Multi functional wiper switch not working properly

DONALD MCVEY

MEMBER
1998 BUICK REGAL
3.8L
V6
2WD
AUTOMATIC
175,000 MILES

Well, the wipers stopped the intermediate function and when turned off it would stop on the upper part of the windshield. You would have to turn it off and on several times before going down to the proper place. I went to a salvage yard and pulled one out of another Regal. I had to clip the harness cause I couldn't get to the connecting blocks under dash. I took them both apart and used my lower half that has the wiring harness contacted. I noticed the gearing inside that mesh together. Could it possibly be that the gears aren't in the right place? Just instilled it but it won't shut off when turned off? And there's no intermediate stage everything else works.

1 Reply

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
13,475 POSTS

The module inside the car is just the timer module for the intermittent wipers. It works by sending a battery voltage impulse to the wiper motor in the park position to cause it to activate one sweep then park again. As you lost the wipers parking function, you would also lose the intermittent wipe function. The most common reason for the loss of both would be the board on the wiper motor itself it is the attached image. However I don't like to replace only the board as the motor contacts can fail as well.

Image (Click to make bigger)