Wiper problems, not rear one for a change !

[Stu]

Lads, got into my car Friday night and it was damp so I flicked up my wiper stalk to give the windscreen a quick wipe to clear it away. However the wipers got half way up the windscreen before stopping, they're no longer parking themselves. They don't park themselves for any of the wiper settings.
Even stranger still is that I no longer have my intermittent setting for the wiper, i.e. the first setting on the wiper stalk. The first two settings for the wiper are now the same, i.e. constant and the third is as normal, the full speed one.
Anyone any ideas ?

 

[guido]

Could it be a buggered relay?

 

[Stu]

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Before I go messing around with things, where would I find the relay, is it behind the steering column cover at the end of the wiper stalk and is it a big job to change ?
Cheers Guido.

 

[Anonymous]

Relays are as hard to change as fuses - so, no not hard at all.
Sadly though, I have no idea which relay it is, or how to test it to see if it is faulty...

 

[Anonymous]

Just had a quick look in the haynes and can't seem to find a relay for the front wipers...surely there must be one?

I have a funny feeling it might be the stalks, there seems to have been alot of stalks that have been replaced in the last couple of months...

Daz

 

[Anonymous]

Could well be, just had mine done...

 

[Stu]

Mmmm, getting the stalks changed sounds like it could be alot bigger than just replacing a relay. I just popped into the local Fiat service department to get a replacement relay but the lad there told me it could be anything from the motor to the relay and he couldn't help without bringing the car in and checking everything out, probably with the view of replacing something simple but charging for the motors

 

[Anonymous]

Don't think changing the stalks is too much of a problem (see Haynes manual!) but I have no idea how you would know for sure it is that. On my HGT I lost much more than just intermittant wipers and it took the mechanics (non-fiat) 2 days to find the problem.

 

[Craig]

it could be the park switch inside the mechanism.

 

[Tom (the imposter)]

I think you may be on to something, I recall that something of that description was replaced when I had the same problem.