If I understand correctly. The intermittent pulse boards changed design at some point in time.
the 88-98 boards differ from what is available now to purchase and the original design is no longer readily available.
Might anyone have an atypical source for a working original design used board ?
Perhaps a spare working one to part with. Mine is beginning to fail intermittently.
I really don’t want to swap out my 34 year old stock wiper motor for a pos made in China new design motor if possible.,
Information about this issue is either incorrect, confusing, or I am unable to understand it.
All the YT videos that address this topic show a different, presumably newer design board when explaining how to swap it out.

 

Have you searched eBay? A lot of salvage yards seem to sell parts on there. Otherwise, I would call around and see if a salvage yard near you has one.

That said.... I was just looking at the control boards that Rockauto has, and the Dorman one does say it requires new style wiper motor. I don't see that comment on the other brands, but who knows....

A common failure for this board is cracked solder joints. Have you thought of pulling your board and seeing if touching up the solder with a soldering iron gets it working again?

I replaced this board once, 20-something years ago, on my 1996, but that was when I could walk into the local Chevrolet dealer and pick up anything I needed at the parts counter. As we all know, GM isn't making the old parts anymore...

 

The salvage yards here do not have any. I will check on ebay. I didnt think of that .
Iam having a tough time trying to figure out how to take it apart. It seems intuitive as I can see a clip for the plug and then 2 clips on the body. One on the top and one on the front. I assume those clips hold the board in place. I removed the plug, NP. I lifted the 2 clips on the body, the 2 I can see . And I couldnt get anything to move, to separate, pull apart. Im trying to be careful not to ruin those clips. It made me think there might be another clip on the back, up against the firewall that I cant see or get to without removing the wiper motor..
Do you recall if there is a clip behind the motor assembly?
If I have to go through the extra effort to remove the motor, I may as well bite the bullet and just put a new updated one in.
Since it works intermittently. I do think its just cracked solder joints.

Thanks for your help.

 

In some of the diagrams here, it looks like there are tabs that hold that end with the connector onto the motor housing, and I presume the board just pulls out:

https://charm.li/Chevrolet/1988/C%20...%20Inspection/

That said, I really do not remember what it was like, as I replaced that board over 20 years ago - the truck is 29 years old now, and that happened in the first 10 years I had it I think.

Nothing in the service manual talks about the board - it seems to consider the board and motor to be one assembly.

 

I also now remember what failed and why I replaced the control module. My wipers were stopping halfway up the windshield, and working intermittently. I see now a recall that existed on the 1996 year model for the wiper control module board, relating to cracked solder joints near the connector. I don't see that recall for 1988, but wonder if the motors and boards are the same...

 

Last post. My Chilton book for 1988-1998 C/K pickup trucks has some photos of the wiper motor and outlines removal and installation. It's probably the Charm.li manual online as well, but seeing actual photos helped me. It appears that the housing has tabs that retain that end with the connector on top and sides, and maybe the bottom. You may not be able to unlatch it on the side that is up against the firewall, preventing you from pulling the board out.

Removing the motor involves removing the wiper arms, then removing the cowling (the grill between the hood and windshield) and disconnecting the linkage but leaving it in place. Then you can unbolt the motor assembly and pull it off the firewall, disengaging it from the linkage.

 

Thats what it seems like to me. Actually, I did check Ebay the other day and I thought this would be a cheap and simple project until I realized these wiper motors come in 2 flavors. Upon revisiting it today and looking deeper, I found that it does have an assortment of old used whole wiper motors. I cant just buy the board. separately.
Im reconsidering my options.

Thanks for the diagram. I cant tell from it or the photos on Ebay if there is a clip on the backside. It makes sense to me there would be. Putting just 2 clips on it would make about as much sense as a 3 legged stool. I'm thinking back in the day because parts and labor were much cheaper. The motor would be considered a throwaway replacement item. I'm sure engineers werent worried about making it convenient to replace just the board. Putting a clip on the back of the unit where it was inaccessible, without removing the motor wasnt a concern for them.

Im running out of light so Im going to put this to sleep until another day.

Thanks again

 

Well, good luck. If you choose to go with a new motor and module, looks like your choices are limited to stuff from China. But, at this point in time, it's honestly amazing that we can buy parts at all for our old trucks. GM and Chevrolet sure don't do anything for us, so I guess we should be grateful there is enough demand for someone in China to fill the niche for wiper motors and control boards for a 29 year old (mine) or 37 year old (yours) pickup trucks...

 

Im thinking of taking the path of least resistance. I found a YT video on R&R the motor. Its not difficult to do. Id like to be able to just pull the old board out and check the solder without taking the whole thing apart. In the absence of being able to do that, I might just put in an after-market unit.
The price of the used wiper motors are more in some cases than the price of a brandy new one. It makes no sense to buy another old used part or reinstall a repaired used part for the sake of nostalgia.

 

The online manual for the 1988 truck does not have instructions on the wiper motor removal, but its basically this, which is in the 96 model, which appears to have the same basic setup:

Wiper Motor: Service and Repair

1.Disconnect battery ground cable.
2.Remove wiper arm assemblies.
3.Remove cowl vent grille.
4.Disconnect wiring harness connector from wiper motor.
5.Remove drive link sockets from the motor crank arm. Do not remove crank arm. Loosen nuts and slide brackets off crank arm.
6.Remove wiper bolts and motor from vehicle.
7.Reverse procedure to install.