help, I'm suddenly having windshield wiper problems ('91 Civic HB)

the wipers work on the INTERMITTENT setting *only*... the LOW, HI, and MIST settings do nothing at all (no movement, no noise, completely dead)

the front washer fluid spray is working fine, as are the rear window wiper & fluid spray

NOTES & WHAT I'VE TRIED:

visually inspected plus disconnected & reconnected these wiring connectors and sprayed with DeOxit contact cleaner:
- under the hood at the wiper motor
- behind the control stalk switch assembly on the steering column
- to the Integrated Control Unit (both connectors there)
... made no difference

pulled the motor assembly out, and visually, all seems OK (I have no real way of assessing internals)... the mechanical linkage to wiper arms is all OK

opened motor itself and cleaned out some black powder... tried with motor sitting free (disconnected mechanically), and again it ran on INTERMITTENT only... motor seems to run fine and is very strong

tested motor by manually feeding 12V with jumpers to *just the motor* (ie., after the 'transmission' section)... motor ran fine, and had both low and high speeds

the 15A fuse on fuse block is fine

intermittent delay function seems to be OK since it makes a periodic clicking sound as the wipers are running on intermittent (apparently normally)

wiper stalk switch connector: I tested all the switch pins for continuity using the continuity test guide in my owner's manual... ran through all tests, in the specified order... the switch tested perfectly for all the switch settings

removed and opened the Integrated Control Unit... all solder joints look fine, nice and shiny... electrolytic capcacitors all looked OK

I'm stumped

is it possible that the ICU is somehow defective and preventing the other settings from working? could there be a problem with the switche(s) inside the wiper motor transmission area related to the wiper 'park' function? something else?

seems odd that the more complicated intermittent function works, but the simpler lo & hi are broken!

ANY IDEAS? ... any help would be hugely appreciated... thanks!

 

Seems like that would have to be a bad switch (the one on the column). Even though it seems to test good, try another switch anyway.

 

I don't have another steering column stalk switch to try (and don't think it will be easy to find one!), but noticed that someone else posted that they had actually opened up this switch and cleaned it... is that even possible? if so, how do I open it? (seems like a sealed unit)

also, to test the theory of a bad switch, I suppose I could short out the respective pins in the connector to simulate the action of the switch, then see if the wipers work properly? is this a good approach and is it even possible to do that with jumper wires?
thx!

 

MORE INFO:

I opened up the stalk switch, and checked inside... cleaned out all gunk, cleaned all contacts with Deoxit, and re-lubed with dielectric grease... springs functioning OK... then did continuity test again, all checked out fine

also, opened up the motor gearbox... rotated the circular switch inside, and checked continuity... seemed to work fine, connection being made at only a small portion of the rotation, which must be "park" position... I now think the whole motor assembly is fine, since motor only is OK

but still broken!... no HI or LO wipers! (only INTERMITTENT)

???

 

Yes, you should do that.

I'd have to look at the schematic diagram to see exactly how it works and suggest some other tests, if you have the diagram handy post it up.

 

here's a schematic:

 

SOLVED!

it was a broken ground wire (black = ground) down behind driver's left foot area... it's a common connection to both LO and HI, but INTERMITTENT didn't use it... took a long study of the schematic to point me in the right direction after trying just about everything else

thx!