Posted: 5/31/2009 12:49:47 PM EDT
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Any hints or suspicions from you guys to get me started in the right direction.
Vehicle is 2003 Explorer Sport Track XLT. Gremlin one is the windshield wipers. For no reason, every 5 or 10 minutes, they will make one swipe. Switch is off of course. My son who mostly drives this vehicle seems to think it happens more often when the brakes are applied. This just started a week ago. Two is the speed control. It rarely stays on for more than 10 seconds. Controls are in the steering wheel. I know electrical problems are tough. I am willing to swap out parts as needed. But mostly I don't know what parts make the most sense to start with. Thanks, DanM |
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The wipers are most likely multifunction switch, was fairly common.
I checked for tsb's and the only thing for cruise is to check the deactivation switches on the pedal and master cyl for corrosion or poor pin fit. good luck. let me know if you need wiring diagrams |
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phantom wipe. Found on F150 Online
"Phantom Windshield Wiper Fix" I fixed the phantom windshield wipers myself. It turns out all you need to do is clean the switch up. To clean the switch does NOT require removing the turn signal from the steering column and takes about ten minutes. 1. On the turn signal lever, remove the end cap with a small screwdriver. 2. Remove the phillips screw located under the end cap. 3. WATCH IT! there is a spring to push back against the wiper rotating knob. Hold in the wiper switch so it won't go flying. 4. WATCH IT! again. When removing the wiper rotating switch there are two detents that are pressed against the inside of the knob (with another small spring pushing against each other) to give detents to the different levels of wiper delay when you rotate the knob. 5. Inside you will see the switch wiper mounted to a white plastic piece that you can just pull out. It looks kind of weird with 4 arms and an elbow wiper coming out of it. 6. After you pull out the switch wiper just gently clean everything inside, a sort of circuit board looking goodie with rings for the switch wiper to rotate on. I used a rag and a small (jewelers) screwdriver to clean the board inside and very carefully made sure the gaps between the traces were clean. There is quite a bit of grease in there. I reassembled the switch using lubriplate (it was handy) and it was very easy to disassemble and to reassemble. I have had no re-occurrence of the phantom windshield wiper and I don't miss it a bit. Hope this helps! |
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Thanks to all three of you.
I have some things to try out, probably on Tuesday. I see on the brake pedal a switch that I would have thought to be for the brake lights. Could this be the same switch, doing double duty? Also, are there TWO deactivation switches? One on pedal and one on master cylinder? Guess I only see the one on the pedal - and can't imagine why two are needed. DanM |
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The replacement multi-arm control fixed the windshield wiper problem.
Thanks again to all you helpers out there. Only cost $70 and was easy to put it in. And I am about to go to the dealer for the cruise deactivation switch. I have found some on-line pics of it, and now know what to get. Another question if I may. Will I need to bleed the brake system after exposing it to air when swapping out the switch? DanM |
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Bingo... New cruise control deactivator switch fixed us up.
Thank you all again for the help and tips. In case anyone searches and has a similar problem, here is a tip I found elsewhere. Take off the electrical connector from the deactivator switch and jumper the two contacts (paper clip then electrical tape). If cruise now works you have strong evidence that it is the deactivator switch malfunctioning. Worked for me. DanM |