Windshield washer only sometimes works

On my 89 XJ, when I twist the washer switch on the steering column, its about a 20% chance that anything will happen. Sometimes only the wipers will work, and then they might only wipe once or twice. Sometimes it works perfect, and sometimes the washer doesn't spray very hard.

Does this mean the switch in my steering column is junk? Or is it simply mechanical, and there's an electric switch somewhere else?

Okay I did some testing and it's the weirdest thing.

If I unplug the washer motor, the wipers will come on and wipe 3 times every single time. I put a voltmeter on the connector going to the washer and I get a steady 12 volts.

Now, if I plug the motor back in, nothing will happen when I turn the switch. I hooked the voltmeter up and I'm only showing 0.5 volts. However, if I keep the switch on and unplug the washer motor, the wipers work and I get 12 volts at the plug.

I was thinking that maybe the motor is busted, right? Wrong - I hooked it up directly to the battery and it works perfectly, even using it's own ground through the connector. What gives? Just not enough voltage to operate both at the same time?

Edit: Okay I took the "supposed" 12 volts from the connector and shorted it to ground to see if it would do anything - nada. No sparks or anything. I must not be getting nearly enough current to the wire. It's just weird that it would kill the wipers as well when it's plugged in.

Found the problem. For all that have similiar/identical symptoms:

It's the turn signal switch in the steering column.

I checked all the wiring and finally got to the point where I put a resistance tester between the voltage going into the switch, and the wire coming out of it, and I got anywhere from 0-60 ohms depending on how I wiggled the switch. So now that I found the problem, it's going to be hell to fix it. Taking apart steering wheel mechanisms sucks

mattbred said:

Found the problem. For all that have similiar/identical symptoms:

It's the turn signal switch in the steering column.

I checked all the wiring and finally got to the point where I put a resistance tester between the voltage going into the switch, and the wire coming out of it, and I got anywhere from 0-60 ohms depending on how I wiggled the switch. So now that I found the problem, it's going to be hell to fix it. Taking apart steering wheel mechanisms sucks

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Funny, mine is doing the exact same thing and I wiggled the wire in the column and it worked perfectly for a few minutes, now I cant get it to work at all. Motor goes very slow sometimes and normally other times. Going to the Junk Yard tomorrow or Saturday for a switch.

Hallo. You are talking about the turn signal switch.
There is also a wiper switch in the steering column. This one is the culprit imo.

wim

I had this problem on my 96 (with the huge multifunction stalk switch) - turned out to be that the variable resistor portion of the wiper switch was going flaky, replaced it with a $20 junkyard one that looked less beat up and it hasn't missed a beat since. FYI on the 94-96 (and probably later) multifunction stalk switches you'll need a tamperproof torx driver (I think it's either T15 or T20 size, not sure) to unscrew the switch body from the steering column.

kastein said:

I had this problem on my 96 (with the huge multifunction stalk switch) - turned out to be that the variable resistor portion of the wiper switch was going flaky, replaced it with a $20 junkyard one that looked less beat up and it hasn't missed a beat since. FYI on the 94-96 (and probably later) multifunction stalk switches you'll need a tamperproof torx driver (I think it's either T15 or T20 size, not sure) to unscrew the switch body from the steering column.

Click to expand...

How did you accomplish this? Did you have to take the steering wheel all apart?

Hallo. You can start here:http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=939364&highlight=steering+column+writeup :rtm:

wim