Electrical gremlins/questions

teahead

teahead

aka "Rob"
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Okay, so this 2800 I bought, has some issues:

1) windshield wipers won't work; what to check first? I checked all the fuses (ohm reading across the fuse). Is there a relay to check?

Also...Windshield wiper switch on the console; seems to be only two positions. Do 2800s only have two positions while 3.0's have 3? Do 2800s have itermitten wipers?

2) Heater fan switch. Do 2800s have 3 positions/fan speeds? The fan seems to work only on the latter two positions.

3) 3 out of 4 power windows do not work. Moving the switches, I can hear a click, so...probably the motors?





Pic of the inside of the hood release area.

Where does the odometer reset knob normally attach to? Seems the rivets broke off.

What are these fuses for? No labels anywhere.

What's that big relay for?
 

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repair

the heater motor has two half round contacts on the top the plastic holder always breaK CHECK ALWAYS

WIPER SWITCH HAS A BAD CONTACT INSIDE
TAKE APART AND CLEAN THEN IT WILL WORK

YOU HAVE A BAD WINDOW SWITCH TAKE APART AND CLEAN
ALWAYS WORKS
 
The odometer reset knob/cable is surrounded by a rounded triangular metal bracket as shown dangling in your picture. You can also see what appear to be a pair of rivets on the black triangular bit... now where are there two holes from which these rivets could have been pulled out. It can only be the door, which dangles down too far and the reset cable couldn't reach, or the adjacent trim panel that runs under the steering column.

Bear with me a bit, it has been a while since I was in there. But I think the bracket has been torn from the under-column trim. You may need a mirror to see the back side of it. IIRC it could be a bit of hassle to take that panel off out if the defroster button is embedded in the other side, or not, depending on your dexterity. My hands are large and clumsy...
 
teahead said:
Yup
Click to expand...

Press the stalk and pull up on the wiper speed knob. Anything happen?
The windows might be jammed in the up position. Pop open the round plug(s) on the door and at the side of the rear panel to expose the plastic gear and manually back the window down a bit using the plastic window tool. Then try again. Also you can swap the power window switch and see if the know good switch will operate the other windows. Do the window switches on the back seat not work either?
 
teahead said:
3 out of 4 power windows do not work. Moving the switches, I can hear a click, so...probably the motors?
Click to expand...

The good news is that if you can hear something in the doors as you actuate the window switches, then your problem isn't electrical. The motors probably are OK.

The bad news is that the window mechanisms have too much friction to allow the windows to move. The grease gets dried out, things become mis-aligned, the windows are heavy relative to the motors' power, etc - everything has to be working at 100% just to get e9 windows to move at a pathetically slow rate.

As Stan wrote: "Pop open the round plug(s) on the door and at the side of the rear panel to expose the plastic gear and manually back the window down a bit using the plastic window tool. Then try again." Actually, you can use your finger against that serrated coupling to work the window down a bit. Once you start a window down manually, the motor will often be able move it the rest of the way. If you are lucky, you can work the windows up & down a few times to free things up. But they will jam again - disassembly and cleaning is the only fix.
 
The wiper motor IS on a relay. The relay is located above the hood latch mechanism.

You might want to disconnect the arm from the motor and make sure the wiper mechanism moves freely. Next, check the small ground wire on the wiper motor that is separate from the wiring connector. After that, I would check the connections to the switch in the console and the operation of the switch itself. Then, its basic circuit testing from there. I believe the motors themselves to be very robust; it is not likely this is your problem.

Don't know about the number of positions on your heater fan.

As noted, the motors that operate our windows are relatively low torque motors. While it sounds like your problem is not electrical, its best to have the car running when trying to operate the windows in order to allow the alternator to push back quickly against any voltage drops.

The odometer reset knob should be riveted to the panel underneath the steering column just below the riveted piece that holds the panel to the tab hanging from the underside of the dash. I don't use mine; I wouldn't bother to fix this if I were you.

That relay is only found on cars with air conditioning; it disables the heater blower motor when the a/c is engaged so you don't have heat blowing into the car while trying to cool it.
 
Last edited:
Stan said:
Press the stalk and pull up on the wiper speed knob. Anything happen?
Click to expand...

Nada.


Stan said:
The windows might be jammed in the up position. Pop open the round plug(s) on the door and at the side of the rear panel to expose the plastic gear and manually back the window down a bit using the plastic window tool. Then try again. Also you can swap the power window switch and see if the know good switch will operate the other windows. Do the window switches on the back seat not work either?
Click to expand...

Nope, those don't either. All four of the switches for the rears do cause a faint click sound from inside the panel.
 
Thanks everyone.

Regarding the wiper motor switch on the console, are there just two positions?

In the 3.0 CS owner's manual, it says:

Switch pushed in: Interval operation fo wipers
Switch pulled out to first stop: 1st stage (normal speed)
Switch pulled right out: 2nd stage (fast)

On my car, there's only two positions.
 
Apologies, but I posted bad info (corrected above). The wiper motor relay is located above the hood latch mechanism on the fender wall.
 
Okay, found it was a ground issue at the wiper motor.

Any idea why it won't park when you shut them off? Or is it normal for these E9s to stop it yourself on the bottom to park them?
 
You'll need to disassemble the motor and clean/realign the brushes on the disc that shuts it off. There are a couple threads on how to. Not too difficult.

teahead said:
Okay, found it was a ground issue at the wiper motor.

Any idea why it won't park when you shut them off? Or is it normal for these E9s to stop it yourself on the bottom to park them?
Click to expand...
 
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