The windshield wipers on my 98 model GLE started locking up (shutting off) at the mid sweep point or sometimes a 1/4 sweep. Then I just need to turn the wiper up to the next higher speed or off and on to continue operation. Its a matter of moving restarting the wipers to get them move for a few sweeps. When I turn off the wipers, they do not automatically return to the normal resting position. I feel like some timing mechanism inside the motor is about to fail.

Has anyone had this problem? I'm preparing to swap the wiper motor with a known good unit. Please let me know if this could only be a relay or something different that is behind the problem.

Thank you in advance.

Craig

 

Since you probably have the I30, Steal the WW switch stem and swap it out to make sure the contacts haven't decayed. Or the wiring around the switch.

Then the motor assemby

Not much else except a wiring short which usually pops fuses.

Perfect time of the year! LOL Regards to all!!!

 

Wet and cold. LOL.. Happy New Year Keith!

 

I think the problem is either the wiper relay or the wiper switch on the steering column. I give a higher likelihood to the relay because you say the motor stops mid-wipe when you turn the switch off.

The wiper motor gets 12 volts from fuse # 20 when the ignition switch is turned on. For the wiper motor to work on low speed, ground has to be supplied to pin 2 of the wiper motor. Ground comes from chassis ground to the normally open (no) contacts of the wiper relay. From the wiper relay to the wiper switch. When wiper switch is turned to low speed, the ground is forwarded to pin 2 of the motor.

Except for the 12 volts, none of the above applies to the wiper operating in high speed. High speed grounds pin 3 on the motor and does not use the relay.

Happy New Year.

 

Thank you Dennis. I swapped in another relay from the parts I30. It may be bad also. The problem is definitely isolated to the low speed setting. I'll pick up another relay on Tuesday and report back.

 

@CS_AR any update on this? I'm having the same problem and considering replacing the relay.

 

I have this issue on mine, except it’s nothing to do with the wipers. The wipers and radio will intermittently not work. The issue came down to the ignition switch: cranking the engine would force the key to turn too far, in which case it would cause the wipers, clock and radio to not work (not sure how or why those are all connected).

the easy fix was: slightly turning the key up to get it out of whatever mode it was in. Almost failed inspection because of that, but I had to “show them” that that my rainX hybrid wipers worked very well, thankyou very much lol.

 

@97_GXE hmmm my wipers seem to work fine other than when I turn them off. When I turn them off, they stop immediately where they're at and don't finish the cycle. I searched a bunch and the fix seems to point towards a new relay but I can't find definitive info or follow ups. I went ahead and ordered one. I'll follow up with the results in a few days.

 

Update:
I replaced the wiper relay today with a beck/arney one. It actually made the problem worse and I put the old relay back in.

with the old relay: when I turn wipers off, they would immediately stop where they were at. So I could time it and 'park' them at the bottom of the window.

with the new relay: As soon as I turned the key on, the wipers moved/parked to the middle of the windshield, before I even turned the wipers on. Then when I turned the wipers on, then off, the wipers would continue for a second or 2 till they reach the middle of the window. There was no way to time it and 'park' them at the bottom.

Any suggestions? I'm guessing the actual wiper switch on the steering column, or the 'switch' inside the motor(or the motor itself if the switches are built in)?

 

I'm still having the problem. I will try moving a stalk from a parts car that I have. No luck with just the relay.