuit is defective.
Ok I did this and it did not work. I spent 40.00 on a new circuit board and it still operates the same. Now suspecting its the wiper switch.
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