First, thanks to all those who have posted helpful advice here and pointed to other posts elsewhere at supermotors.net regarding older F150 models -- mine is a 1994 XL 4x4 5.0l 4R70W AT dual-tank model bought at an electric utility auction 10 years ago that just rolled over 186,000 miles (100k more than when I got it).

After the purchase, it was subsequently overhauled (not a complete engine teardown and rebuild as it wasn't needed), repainted, and upgraded (new audio system, JBA headers, Magnaflow cat, SpinTech muffler, 31x10.50 wheels & tires, replacement headlight & taillight assemblies & replacement of the bench seat with an aftermarket 3-seat console in a straight swap with one of the mechanic's buddies) with help from some good friends and real auto mechanics for the heavier lifting. I put in a new battery (Optima red), and there has also been some replacement of seriously worn or dysfunctional parts (steering gearbox, both fuel pumps, a/c compressor, fuel tank, headlight & overdrive switches) along with stock brake jobs, and the transmission was professionally rebuilt a couple of years ago after the torque converter disintegrated while driving along I-40 in Arizona at 75mph.

However, it's current gremlin in the wipers is a real defiant stinker, so I'm posting this for some more advice -- here's the overview. The wipers worked okay until week before last, though there were occasional miscues on a couple of the intermittent delay settings that could usually be coaxed into working with a bit of rotating back-and-forth on the interval ****. I figured this could be oxidized contacts inside the switch, but never had the inclination to dismantle it for the cleaning process outlined in several posts in this forum.

One morning however, the intermittent delay function completely disappeared (but the high/low settings DID work), and so after much digging through forum messages I removed the multifunction switch to test impedances -- "Steve83" has posted his links to some great resource material on supermotors.net that includes this info (so much thanks for all that effort Steve!). Every setting checked out within spec with my ohmmeter on the old switch (I'd bought a new Motorcraft switch to bypass the internal cleaning process others have described), but discovered in the process of removing the multifunction switch that one of the pigtail leads serving the wiper group's connector could easily be pulled out of the shell (the internal tab within the socket connector was apparently broken), so I thought that might be the real issue and it was perhaps just a loose contact.

Once I installed the replacement pigtail and everything was hooked up, all of the light functions worked properly but I had NO wiper functions at all (even high and low no longer worked) EXCEPT when the push-in washer switch at the end was depressed -- this is for both the original AND the new replacement switch (which also tests in spec for the various resistances at different settings). When the washer switch is depressed and activated, the wipers and spray would do their normal thing for the normal time (both old & new multifunction switches), so the wiper motors don't appear to be the problem.

The next thing to look at was the wiper control module to determine if the soldered bridges on the circuit board had cracked as has been noted for another source of dysfunction. It's a PITA to get to, and with much abusive language during the contortions my tall body frame had to endure, I carefully extracted that POS. All but one of the solder connections looked fine, and though I remelted one which was maybe a bit questionable before plugging it back into the harness socket to test, there's been no change in the wiper functions -- nothing on any of the rotated-**** settings, but activating the washer function will trigger spray and both wipers for the normal sweep and time.

So, I'm stumped and neither of my mechanic friends has ever had to go through something like this before -- their advice of simply replacing the switch wasn't apparently the problem. I can get a used WCM from a junkyard or eBay, and there's supposedly a new replacement for the thing available from Ford. The dealer tells me its original designation was superceded and now specifies SW-5630 for the part, but the official Motorcraft parts site says it's still SW-5162 for my truck's VIN at almost twice the cost. The image for the more expensive one looks correct and the cheaper one does not (different shape and connector style, and the dealer says there's no conforming pigtail that goes along with the superceded designation).

I'm hoping that someone out there can 1) confirm the correct new replacement WCM part specification, 2) offer advice on a probable basic cause of my wipers' dysfunction, and/or 3) help me out with some testing method and specs by which I can actually bench test this one or a used/junkyard WCM replacement. I'm in Central Texas, and while it has been dry and we did have some unusually cold weather with frozen precip earlier this month, it seems Spring is now almost here and I'd like to get this problem resolved before it starts to rain. Fortunately, the annual inspection won't come up again until next January, so that's not an issue.

