"Variable" Intermittent Wipers?
09-20-2008, 04:41 PM
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"Variable" Intermittent Wipers?
So, I recently purchased a '97 Civic LX (pictures will be coming later) and I really like it.
However, I can't leave well enough alone (at least I appear to be in good company here.)
One of the things I'd like to "improve" first is that the Civic in that year only had one speed of intermittent wipers.
I know there are aftermarket relays that you can buy to allow you to set the intermittent rate...
Like this one for a Volvo that I used to own. Worked great.
...I haven't been able to find an equivalent idea/part for the Civic.
Can anyone suggest a source for one of these?
However, I can't leave well enough alone (at least I appear to be in good company here.)
One of the things I'd like to "improve" first is that the Civic in that year only had one speed of intermittent wipers.
I know there are aftermarket relays that you can buy to allow you to set the intermittent rate...
Like this one for a Volvo that I used to own. Worked great.
...I haven't been able to find an equivalent idea/part for the Civic.
Can anyone suggest a source for one of these?
09-20-2008, 05:13 PM
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Re: "Variable" Intermittent Wipers? (PerryRT)
you know I used a similar part in my MK2... worked great. But Also was wondering this about my Civic. Bump cause I wanna know too
pic4clicks
pic4clicks
09-20-2008, 06:27 PM
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Re: "Variable" Intermittent Wipers? (badboyr66)
Well, yeah....you're right. It's got three speeds, technically. High, Low and Intermittent.
But that's not quite what I meant.
You know how on many later (say...past 2000?) or more highend vehicles, you have a range of delays in the Intermittent setting (usually available on a dial or ****?) On a Civic and my old Volvo 850, they only had one intermittent setting.
Well, on my old Volvo, you took the stock wiper relay out and put this one in. Then when you found yourself in spitting rain, all you had to do was take the wiper arm up to intermittent, pause until the wipers went once. Then you would take it back to off, wait until you had the amount of delay you wanted (up to like 30 sec) and then back to intermittent - you get whatever interval you set.
A really nice plug-and-play replacement.
But that's not quite what I meant.
You know how on many later (say...past 2000?) or more highend vehicles, you have a range of delays in the Intermittent setting (usually available on a dial or ****?) On a Civic and my old Volvo 850, they only had one intermittent setting.
Well, on my old Volvo, you took the stock wiper relay out and put this one in. Then when you found yourself in spitting rain, all you had to do was take the wiper arm up to intermittent, pause until the wipers went once. Then you would take it back to off, wait until you had the amount of delay you wanted (up to like 30 sec) and then back to intermittent - you get whatever interval you set.
A really nice plug-and-play replacement.
09-20-2008, 06:39 PM
#6
I've messed around with 555 ICs before, and by varying the resistance and capacitance across a couple terminals, you can vary the timing. It's certainly not beefy enough to handle powering a wiper motor, but with a relay...
As for how to implement it, don't ask me. I haven't screwed with the wipers yet. I'm still working on other stuff.
As for how to implement it, don't ask me. I haven't screwed with the wipers yet. I'm still working on other stuff.
09-20-2008, 06:49 PM
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Re: (thumper64)
Yeah, I was kinda tossing that around, but I was having problems with the variable nature of it, so I was thinking about a PIC-based approach.
But why reinvent the wheel.... My Plan B was to buy the relay I linked to above and see if I can adapt it to the Civic.
But why reinvent the wheel.... My Plan B was to buy the relay I linked to above and see if I can adapt it to the Civic.
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09-21-2008, 01:42 PM
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Re: (PerryRT)
OK, so a follow-up on this after some more research.
Bottom line is - not gonna happen.
It appears that the intermittent wiper control on this car is controlled by something called the Intermittent Wiper Relay Circuit in the integrated control unit.....So no relay to replace! Plus, there's no schematic of the internals of the ICU, so there's no way to see if there's a pot or something that can be modified to vary the timing on that circuit without quite a bit of board-level snooping and maybe some reverse engineering.
Oh well. It just went from a "quicky" project to a "long winter night" project. No biggie - you don't buy a 10 y.o. car without planning a few projects. That's half the fun!
Anyway, thanks for the responses.
Bottom line is - not gonna happen.
It appears that the intermittent wiper control on this car is controlled by something called the Intermittent Wiper Relay Circuit in the integrated control unit.....So no relay to replace! Plus, there's no schematic of the internals of the ICU, so there's no way to see if there's a pot or something that can be modified to vary the timing on that circuit without quite a bit of board-level snooping and maybe some reverse engineering.
Oh well. It just went from a "quicky" project to a "long winter night" project. No biggie - you don't buy a 10 y.o. car without planning a few projects. That's half the fun!
Anyway, thanks for the responses.
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