Windshield wipers stopped working and all I hear is a clicking noise

[tkontonasakis]

My windshield wipers quit working on me and now I just hear a clicking noise. I live in WASHINGTON, need help ASAP. Lol I have tried to search the forums but have not had much luck with my problem. I still have fluid coming out and the rear windshield wipers work. I can't even move the wipers up or down manually.(not sure if this was even possible) after reading some other threads they say the relay is bad??? How do I locate the relay for the windshield wipers? I am not the greatest mechanic, however I am not the worst. Lol please help.

 

[96firephoenix]

My windshield wipers quit working on me and now I just hear a clicking noise. I live in WASHINGTON, need help ASAP. Lol I have tried to search the forums but have not had much luck with my problem. I still have fluid coming out and the rear windshield wipers work. I can't even move the wipers up or down manually.(not sure if this was even possible) after reading some other threads they say the relay is bad??? How do I locate the relay for the windshield wipers? I am not the greatest mechanic, however I am not the worst. Lol please help.

The fact that you can't move them by hand is a good sign - it means that the linkages are still connected to the motor.

If you are hearing a click, that is also a good sign - it means that the relay is probably still functioning.

What might be the problem is the wiring. Depending on how close to the coast you are in WA, you might have some badly corroded wires. You might get some badly corroded wires anyway. There should be a power Distribution box under the hood with all the relays (it should be labelled, but if not, look at the link for owners manuals). Pull the relay and check the wires in the box for corrosion. Then look at the wiring at the motor (mounted on the firewall).

If there's no corrosion, then replace the relay (should be less than $10). if that doesn't do the trick, then the motor is likely bad. One way to check is if there is no resistance between the ground terminal (the one that connects to the black wire) and all of the other terminals on the motor.

 

[tkontonasakis]

I got a chuckle out of your reply because although I live 90 miles away from the beach, I was at the beach leaving the casino when my wipers decided to quit working. Anyway I decided to take the grill off that covers the motor to see what the heck was going on. Everything looked intact so I tried tapping on the top of the motor to see if that would make it work. Low and behold it started working again. So I put everything back together to find out it quit working again. So I went down to part store and tried to see if I could just buy the computer module on top of motor. Nope you have to buy whole motor. Which is probably better off anyway. Haven't changed it yet, as I just pulled into my driveway. Will update after I swap it out. Thank you for your reply tho.

 

[96firephoenix]

that stinks... I was able to buy the control board for my old car... Glad I could help you though.

How many miles on your vehicle? if this is a "premature failure" then it might point to a bigger problem that is gonna toast your shiny new motor.

 

[tkontonasakis]

Hey sorry for the delay in replying. The messages were going to my junk mail. Anyway it took me about an hour total. Except I did a rookie move, when I put everything back together I put the windshield wipers too high, and it was traveling past windshield. I had no idea you could do that. I just thought the wipers go into 1 slot. Rookie move. I ended up tearing everything apart again put it back together then put wipers on too low, at that point it dawned on me that I could move it around to whatever position I want them to travel. My explorer is a 2005 with 180000 miles. It was due for a new motor. I do live in rainy northwest. So I got my use out of them. Thanks again for your advise

 

[96firephoenix]

yea, 180K in the PNW area is not "premature failure" lol. If anything, that's "extreme longevity".

Also, for what it's worth after the fact, there's a couple of alignment marks on the glass roughly within 2" of the tip of the wiper. just a top and bottom T or _ mark to show the positioning... I didn't think to mention it earlier, sorry.