please help wipers are not working

I found out that the wipers dont have a fuse but a circuit breaker and it doesnt seem to be coming out the book says some circuit breakers are supposed to stay and they are suppose to fix themselves but mines isnt

The most recent thing i did was a steering column job could that had been it ?

also right before i did the column job the wipers stop working i thought maybe i blew a fuse because i made the ignition spark (long story) its the reason why i did the column job i had to start my car with a screw driver and so where along the line the wipers stop working im sure it was after i tried to start it with the screw driver because i touch this metal stick that by the ignition that turns because my metal stick was loose after they stole it.

any way thats why i did the column job

but i figured after i put in the new column i wouldnt have the problem but i do whats the problem?

also one of the plugs on the column was a son of a B!t$% i never herd it click and the other plug just like it did click so i made sure the one that would was al the way in
could this be it?

I don't remember if you have a voltmeter or not. You need one to trace this kind of chit. Let us know if you have one, or when you get one, so we can help you out. You did check all your fuses since the column job, didn't you?

What year is yours?

I have read your other posts, but Oldsheimers won't let me remember.

Anyway, for what it is worth, on my 1990 that circuit breaker is right where the tip of my size 13EEEE left foot like to hit when using the clutch, and I have kicked it loose once and broke a piece off another time.

If the circuit breaker is bad your dealership, at least mine, couldn't find it in the parts catalog, but if you do a search here I'm pretty sure the number is posted. The original is different length than most universal breakers at the part stores, but you use some wire and crimp on connectors to make do, just make sure and get the right rating.

no voltmeter i dont think i have a digital multimeter and a analog but not even sure what a voltmeter is

i have a 88 cherkee 4.0 6cyl
and im not that good with electricity actually terrified but funds right now prevent me from going to a professional

The digital multimeter should be able to read DC voltage with the twist of a knob and plugging the leads in.

yup is that good enough and if so what do i do next?

what am i suppose to be checking for voltage?

SINCITY192 said:

no voltmeter i dont think i have a digital multimeter and a analog but not even sure what a voltmeter is

Click to expand...

Multimeter is same as voltmeter or ohmeter. Multimeter is probably more correct for same meter. Does volts and ohms. A good start would be to take the circuit breaker, which joe says is near your foot, out of it's plug. Set your meter for ohms. It might be a little symbol like a funny horeshoe whoops, horseshoe. Anyway, set for ohms and test by touching the red and black probes together. The meter should read close to zero. Now, if you touch the different probes to the different posts of the circuit breaker, it should read zero like when you touched the probes together. If it doesn't and reads a bigger number, like when the probes aren't touching each other, the circuit breaker is broke. Current is not passing through it. That would need to be replaced. If it checks good, change the meter over to volts and put the black probe on a good ground. Put the red probe in to the circuit breaker socket. One of the receptaccles should show 12 volts on the meter. If not, your problem is between the battery and the socket. If you have 12 V there and the circuit breaker is good, the problem is between the socket and the wiper motor.

Check it out and let us know what you find!

thats my problem the circuit breaker is hard to come out how do u take it out

i have the fuse diagram and the fuse for windshield wipers says circuit breaker and i tried to remove it it wouldnt bug

Pull harder and wiggle it more! It just pulls straight out like a wall plug.

ok i give the results when im done thanks

ok i took it out and i put the red and blak probes on the circuit breaker and the depending where i set the ohms for ex.(2000k,20k etc.) it will go to zero but it wont start at zero and on some settings like 20k it will never reach zero but it starts out on almost all setting on a high number
as for the place where the breaker goes when i test it its hard 2 get a reading once i seen the number 13.something pop up then it goes back to reading 1
and thats what the meter stays on when its on the number 1
what do you think

So your circuit breaker is good. The ohmeter is starting out on a high number without touching anything and goes down to zero or almost to zero when you put the probes to the circuit breaker, just like when you touch the two probes together. When you touch into the plug where the circuit breaker goes, you need to be set on volts. If the probe won't go in good, stick a paper clip wire in and test it. With the red to the socket (or paper clip), and the black to a good ground, you should get 12 volts (13 is OK too. If you put the meter into a hot (12 volt) circuit while it is on ohms, it could blow out the meter. If you get the 12 V at the socket, put the circuit breaker back in and test for 12 volts at the wiper motor.

