I live next door to an elderly lady who not to long ago lost her husbandand I try to help her out when I can. The other day she came home and her wnidshield wipers had stopped about halfway and wouldn't turn off or on. I went down to check them the next day and when I turned on the switch the wipers returned back to their normal off position. I turned them on and they worked on intermittent and on hi but they wouldn't work on low. After they work on hi for a few minutes they just stop. Has anyone else had this problem. She is on a fixed income and can't afford to take it to a dealership and I don't know whether to change a switch, a relay, or the motor.

 

First thing you should do is check the ground for the motor. There is a processor built into, and if the ground isn't solid, can cause all sorts of goofy things. If that doesn't help, d\c the motor, and using a multimeter, measure resistance between the yellow and gray wires, while running the switch through the motions. You should get between 39-680ohms in the pulse setting, and 0ohms or close to it in the low and high setting. If the readings are out, then you have a bad switch
If the readings are good, then you'll be look at the circuit board on the wiper motor

 

From what I have found, thius is a common problem. On the circuit board there is one spot where the solder didn't stay. It has corroded. You need to pull the cover from the wiper motor and replace the board. It is easy to do and you do not have to remove the motor. It costs about $35.00 for a new one. Hope this does it for you.

 

Go to the top and click on upgrades and repairs. Find the sticky on wiper motor, it willhelp......

 

Good point. I forgot about that sticky.... It links to a sister forum.