78 Volare- Intermittent wiper failure

[Mr C]

Driving home today the intermittents quit...still work on lo and high so I can continue using the car.
I'm thinking it's either the slidey switch that failed or the under dash module.
Any advice on where to start?

 

[slant6billy]

Pull the connector at the wipermotor and clean any grease or dirty sludge. Common issue with weak connections. If you have a handheld volt meter? you can verify your low , high and intemit at the motor connector. If it is the switch (could have a burnt intermitent relay) I had an 88 GTA with a problem of the wipers stopping halfway up and then they would go back to the bottom. The motor had a Thermister or choke wired to it and I wondered if that was it, so I disconnected it. The wipers then did not move. I think I bought a intermittent relay from the help isle at Pep boys and it took care of the problem. Thats23 years ago. I blew the engine a week later after I put new BF Tires all around.

 

[Aspen500]

If the intermittent doesn't work in any delay position, the likely cause is the delay module under the dash. Rarely does a switch suddenly fail completely for all delay times.
If the wipers make one sweep when put in pulse and then don't move:
Disconnect the delay module and connect a volt meter to pins 4 and 8. Turn the delay switch to maximum delay. You should have 10-14 volts. If you do, replace the module. If it's zero volts, it is the switch.

If the wipers don't move at all, not even one sweep, when turned to pulse, put the switch in maximum delay and check voltage between pins 4 and 6. 10-14 volts, replace the module. Zero volts, the switch.

Pin 1 is on the end that has the indexing tab on the connector which should be light blue with a black stripe. Looks like both pins 4 and 6 are black and pin 8 is white.

 

[Mr C]

Thanks for the tips...I'll get on it with the ole volt meter if it stops raining (Tacoma area)!
By the way the wipers do nothing in all of the delay sweep portion of the switch. Low and High work as normal.

 

[Mr C]

All fixed...bad module. Reached into the parts stash and installed one from an 80's 5th Ave (perfect fit...only difference appears to be that it's a green plastic case vs the original white).

 

[Aspen500]

Excellent! I suppose where you live, the wipers get quite a bit of use. That is, if it's like we hear it is up there anyways (rains a lot).

 

[7T8 Custom]

South of me and gets more rain than we do here.

 

[Aspen500]

We got more than our fair share here last summer. From May through October we ended up with at least 1/2 again as much as normal. Rained out every car show, every cruise (same as the previous year) and since my car will melt if it gets wet made it real tough to drive it a whole bunch. It hasn't been wet from rain or a water hose a single time since 1996 so......................

 

[Jonnyuma]

By way of thread-revival (my "intermittent" is out too), could the module cause the wipers to not park? When I turn them off they just stop wherever they're at... sometimes.
When I get the car home later this week I'll check the module as suggested above, I'm just wondering if the dead-stop is another symptom of the same thing or possibly something else... ?

Good help from the members already, and I haven't even brought her home yet!

Thanks.