Outback wagon windshield washer stopped

1997 Outback legacy wagon

The windshield washer no longer squirts when I pull back on the lever

 

I pulled the connector to the front washer motor and jumpered directly to the battery. The motor squirts

 

I then hooker a multi meter to the motor connector terminals and then pulled back the wiper lever arm.

The voltage goes from zero to under 150 millivolts when pulling on the lever.

So I am not getting the full 12 volts to the motor

If it was a fuse, I would get zero all the time

 

So the switch itself stopped working

 

I pulled the lower half of the steering column bezel off and had a look.

Looks like both levers on the steering wheel are all part on one big assembly and it's not cheap?

$482, Yikes

 

Found the image below at parts geek of that assembly

 

I had the same problem on my 89 S10 pickup and so I wired in a button on the dash to squirt the washers.

Worked great and was more powerful than the power the puny column switch could deliver

 

I don't think I want to disassemble the steering column and I don't want to pay $400+ for that assembly

 

Looks like I'll be adding a button on the dash for the sooby also unless someone else has got a better idea or the switch can actually be repaired easily?

I think the wiper stalk can be separated from that assembly. One of the mods I was planning on doing to my 1999 Legacy Outback was swapping the wiper stalk to one that had more intermittent speed settings. I have the part in the garage somewhere, I can get a picture of it later. I need to check and see if I'm still going to use it or not, if not, you're welcome to it. I'll get back to you.

Thanks for the offer.

 

If you can get a detailed picture of the actual switch that would be great

I could not see the switch itself when I looked at mine

 

I don't want to tear mine all apart unless I am sure I can fix the switch

I can fix just about anything if I can get a good look at it

Here you go. I can get more pics if you like.

 

 

Now the two holes in the second image have screws that I think are the only things holding it in place. The hardest part is getting them out without removing the steering wheel. I think I took a Phillips bit and a 1/4" wrench and used them as a right-angled screwdriver. You can see the two screws in your first image, to the right of the blue seal.

 

The next hardest thing is fishing the wiring harness back up the steering column.

Ah ok thanks.

Good to know I can remove that assembly with a 90 degree bit and not remove the steering wheel

 

I still can't tell where the actual mist switch is

It looks like it may be on the back of that assembly you are holding

I guess I will have to have a go at it and figure it out

 

Thanks for you help on that

 

One thing I noticed in your pics is that it looks like the intermittent circuit is right there

I see the relay and a electrolytic capacitor

I have been wanting to have a longer intermittent cycle for quite a while

It's way too fast on my sooby

You can usually increase the value on that capacitor to get longer charge times before the relay triggers

One more reason for me to get in that and have a look

The mist switch must be under the black plastic cover, because the back is just a circuit board.

 

Although, as I was looking to see what car this came out of, I found that the wiper stalk assembly may be different between the '97 and '99 models, even though they are the same gen. Post #7 on: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=559808

I posted a pic of the supposed assembly that fits my sooby in post #1

 

It has two stalks

I was thinking that you had separated the wiper stalk from that assembly

 

I don't think I am going to dig into mine

If I break something, I will have to buy that whole assembly and it's very expensive

if you have not yet done it.

check at the harness connection in the steering column to make sure it is the switch and not the wiring after the switch.

 

second,

this is the first time i have heard of this part failing.

buy a used one from http://www.car-part.com

sort by zip code to see what is close,

then by price to see what is cheap.

there are lots of these out there in good used condition just sitting around.

there is no demand for them.

 

tip,

if you get one from a GT (maybe an outback too) you will have

adjustable variable intermittent wipers.

i think.

 

finally,

someone in the VA / NC area bought one from the dealer for full price,

and just used the clock spring .

they were trying to sell the rest of it for $100.

they were trying for over a year?

they may still be.

but i have not been keeping track of the craigslist ads recently.

 

good luck.

I posted a pic of the supposed assembly that fits my sooby in post #1

 

It has two stalks

I was thinking that you had separated the wiper stalk from that assembly

 

Yeah, my bad. I was thinking that the assemblies did come apart since they did on mine and they're the same gen.

Thanks for the info all

I have not had time to get back on this yet

 

If I solve this, I will post back

A couple days ago, it decided it was going to squirt again.

 

Then yesterday it decided it was not gonna squirt and stopped working again

 

Have not had time to dig into the column yet