Delay wiper issues

[TGVET]

05 Laramie 3500 140K For almost a year my delay has a mind of it's own and until now, Iv'e been coping but I have had enough. There's also been times when I could open and close the driver door and the wiper would cycle on it's own with the key off. I guess when the dealer I purchased it from suggested I should buy an extended warranty "due to the many possible electronic issues" I should have.

Don't know why, but I seem to be a lemon magnet. In my 96 Suburban, there was a factory recall for the circuit board in the wiper motor. Does anyone have delay wiper issues also in there Gen. 3 Ram ? Operating lever or motor electronics ? I'm not going to any dealership for work, only for parts IF I HAVE TOO... .

Thanks to anyone with help.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Mine has been in twice under warranty for wiper delay/erratic wiper operation. It was diagnosed as multi-function switch both times. I'm not sure they replaced it the first time but evidently did the second as wipers have been ok since. I believe this part is mounted at the turn signal stalk on the steering column. My wipers would work fine sometimes ond some times not at all. I could turn ignition off and back on and everything would change, either for better or worse. bg

 

[CBari]

I have had the same problem on both of my trucks. I replaced the multifunction switch both times and fixed the problem. I think if you do a search on here you will see some post about problems with the switch exspecial if you use the tilt funtion on the steering a lot, which I did. The switch is pretty easy to replace I just recommend that you disconect both batteries as to prevent any chance of setting of the air bag.

 

[jelag]

As I understand it... . there is a small computer under the fuse panel that works the wipers, washers, head lamps, tail lights, etc... . etc..... our 08 is at the dealer now for the 3rd or 4th time with a non function head lamp, or non function high beam... . that is when it wants to... and the rest of the time its fine...

Of course this truck has to scale (5500) at 19,500 GVW in WA and the lights need to function during an inspection... . when the lights don't work right, the washers don't work, etc..... etc... than they come back on and function correctly... .

Since this truck is out of warranty (50K miles) the dealer has still covered the problem, as they can see the problem as not being repaired the 3 or 4 times its been in... . they are sort of throwing parts at it now... . it didn't work in the lot and as soon as it hit the shop floor all was fine... ... .

As I remember, the small computer is the FCM (forward control module).....

 

[brods]

The intermittent function works on my 05 truck, but every so often it does a double wipe or even several in a row. Similar to yours TGVET, with the truck off & no keys in the ignition, the wipers cycled when I lifted the wiper arm to scrape some ice off the windshield. It startled me and yanked the arm out of my hand. I do not like that the wipers can run with the key off.



In my case I’m assuming it has something to do with the “park” switch not sensing correctly. The service manual doesn’t show if the park switch is serviceable and list a whole bunch of electrical tests. The issue is not bad enough yet to do anything about it, maybe when the weather gets warmer.



Humm. . come to think about it every once in a while I get a chime from the instrument panel with no indicator light or anything seemingly associated with the chime... everything else seems to work fine.....

 

[sag2]

The wipers are not designed to work with the key in the off position. I would guess that there is a problem with the FCM as it should not allow wipers with the key off.

The circuit works like this. The cluster (CCN) provides a clean ground to the multi-function (wiper) switch. The multi-function switch has different resistors for each position of the switch. The cluster reads the resistance in the circuit and determines what position the switch is in based on that. Lets say off is 10 ohms, delay one is 20 ohms, delay 2 is 30 ohms, and so on. If the cluster sees 20 ohms on the circuit it knows you want delay one so it sends a bus message to the FCM to turn on the wiper motor relay and watch for the park switch to open then close again. When it closes it says wait x seconds and do it again. The value of "x" goes from higher to lower number of seconds based on the position selected (delay 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5). So if the resistance changes to a value other than 10 ohms (off in our example) the cluster is going to tell the FCM to start the wiper motor. But since the logic says do not operate with ignition off, the FCM should ignore the cluster if it sees the ignition is off.

So I would be looking at a bad multi-function switch, bad ground at the cluster, bad connection (resistance) in the switch to cluster wiring, or a bad ground in another circuit that causes that circuit to ground through the switch or cluster. But all that being said, the FCM should ignore the input if the key is off. So that leads me back to a problem with the FCM.

 

[brods]

The wipers are not designed to work with the key in the off position. I would guess that there is a problem with the FCM as it should not allow wipers with the key off. ... ... .

If that is true, then why can't you stop the wipers in mid swing by turning the key off?

 

[jelag]

brods... .

The FCM sees that the key has turned off... it completes the cycle and parks the wipers...

I can only assume that the same FCM is used on cars as well... . and it parks the rear wiper on the van's, jeep's... etc...

 

[brods]

Yeah I know, just venting frustration with todays crap. I like my machines to do what I tell them to do and to really be inoperatable when the key is off. Old school wipers stop immediately when the key is turned off. Since the key directly controls power to the vehicle sub systems, they are off and simply cannot run with the key off, no matter what the position of the wipers or control switch.



The key no longer has any direct control over the wipers, it merely sends a suggestion to the forward control module, which then does whatever it pleases. With the key off, the software controlling the wipers shouldn't allow them to operate, except to return to the park position if and only if they were running when the key was turned off. The act of going to park after the key is off means they are intentionally designed to operate with the key off. They are still fully capable of functioning and are under total control of some bit of software. I guess thats splitting hairs (sorry sag2), but it does open up a whole new range of potential issues.



Plus getting to the bottom of any issues is made much more difficult because information about the specific interlocks that are written into the software is hard to come by. And because of the buss system, diagnosing some problems requires the need for a proprietary scan tool. #@$%!



EOR.



Gook luck TGVET, please keep us updated on what your wiper issue turns out to be.

 

[TGVET]

Thanks to all. I know I'm not the only one out there with "DEALERSHIP PHOBIA". I've had nothing but MORE downstream problems AFTER I took my rigs to the "dealer". In my case, mine was Dave Smith in Idaho where I bought my rig, I live in Western Wash near Mt. Vermin and do not feel good about taking it to the local one here as I did not buy it from them and do not have a relationship with them. It really boils down to TRUST, and that is something I don't hand out easily.

On my 96 6. 5 GM Suburban, I had a similar issue so I took it to the GM dealership where I bought it from for the "recall issue". They fixed it "all right", but then, shortly afterwards I got an Airbag light on. I just said to heck with it and left it alone for a long time until I finally decided to take it to a ind. repair shop and they showed me how a wire related to the airbag had been purposefully cut almost all the way through. The only way that could have happened was when the steering column had been accessed at the dealership for the turn signal issue.

Needless to say I was "going postal" angry and went back to the "dealer" and expressed my concerns. That was the last time I ever had work done by a dealer. Can anyone blame themselves for similar distrust towards the dealerships when it comes to the integrity of their workers and workmanship on an investment costing over $40,000. 00 ?? I think not. It's commonly referred to as JOB SECURITY. .

 

[thashane]

Mine recently is on the fritz 300 miles outside of warranty, hooray for crappy parts!