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1993 Legacy L wagon, AT 4wd. I thought my rear wiper was shot, so 91 Loyale sent me one off his legacy parts car. I hooked it up tonight, and nothing. Got the voltmeter out and across the green and ground is 11.66 volts. Hmmm... There are four wires for the connector to the wiper. Black, green, blue/red, and blue/black (I think). I took the wiper to the front of the car, hooked it right up to the battery and it wiped wiped wiped. WTF? So according to the voltmeter, there's power back there, but the motor does nothing. I tried grounding it to about 20 different places, still nothing. Here's an interesting tidbit of info though... if I hook the ground to ground, and the green wire out of the motor to the blue wire in the connector, wipe wipe wipe. So I thought, hell I can deal without the intermittance, the only issue is that if I shut the rear wiper swith off, the damned thing keeps running. What's going on here? I'm lost.

 

Other peice of information - if I turn the switch on, there is a brief click somewhere in the RR wheel well. I'm thinking there is some sort of relay there that could be bad.

 

:confused::eek::confused::mad::eek::confused::mad: :-\ :mad: :mad: :eek::confused: :confused:

 

Thanks,

 

Jordan

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It sounds like you made your test voltage measurement while the wiper switch was ON but the motor didn't run. If so, the problem would seem to be with the connector to the motor. When you did your check of the voltage, did you check the pins on the motor side of the connector or the switch side? It would seem the green connection or ground connection contact in the connector may be bad.

 

The wire colors you stated are the same as my manual shows for an '88 model. Green is the motor power, the blue/red wire should have power on it always from fuse #20. The blue/black wire is the park switch lead that will be hot while the wiper is not parked and grounded when it is.

 

The reason the wiper stayed on with the switch OFF is because you bypassed the park switch. At least you know you have power there. My manual shows no relay but you may have one in your system.

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11.66 volts might be a weak ground connection. Volt meters draw a tiny amount of current and thus don't need much of a ground connection to get a reading. The motor however draws probably an amp or so of current, so it needs a good ground. If the ground is weak then it can't pass the needed current and thus the motor won't run. So, check the grounds in that circuit.

 

Keith

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If so, the problem would seem to be with the connector to the motor. When you did your check of the voltage, did you check the pins on the motor side of the connector or the switch side? It would seem the green connection or ground connection contact in the connector may be bad.

 

I know the motor and the connections work fine, I can run the motor right off the battery just fine.

 

11.66 volts might be a weak ground connection. Volt meters draw a tiny amount of current and thus don't need much of a ground connection to get a reading. The motor however draws probably an amp or so of current, so it needs a good ground. If the ground is weak then it can't pass the needed current and thus the motor won't run. So, check the grounds in that circuit.

 

Keith

I tried several different grounds, no luck.

 

I did some searching too, and I know there is a relay back in the rear wheel well, but I'm not positive where. There is a small black box right below the rear speaker mount, but I can't tell if that's the one that is making the clicking when the switch is turned on (my neck isn't long enough, I'll have to recruit someone to listen for me).

 

While I was clicking the switch on and off, over and over to try to pinpoint where the sound was coming from in the rear, I left the motor hooked up and after clicking it about 50 times, the thing started to run!! I guessing whatever makes that little clicking noise is what is causing this problem. If I knew what it looked like, I could pull one out of the JY immedietly.

 

Also mentioned in another thread was to check the wiring in the rubber boot that connects the hatch to the car. All good. Also, the wiring near the rear lights was all nice and tight.

 

Jordan

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mine did the same thing, it's the relay, you've gotta' pull the rear trip, passenger side, and it's screwed to the body right under the brakes lights, sometimes it heats up if you strain the motor, and the contacts get corroded.

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