Strange behavior, windhsield wipers???????

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tireman

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Had this car since new, 01 LS V6, never had this problem before,,,,don't laugh!

Bright sunny day and the windshield wipers cycle two times then shut off.......a day later they cycle one time and shut off..........I do not have auto wipers....if I do they have never worked........

Nothing else unusual going on.......runs fine.......battery has not been replaced yet.........

So its been a couple of days since the activity and nothing.

Anyone else had this problem?

Thanks :confused:
 
lol, j/k. i honestly have no idea what can be wrong with it just due to the fact that if you did have auto wipers they would turn on w/ the sun out
 
Mine are doing the same thing.Not sure whats going on. I have the auto wipers though. Thought it had somthing to do with the windshield sensor
 
Mine do it every now and then, but only right when I turn the car on. I just live with it now.
 
I’ve had this same problem although I don’t have my windshield wipers sent to auto. It can happen when I turn on my car, after I’ve been driving for a while, just siting at a stop light waiting for it to turn green. That’s so embarrassing by the way!!!:mad: And the funny part about it is that if I was want to cycle my wipers once that doesn’t work!:confused: I was just living with it but now it’s getting out of hand! I’m going to check about getting a new windshield wiper stering column module or whatever it is that’s causing it to do that!
 
Thanks all, I'm trying to find the problem too.

So the wipers do nothing for a week, then out of the blue while driving down the road on a sunny day, they cycle once. WTF? Ok this has to be an electrical problem. Most likely do to corrosion on the relay contacts or steering column switch. So I pull the relays for wipers, there appear to be several and look at the contacts and sure enough,,,,corroded. I brush the contacts off so they are nice and bright and reinstall. Will let you know the results.....thanks;)
 
PatrickSimmons said:
Mine does that but according to the manual it is suppose to do it once to let you know they are activated.
Click to expand...

Weird. I've had mine set to auto since I bought the car two years ago. I've yet to see them come on at all without some water hitting the windshield. 2002 V8.
 
no such luck yet........

So I removed the relays, clean the contacts and replaced them in the sockets. No luck,,,,,,,,,,,,,wipers still cycled. Have not been able to reproduce the event. Tried jiggling the switch,,,,nothing there. Still a mystery. I'll let you all know if i find it.:confused:
 
Getting closer to the answer

So I check the different relays available and find several of the same type. I switch the wiper relay 09 with another relay of the same type from the 01 socket (wiper hi/lo) and try the wipers. Nothing works right, so I switch them back and back to normal. Hmmmmm, I think the wiper relay 09 is defective. I will get a new one and try again.
 
Replaced relay 09

I put a new relay into the number 09 slot to replace the old one. So far no erratic wipers.
 
Quite possible it could just be the relay, but there are contacts in the motor that tell it where to stop when you turn the wipers off or use the intermittent/auto wipers. Ive seen a few cars where erratic wiper problems are fixed by taking the cover off of the motor and cleaning the contacts in there.
 
Not the number 9 relay

OK, wipers cycled once again for no reason. Changed out the 09 relay, same problem occurs. So this time I changed out the other wiper relay.

You mentioned the wiper motor contacts, don't they operate from the relay signal? I believe the wiper relays control all action of the motors themselves. The multi switch on the column will send a voltage to the relays to control the various functions. If I'm wrong, please correct me. thanks.:)
 
Both relays changed, problem continues

Changed out both wiper relays, still wipers cycle once in a while for no reason i can find. However i found they cycle when i am turning the steering wheel. Now I suspect something in the multifunction switch. Will let you know if i find it.:)
 
1997-2004 F-150's do the same thing. They call it a phantom wipe. On F-150's the problem is usually fixed by replacing the multi-function switch. Some guy take it apart and clean it click here
 
I believe you got it!

Hi Gusman, Thanks! I believe you have hit it on the head.

However the handle is different with the LS. Looks like they don't want anyone to fix it.

If anyone has any idea how to open the switch handle, please post it.
 
You mentioned the wiper motor contacts, don't they operate from the relay signal? I believe the wiper relays control all action of the motors themselves. The multi switch on the column will send a voltage to the relays to control the various functions. If I'm wrong, please correct me. thanks.
Click to expand...
Yes but there are still contacts inside the motor that touch when the wiper linkage comes to the rest position. This is how the motor knows when to stop turning. The relays only tell it when to start turning.
 
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