Wipers won't park & only work on Hi | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Wipers won't park & only work on Hi

vevalachris

New Member
Joined
December 2, 2007
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
City, State
Marysville,wa
Year, Model & Trim Level
94 xploder
94' xploder and the wipers wont go to park & only works on high. I've done a little diggin and cant really get a feel of what is wrong. Is it the mult switch on the column? Is it the wiper motor? Is it too old to have a GEM module? Is it a relay? Help me out Please
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Welcome to this forum! Some Fords come with a wiper module. I pulled one out from a Grand Marquis which had the same problem. Check Autozone's website for a schematic to see if you have this part.
 






Sounds like the same problems I had with my '92, turned out to be the wiper motor.
 






The 2nd gens have a wiper park -run relay-and a wiper hi- lo relay--yes, 2 relays

You might check this out--:D I'm not sure about the first gen's
 






I checked the fuse panel by the battery and didnt find any relay for the wipers. There are about 6 relays for other stuff but no wipers. If it was the motor wouldn't it not work all together? Doesn't the multi switch regulate the amount of current sent to the wiper motor with is only a one speed motor. The less current you send to the motor the slower the moter goes? If the multi switch is broke its just like turning it off and on. These are just my thoughts. I dont want to start replacing stuff without knowing for sure. New multi switch from schmucks is $120
 






Well, thats kinda what I thought, so I replaced the MFS, did absolutely nothing to help. No, there is circuits in the motor housing itself and apparantly ocasionally they can go bad. Mine would only work in hi, and had no memory of where they were, turn it off and they would just stop wherever they were. If you turned the switch on and off in the delayed mode they would twitch.
However if you end up needing a MFS I still have my original, it was in great shape when I took it out.
 






"I dont want to start replacing stuff without knowing for sure."

I hear that! Get a voltmeter, turn on the wipers and check the voltage at the leads on the motor. If you're getting the correct voltage with the switch turned on (low then high), it's the motor. If not, start working back toward the switch, fuses, etc.

Hope this helps.

Mike
 






OK...So its been a month and I have changed the mult switch and the wiper motor. Still only works on hi what else should I check?
 






fix

I don't know if you or anone else is still having this problem, but mine messed up and started doing the same thing about 2 weeks ago. To me, it didn't make any sense for it to be the switch because it wasn't intermitant. Most of the time a variable switch will only go dead in all positions, or one or two...Also, I knew from older style wipers (Mustangs, Thunderbirds and LTD's) the high setting is both windings of the motor, if the motor was bad, the high setting would work at half speed. My radio didn't start right up on Monday and I just dicided to see if i could hear anything. I heard a click inside the dash when I turned the wipers on. Inbetween the Steering Column and the heater controls and just above the annoying door chime is the control box. I broke this loose from the dash(as it was much easier than trying to take the screws out) and brought it in the house to inspect. The cover is easily removed and a printed circuit board is inside. There are several Resisters and Diods on the board as well as the Relay. I examined the resisters and diodes first due to the smell that came from the box, but all of the componets physically looked fine and from that smell, normally there will be physical signs of burning on the componet. I flipped the board over to examine the traces to see if it was something i missed. One of the solder joints was gone from the relay. I just simply re-soldered the connection and now they work like a charm. This board has simple componets. I will try to get a schematic of this board and post it at a later date.
 






I actually figured out the problem. It was some sort of control box that was behind the ashtray. Found one at a pull-a-part. plugged it in and now everything works.
 












I dont. Before I went to the junk yard I crawled under the dash and took a picture with my camera phone. Then I went to the junk yard looking for the same box in the same location. I noticed some had a metal module in the same spot but couldnt tell if that was a newer or older vehicle. The unit is held in by two torx screws that are in slotted holes and only needed to be partly unscrewed and then unpluged to take it out. If I only know this would of been my first step and not my last.
 












my wipers where iced up to the windshild and turned the wipers on and didn't relize i didn't turn them off all the way. now the they only work on hi but are slow. the sprayer still work but wipers don't move unless i crank them up all the way. sometime it doesnt work at all and the next day it does but still not how they should. is it the module or what? 95 ford f 150 4.9L 4x4.
 






my wipers where iced up to the windshild and turned the wipers on and didn't relize i didn't turn them off all the way. now the they only work on hi but are slow. the sprayer still work but wipers don't move unless i crank them up all the way. sometime it doesnt work at all and the next day it does but still not how they should. is it the module or what? 95 ford f 150 4.9L 4x4.

Sorry to tell ya, but it sounds like you cooked the motor. If it makes you feel any better I have done the same thing being too lazy to brush heavy snow off the windshield and just trying to use the wipers to clear the windshield.
 






Just thought I'd add to the info on here... My wipers were having the lame issues...Do yourself a favor if you have a problem like this and check the relays first so you dont wind up going through the hassle of taking the shrouds off of your steering coloumn and removing a perfectly good multifunction switch and having to return a new one you spent 64 bucks on (stealership wanted $123.) Or worse, trying to replace wipermotors that are perfectly fine.

Anyhow.

Swap your horn relay(relay 1) (provided your horn works) with relay 2 (wiper run relay) and see if that fixed it. If that doesn't work try putting that horn relay into relay 3 (wiper high/low relay) spot. That should tell you which relay is goin out or if it's even a relay issue. Start with the easy fix first It could end up saving you time and money. (thats the relay numbers for a second gen fuse box though . I dunno if !st gen is the same.)
 






Hey everyone, this is my first post. I have a question, has anyone obtained a picture of this said box that they can post? I looked under there and all I see is a bunch of stuff lol. Sorry I am sort of learning as I go but I am having this same problem. Thanks in advance if anyone can help me out.
 






Hey everyone, this is my first post. I have a question, has anyone obtained a picture of this said box that they can post? I looked under there and all I see is a bunch of stuff lol. Sorry I am sort of learning as I go but I am having this same problem. Thanks in advance if anyone can help me out.

.
.
sorry i do not have a picture at the moment , the control box on my 91 explorer is located behind the dash (inside the explorer) to the passenger
side of the steering column it has to very small screws that hold it in
place.after removing the screw slide the box toward the gas pedal and turn it
it should have biger numbers 17c476 on it , search that number on e-bay
and you can find a picture the number on the connector of the box
is e6eb-14a624-aa that is the coorect part number for my control
i think the other number is the housing number

hope this helps
 






Thank you very much for the information. One more question, I have been told by a machanic that you have to take half the dash apart for this. Is this true?
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





94' xploder and the wipers wont go to park & only works on high. I've done a little diggin and cant really get a feel of what is wrong. Is it the mult switch on the column? Is it the wiper motor? Is it too old to have a GEM module? Is it a relay? Help me out Please

Thanks for getting back with the resolution. It's what makes Forums work.
 






Back
Top