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Century windshield wipers only work on high

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Old 12-19-2012, 09:14 PM
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Default Century windshield wipers only work on high

After digging my car out from a snowstorm Sunday, I tried turning on the wipers to get the last bit of snow off the windshield.. the wipers would only come on when the switch was on "high." Even when on "mist," or when I try using the washer fluid, they don't work.. the washer fluid does come out when I turn it on though. Also, they don't always park properly.. They usually stop wherever they are when I move the switch out of high. If its at or near the bottom of the windshield, then they will "park" properly.

Any ideas what could be causing this? Could it just be the multifunction switch, or could it be something simple/cheaper?

Travis
Old 12-19-2012, 09:23 PM
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Did you have them left on or did you turn them on before removing the snow?
Old 12-19-2012, 09:25 PM
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They were off until I removed all the heavy snow. There was some ice under them on the cowl.
Old 12-23-2012, 08:33 AM
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GM made a bunch of windshield wiper circuit boards with bad solder joints in the late 1990s, which caused symptoms such as your are experiencing. These boards were found mostly in GM mid size trucks and SUVs. I don't think you have a defective board in your Buick model, but might be worth taking a few minutes to double tap.
Old 12-23-2012, 03:40 PM
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Thanks for the tip! It wouldn't surprise me if it was bad soldering. Where is the board located? Is that part of the mfs or is it somewhere else?
Old 12-23-2012, 04:36 PM
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on the trucks its part of the electronic assembly under hood
Old 12-23-2012, 10:51 PM
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Originally Posted by 2k2cse
Thanks for the tip! It wouldn't surprise me if it was bad soldering. Where is the board located? Is that part of the mfs or is it somewhere else?
It is probably mounted on or near the wiper motor. On my Bonneville I have to pull the windshield cowl screen to access it.
Old 12-27-2012, 12:07 AM
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Thanks guys! I'll have to take a look for it tomorrow. I can finally get it in a heated garage so I don't have to freeze my a$$ off
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