winterbeater said:

So your circuit breaker is good. The ohmeter is starting out on a high number without touching anything and goes down to zero or almost to zero when you put the probes to the circuit breaker, just like when you touch the two probes together. When you touch into the plug where the circuit breaker goes, you need to be set on volts. If the probe won't go in good, stick a paper clip wire in and test it. With the red to the socket (or paper clip), and the black to a good ground, you should get 12 volts (13 is OK too. If you put the meter into a hot (12 volt) circuit while it is on ohms, it could blow out the meter. If you get the 12 V at the socket, put the circuit breaker back in and test for 12 volts at the wiper motor.

Click to expand...

ok just 2 clarify a bit when i put the 2 leads together black and red and touch the tips (with the meter on the diplay shows #1) soon as i touch the tips it goes from a high # like 41.7 or higher down to 00.8 this is just the meter ok.
now without touching anything its at #1 so i put the probes on the circuit breaker and it went from 51.2 and climb to about 131.6 back down and then back up only to end up after holding the probes there to 00.8 is this breaker bad or good?

its confusing man but thanks and im going to set the meter to volts to check the socket again i didnt know i need to check it with volts and whats volts should i be setting it to DC or AC?

You got 00.8 when you completed the circuit by touching the probes together. Obviously you made a good circuit by touching the probes. When you touched the circuit breaker and got 00.8, you again made a good circuit. So circuit breaker is good. It was the same as touching two wires together. If it was bad, you would only get #1 like when holding the probes out in the air without touching anything. Just be careful not to touch a 12V circuit with the meter on ohms or you can blow it out. That's why you pulled the circuit breaker out of the circuit first.

Auto circuits are 12V DC (direct current) as provided by the battery. House circuits are 110V AC (alternating current. So set your meter to the closest thing OVER 12 volt DC. On my meter it is 50V. Some better meters are automatic for the number.

winterbeater said:

You got 00.8 when you completed the circuit by touching the probes together. Obviously you made a good circuit by touching the probes. When you touched the circuit breaker and got 00.8, you again made a good circuit. So circuit breaker is good. It was the same as touching two wires together. If it was bad, you would only get #1 like when holding the probes out in the air without touching anything. Just be careful not to touch a 12V circuit with the meter on ohms or you can blow it out. That's why you pulled the circuit breaker out of the circuit first.

Auto circuits are 12V DC (direct current) as provided by the battery. House circuits are 110V AC (alternating current. So set your meter to the closest thing OVER 12 volt DC. On my meter it is 50V. Some better meters are automatic for the number.

Click to expand...

thanks for clearing things up for me your a really good help, i sure wish u lived in my area and we were buddies cause this xj is alot of work
but im going down to inspect the rest i'll update when i can
thanks

winterbeater said:

You got 00.8 when you completed the circuit by touching the probes together. Obviously you made a good circuit by touching the probes. When you touched the circuit breaker and got 00.8, you again made a good circuit. So circuit breaker is good. It was the same as touching two wires together. If it was bad, you would only get #1 like when holding the probes out in the air without touching anything. Just be careful not to touch a 12V circuit with the meter on ohms or you can blow it out. That's why you pulled the circuit breaker out of the circuit first.

Auto circuits are 12V DC (direct current) as provided by the battery. House circuits are 110V AC (alternating current. So set your meter to the closest thing OVER 12 volt DC. On my meter it is 50V. Some better meters are automatic for the number.

Click to expand...

i did what u said i det it to volts on my meter though i have a couple of dc volts settings like 200m then 2000m then 200 then so on and so on so i put it to 200 first i wasnt really gettin any reading after probing around so i set it to 200m and put the black on a ground and probed around there with the red and on one side i got -00.0 and on the other i got 13.2 and then it would start climbing down to 1.1 or something i tried doing again and it would go straight to 1. something is this good or bad
(this is where the circuit breaker for the wiper goes that giving me these readings.)

OK. Cool. If you got 13.2 in one socket, that means that you have power going to the circuit breaker. And we already proved that the circuit breaker is good. It will carry the current over to the side that checked 0. Now I gotta study the wiring diagram a little to figure out what to check next. The problem is going to be that I have a 2000 diagram. It still should be similar.