leadtrum

so i was driving down to tallahassee and it was rainging the whole time and so when i get to my gf's house my wiper blades stay on even when i switch them off?? They turn off when the car is off but still this is weird.

For now i pulled the fuse to stop them from going but has anyone ever had this problem? I"m assuming its the swtich or something but is there anything else I should be looking for?

B.

lol, I bet the little plastic ball on the inside of your wiper control arm is done... When you lift the lever to turn the wipers off it won't stay up.. I had the same problem... Go to the wreckers and pick one up for cheap..

leadtrum

its like a switch that turns, not lifts. i don't even know how to break it open to see what's up with out destroying it.

N_A_is_best

Lol...it is very funny to see your story because mine has the same problem. I have to put my fuse in when it rains too. I have had it looked at by a couple of people and was told that once this happens, you have to replace the whole combination switch assembly... I bought one from a friend (haven't installed it yet), but you can get it off of EBAY and typing in "combination switch". There are only about $15.00. Good luck with yours.

leadtrum

yea it sucks doesn't it. my car is already a pool of problems so when this happened i jus kinna laughed a little.

its like "of course you'd mess up, why not." lol, sounds depressing but nothing surprises me with this car anymore

N_A_is_best

Lol...yeah it does suck. Good luck man, I know how it is

knows_nothing

hey B., i'm having that problem right now where if i lift the lever to turn the windshield wipers off, it won't stay up. i haven't messed with it yet to try and fix it...so what is this little plastic ball that needs to be replaced? and what's the wreckers? like a car parts place?

NOFX

A wrecker is a wrecking yard or a salvage yard. It's where cars go to get parts out. A junk yard.

You need the whole switch. They won't let you disassemble the switch for just one little piece and sell it to you for cheaper. Plus replacing the whole switch is easier.

Nooch

That is, unless you disassemble it while at the car. Then they won't know the difference. It is funny though how when you bring up generic looking (but very awkward) parts that the worker knows EXACTLY what it is, sometimes.

NOFX

That's a shitty thing to do though. Theft is wrong no matter what. This is why more and more yards aren't pull-a-parts anymore.

I work at a wrecking yard. The parts are cheap already. If they're not, go to another yard. It's not like '96-'00 Civic wiper switches are hard to come by.

There are two types:
- DX hatch (has control over the rear wiper as well)
- All others (no other type has a rear wiper)

IIRC, all '96-'00 wiper switches are the same, given the above criteria.

Oh, and when I've been in other yards and bring up even little stuff that people usually steal, like bolts and bulbs and maybe even sockets, the staff usually lets me just have it for free. Sure feels a lot better getting free stuff than getting free stolen stuff.

Why is it okay to steal from wrecking yards but it's not okay to have our cars stolen?

edballard

Yep. This is my first honda and the same thing happened tome on the way in to work. I wasn't even using the wiper. Got to work fine then hopped in to go get lunch and the wipers went to town on the windshield. I was like,"WTF?"

Dekorum

So just a new wiper side of the switch assembly will fix this? AKA number 8 on this picture

I was hoping it wasn't a problem in the wiper motor itself because I don't feel like taking off my cowl again. Last year I replaced the motor for another one (used) because the other one stopped working completely. Now a few days I went to turn on the wipers and they wouldn't go off. I was taking a 5 hr road trip so I was stuck looking at the wipers going even when it was sunny out and bugs were dying on my windshield, haha.

Somehow after a few hours of turning the switch from on to off really fast I got them to go off, but now I bet I can't even turn them back on (haven't wanted to try yet), so hopefully I didn't break the motor. Soon I will need them to work when I want them to because its starting to rain every day here.

Former User

Check the FAQs sticky for Danomatic93's thread on cleaning the light and wiper switches.

Dekorum

Jeez that seems like a bit of a hassle. Do you think that this is definitely the problem?
I forgot to mention that after I got the wipers to finally go off, I noticed that the whole ride home I was hearing a little click every few seconds coming from the switch, almost the sound that it makes when you put your turn signal on.

Dekorum

Well I figured out the problem.
I cleaned it real nice and then I noticed that the ball tip of the black plastic piece that is responsible for moving the two contacts that switch the mode of the wiper broke. You can see the piece that broke in this picture as well as the cleaned contacts. So I guess I need to order a new wiper switch assembly unfortunately.

photo10-1.jpg?t=1336513566

Does anyone think I should clean my headlight switch assembly for the hell of it although it is not giving me any problems currently? The assembly looks a bit more complicated than the wiper one though..

Slacker93eg

Just get another one from the junkyard. I bought 3 before I got one that stayed working. 15$ at junkyard, 120$ at autozone

Dekorum

Got no good junkyards around here. It's about 90 from Majesty Honda. But I am trying to look for someone on here who will sell me a working one.

Former User

You might also want to check on eBay.

Dekorum

Is the 96-00 one the same as the 92-95 one?

DanCan'tSwim

no it's not,

It may look the same but the pin out on the wiring harness is not, and the 96-00 is bigger. I learned this today actually. however I was able to take them both completely apart and make a working one. PM me for tips. I have pics so I'll post tomorrow.

DanCan'tSwim

These pics should sum it all up. You pretty much take the arm from the 96-00 and stick it inside the 92-95, It's a tight squeeze but it will fit.
NOTE: the metal leads have to match and all the mechanics must move up and down for it to work. if it doesn't work at first keep trying, it too me a few tries.

David Kendall

I have the same problem. I bought another switch on Ebay and installed it. No change. Sometimes they shut off by themself after awhile but the switch seems to have a mind of its own. Anything else it can be other than a switch?

mk378

There is a switch in the motor that controls the automatic stopping. It opens when the blades are all the way down.

David Kendall

Thanks

Can it be reached without pulling the motor?

mk378

First get a schematic of the car to identify which motor wires go to the switch. Stop the wipers at the all the way down position by turning the key off, then unplug the motor and test continuity through the switch section. It should be open when the wipers are all the way down.