Intermittent Wipers are randomly intermittent

[LHirshman]

The intermittent wipers, on my '05, are behaving oddly. When on an intermittent setting the wipers will randomly wipe as if they are on full time. They will start wiping at the set rate and wipe once or wipe as if on for a few wipes, then off.

I know everything is controlled by CANBUS modules, do I have a bad one for the wipers? Does a CANBUS connection need cleaning?

Has this happened to anyone else and how did you fix it?

 

[Lynx0849]

The intermittent wipers, on my '05, are behaving oddly. When on an intermittent setting the wipers will randomly wipe as if they are on full time. They will start wiping at the set rate and wipe once or wipe as if on for a few wipes, then off.

I know everything is controlled by CANBUS modules, do I have a bad one for the wipers? Does a CANBUS connection need cleaning?

Has this happened to anyone else and how did you fix it?

My 05 does it too. Most of the time I like the randomness.

Sometimes they simply won't work on intermittent and I have to "reboot the wipers" by restarting the truck. Of course, the radio does random loss of channel and tone settings too.

It hasn't gotten worse in the past few years and I hope it survives till next spring.

 

[bdenson]

Mine does the same thing

 

[cerberusiam]

No CAN bus on an 05, that was later years. Pretty sure the delay switch is just a rheostat that tells the logic controller on the wiper motor and what speed to use. Most of the problems end up being the controller on the wiper motor. If you feel adventurous you could take it apart and clean it up to see if that will solve the problem, or, as the motor and electronics are 12 years old just replace the motor and linkage. The motor and linkage are all 1 piece held in by 3 bolts, you have to pull the cowling off and it all comes out. Messed around replacing the multi-function switch and that wasn't the issue, in fact the new cheap switch had issues. Replaced the motor and put the old multi-function switch back in and it is all good now.

 

[LHirshman]

Why is nothing simple on these trucks? No need to answer, just a rhetorical question. Are you sure there is no CAN Bus? When the truck was a few years old, after sitting for a day in cold damp weather, I started the truck, there was no dash instrumentation, no wipers, only the headlights worked and the odometer had a message that said, NO BUS. Shutting off the truck engine and restarting cured it. The problem never occurred again. Thank you for your repair advise. I'll look at the wipers when I am feeling ambitious. Right now I'm tackling the cracked exhaust manifold on my wife Saturn.

 

[PWong]

The is a BUS on 05 but not CAN BUS.

 

[GrantP]

My wife's 03 grand cherokee has a sensor on the windshield that tells the wipers when to run when in intermittent mode. It works pretty well and behaves as you've described. Maybe your 05 has something similar? I know my 06 doesn't have it and I don't know if it was an option. Just a thought.

 

[KevinFuller]

So I bought a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 in 2010 and had the same issue since I bought it. I replaced the multi function switch twice, the first time it helped for a few weeks, the second time no change. I found a thread that explained how to fix it by removing the wiper/motor assembly, removing the wiper motor contact cover, use sandpaper or steel wool to scuff it up and grease it. I did this twice. I did find evidence that the contacts in the motor were the problem. I finally ordered a new motor/wiper assembly and I haven't had a random wipe since. Don't spend time trying to track down the 'wiper park switch sensor', if the random wipes happen at both slow and fast speed it's not the source of the problem. Save yourself the headache and just buy a new wiper assembly. I just found the exact mopar part on amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Mopar-68043386AC-Wiper-Motor/dp/B0046NR49M I hope this helps.