92 Dynasty Windshield Wipers

I have suddenly developed a problem with the windshield wipers on my '92 Dodge Dynasty. I can't turn them off! Intermittent settings also no longer function. When the switch is in the off position, the wipers are working as if they are at the "low" setting. I can switch it to the "HI" setting, but can't turn them off. I also noticed that the headlight warning has also stopped working. Both were working normally this morning, but just stopped.

Any thoughts?

'92 Dodge Dynasty, 3.3 L, A604 147000 miles.

Bret

Reply to
Bret
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One other bit of info - The power door locks will unlock the doors, but will not lock them. The doors no longer automatically lock when the car is in motion anymore, either.

Reply to
Bret

Problem resolved.

I found the connector on the TCM to be loose, so I disconnected the battery, disconnected the TCM, cleaned the connections using some electrical contact cleaner, reconnected the TCM and battery. Everything now works as before.

Reply to
Bret

Reply to
maxpower

Perhaps not, but that is what I did, and the problems are gone now. Now the locks work properly, the wipers work properly and the headlight reminder operates as it should. None of these worked just before I tightened the connection, and all worked properly after I fixed the connection. What else could it have been?

Oh, and this car has no BCM to my knowledge.

While I don't have a FSM for this car, none of the aftermarket manuals lists a BCM for this car.

Reply to
Bret

There are lots of possible causes, ranging from a dead fuse (do your power locks still work?) to lost ground(s) behind the dash to faulty module(s) behind the IP, to a faulty wiper (multifunction) switch.

If by 'headlight warning' you mean the chime that sounds if you leave the headlamps on and open the door, the chime module and the intermittent wiper delay module are both located behind the instrument cluster.

DS

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Bret, ignore "maxpower". He likes to pretend to know what he's talking about. He neither impresses nor fools nobody with his nonsensical noises. The reason tightening the TCM connection worked was because there's a ground path for some body functions, and a feed for the auto door lock function, through the TCM harness. The wipers were a byproduct; when one function loses proper ground, the current paths can get very, very strange and truly bizarre symptoms can result. In this case, it's probable your lock circuit was trying to ground via the intermittent wiper module.

Anyway, it's all fixed now, eh?

DS

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Yes, it is all fixed now. Thank you for your comments and explanation, they help a lot. If I may be so bold as to ask more questions, they would be:

If several circuits ground through the TCM harness, is there a way I can run another (perhaps more secure and/or reliable) ground connection, to prevent this from happening again? Or, are these grounds controlled by the TCM? If I can run another ground, where would I connect it? I know where to connect the ground end, it is the other end that I would need to know about. Or would this open a big can of worms and not be worth the effort?

Thanks for your response,

Bret

Reply to
Bret

Talk about pretending, You do it well, there is no ground going to the TCM that will effect the door locks from not working. Nor are the wipers effected by the TCM, take out the mopar body book and view the flow chart DS, or should i say BS? But then again, you have your Haynes manual. If the TCM even went down it would not pull down anything with the wipers or door locks, By Bret poking around im sure he may have hit something or tightend something but the TCM it wasnt. Dont mean to ruin your day again, you have a nice weekend

Reply to
damnnickname

Yes, it is all fixed now. Thank you for your comments and explanation, they help a lot. If I may be so bold as to ask more questions, they would be:

If several circuits ground through the TCM harness, is there a way I can run another (perhaps more secure and/or reliable) ground connection, to prevent this from happening again? Or, are these grounds controlled by the TCM? If I can run another ground, where would I connect it? I know where to connect the ground end, it is the other end that I would need to know about. Or would this open a big can of worms and not be worth the effort?

Thanks for your response,

Bret

Reply to
Bret

The '92 FSM disagrees with you. Study your wiring diagrams harder. Or even just use your brain (if so equipped): If there's no connection between the TCM and the power locks, how do the locking solenoids "know" to lock the doors at 15mph?

Not normally, no. But when circuit paths are disturbed, weird things happen. 'twas always thus.

DS

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Don't attempt to modify the circuitry; the odds of causing more problems are MUCH greater than the odds of helping/fixing anything. The stock circuit worked for 12 or 13 years until a connector loosened; retightening the connector fixed the problem. There's no need to go further.

DS

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Reply to
maxpower

I shall not disturb the wiring. You are correct, it worked fine for over a decade, so I'll not mess with it.

Reply to
Bret

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