 

Nobody's got any ideas or suggestions? Still haven't got it resolved, so I'm just punching the spray button briefly when it's raining to initiate the wiper function. This will work as a temporary solution for the problem, but it would really be nice to get this problem resolved and get the WCM and RABS modules back in place so I can put the glove box (and all its contents) back into place as well.

 

have you pulled the connector at the motor and checked for power there? even tho the switch checks out be sure power is getting to it. if theres power at both the motor may be the culprit.

 

I have been having trouble with my intermittent wiper feature and the windshield washer feature and parking of the wipers. For the last two years--since I had the truck. It is a 92 F150 with the intermittent wiper option.

My wipers wouldnt usually park --hardly ever.If I turned off the wipers and the wipers arms were vertical at the time--they would stay vertical when the wiper motor was turned off. If I used the washers--the wipers would continue to wipe--and wouldnt stop until the truck was turned off. And the intermittent wiper function wouldnt work--the wipers would work at normal speed and high speed--but wouldnt intermit the wiper action--because they wouldnt park momentarily.

I have done searches on this site and these problems are common. I read about Wiper Control Module issues and MF switch issues and wiper motor issue failures. These problems can happen and can cause these problems. But I would guess that there have been many wiper motors replaced unnecessarily to correct these problems

I found a possible no cost solution.

Pull off the top black connector on the wiper motor assembly. It will have a dark green lead and a black/orange tracer lead and a black lead. These leads are for the park function of the wiper motor. Take a digital tester and check for intermittent continuity between the top and middle terminals on the park motor assembly--the round housing on the driver's side of the wiper motor assembly. Check for continuity when the wiper is still moving--wiper on and key on. You should see continuty--for top 9/10s of the wiper stroke and the continuity should disappear during the last 1/10 of the stroke of the wiper--at the bottom of the windshield--the park area of the wipers.

If you dont see the circuit go open--or dont see continuity--remove the circular park switch housing cover--at least four plastlc clips--and bend the two floating contacts (that are on the back side of the park switch housing)-- towards the park drum and then reassembly the park switch cover and then check for a open between the two upper contacts on the park switch housing--you should see the circuit go open at the 1/10 bottom of the sweep of the wiper arms .If not--open the park switch housing again and again bend the floating contacts towards the park switch drum.

The park switch drum is driven off of the wiper motor by a worm gear and this rotating park switch drum causes the park cirlcuit to go open only when the wipers are at the bottom 1/10 of the windshield--the park area of the wiper arms.

It seems that the wiper motor has two battery circuits that energizes the wiper arms--one of which is controlled by the on/off switch on the dash and the other battery feed is from this park switch. If the park switch doesnt go open just at the bottom of the stroke--the wipers will never become intermittent and the wipers will never turn off after several strokes after turning on the washers and the wipers will never park at the bottom of the windshield!!

And what was confusing to me--about 10 percent of the time--the wipers would park before I did this fix. It would seem that these two floating contacts weren't pressing against the rotating park drum hard enough to make the circuit have continuity for 9/10s of the stroke of the wipers--and caused the wipers to stop in any part of the stroke of the wiper arm --and not park at the bottom.

Cheap fix--nothing to buy!! Just love these trucks!! Durable American engineering!!
__________________
92 F150 XLT 4x4 shorty, 5.0 V8, 5sp ,114k on M1/Amsoil synthetic oil. Power everything. Trailering/Handling option(stabilizer bars front /rear and quad shocks).Factory skid plates,manual hubs, manual Tcase, Super Cooling. 4.09/4.10LS axles. 31'' AT tires. 20.3 MPG @ 60 MPH.4350 lbs with full tank of gas!! 2150RPM@60MPH All options but 4!
Last edited by phoneman91; 10-22-2006 at 05:26 PM.

 

Well, I can finally report back that the issue is now resolved, and the problem turned out to be exasperatingly embarrassing -- a defective new multifunction switch in that 589/993 circuit which I had somehow screwed up in testing before I first posted, coupled with a bent-over blade connector on the old/original switch for that 589 position that must have occurred when I re-inserted the connector into the old switch that was shorting it to the adjacent 993 blade. The defective switch is getting replaced by the supplier, and for the time being the old switch is back in place with all functions resurrected. In the meantime, the wiring circuits between the multifunction switch, wiper motor and wiper control module have been verified and the wiper control module got its soldering touch-up with a new conformal coating afterwards. I'm now waiting for some epoxy to set up on one of the screw-in tabs of the RABS module so I can finish putting the glove box back in and be done with the interior hell for awhile.

Thanks to 'yeffy4' for the descriptive response, though I'd actually discovered that identical discourse on the Ford Truck Enthusiasts' website in a posting from 1996 attributed to 'phoneman91' , and don't know where it may have originated. Nevertheless, although none of the wiper park cycling connections appeared to have been out of contact, reworking the bent shape of the contacts and redistributing the lubricating contact grease wasn't a bad idea. The replacement Ford TIS (Technical Information System) CD-ROM I'd ordered off of eBay arrived (my original had become unreadable despite all manner of discwashing and polishing or forensic drive/file recovery software I had tried), so I printed off the relevant circuit diagram information for those three connection points and used my test kit to affirm no breaks in any of the wires. That's when I thought to test both the old and new multifunction switches again in daylight, and the culprit(s) were finally revealed. To say I felt like the proverbial dumbass is an understatement....

The delay in responding was in part due to a different problem involving the installation process I'd started around the same time, since I had that area of the interior exposed. Does your '94 F150 dash bounce up-and-down on the right side, rattling a lot all the while? Well, if so you need to ask your local dealer parts manager to search the dealer parts inventory system for a dash repair kit (F4TZ-1504366-A) as specified in TSB 94-15-13, which incidentally isn't among those listed in this website's TSB-finder function.

In essence, the right side of the dash assembly has a single integrated plastic tab at lower right that bolts directly to the body frame, and this tab breaks so that end of the entire dash assembly is unsupported -- the left side has metal framing with three attachment points (nuts onto studs) and there are some smaller attachment points along the top and below. I had installed a temporary fix sometime last year by cutting and bending a piece of framing bracket so it screwed into the frame and provided a resting support for that side of the dash, but it wasn't actually secured and could still bounce up-and-down a little. The repair kit has a good instruction sheet for the metal brace and 3 pop rivets with which to affix it to the dash assembly and securely replace the broken tab's function, but in order to drill the holes for the pop rivets in the proper locations on that side the entire dash assembly must be completely free of the frame and pulled out slightly on the right side into the passenger compartment. I also had to remove the passenger door's side cover to get the correct angle and placement for the drill bit.

To free the dash assembly involves unbolting those three points on the left side, some Torx screws along the top of the dashboard cowl, and a couple of nut-head screws at points underneath. In the process, the dash will also settle downward a little as you pull the right side toward the passenger seat to get the proper drill angle, which means that 15 minutes later after the new attachment point is riveted to the dash assembly at that corner, you've got to get it raised upward a bit more than that small increment it settled in order to position it properly at all the attachment points. Once getting the left side set over its three studs (but not tightened), loosely attach the new right side point and check how much vertical difference there is at the attachment points below. After various attempts at pushing from below on one or the other side of the transmission hump (the AT 4WD selector prevents laying across), the best approach I found was to squat in the middle seat with knees below the dash to push upward while aligning the top cowl holes and getting those screws properly started with a hand free, then getting those screws at the locations below started before tightening everything (bottom ones first, top ones second, left side next and right side last). Once I got this accomplished, I didn't do much of anything more with the truck for the past several weeks.

Unfortunately, during the attempts to push the dash assembly upward from below while awkwardly laying on my back, I have apparently pinched a major nerve in my neck slightly, which is a re-injury of a severe pinched-nerve injury back in 2000 at the same location (C7, where neck and collarbone join) so I haven't been doing much work at the computer over the past few weeks while doing all the same PT exercises I was taught to do then that eventually allowed a pretty full recovery then after many months.

I just hadn't gotten back to the wiper issue until I felt better this week after finishing the dash repair, and when I tested all the wiring circuits and then discovered my screw-up in the multifunction switches, I wanted to finish up this thread on the wipers and explain the dash TSB in case anyone else has the same problem as the latter. The kit cost me about $30 + tax & shipping, which brought the total to $40. The dash, however, is definitely fixed firmly and hassles aside, well worth the effort if your dealer parts guy can find one somewhere -- that p/n brings up a valid/active hit on the Ford Motorcraft parts website, but with the description "Cowl Panel Retainer Tech Letter BE94-25" and 04366 for the part number with the same list price as I paid (no image pops up, though).