Windshield wipers possessed?

[tylerdurden2816]

So a week ago my wipers started wiping on their own, and when the blades reached 12 O'clock the dash lights would flash on and off, so I assume it's the LCM, pull the wiper fuse and get home. Make an appointment, drop her at Ford, the say the Light Control Processor was bad, it was under recall, free of charge. Driving it today, put the fuse back in, half hour later the wipers start on their own again. It was dry and daylight, so no idea if they would mess w the lighting anymore or not. Is this common? Anyone know what's wrong w my 03 Marauder?

[Turbov6Bryan]

Just did one today

The plug to the wiper motor has water in it

Today this one the teeth from the motor stuck into the harness

Pull the top plate of the cowl off, then the lower half You will need a new wiper motor and dielectric grease


It's 1-2 hours

[Hooptie]

IIRC try cleaning the cowl area under the wipers. The wiper motor resides there. There is a drain hole that can clog up and cause and cause water to collect "shorting" out the motor. You can remove it to dry and see what happens from there.

[Turbov6Bryan]

FYI I have used good harnesses just for that

Your wet motor tend to have less metal making no contacts, and broken contacts

Let me know
573-286-1699 text me

[Ms. Denmark]

Google wacky wipers mm.net. Lots of info about this very common problem. While you have the cowl off consider drilling out larger weep holes to decrease the future risk.

[RF Overlord]

^^^what they all said.

The problem is not the LCM, it's the wiper motor controller, which unfortunately is not available separately.

Some have had luck pulling the motor assembly out and cleaning the circuit board with electrical contact cleaner, but if yours is too far gone, replacement of the assembly is the only fix.

[CoreyM75]

What if the wipers only work on the highest setting? I'm guessing that it's time for a new wipers motor, but with my Sport the wipers went on and wouldn't stop on thier own no matter the switch position, this is a little different.

[Bluerauder]

What if the wipers only work on the highest setting?

This ^^^^^ is a common symptom for the "Wacky Wipers". So is pumping the windshield wiper reservoir dry. When the electronics on the bottom of the wiper motor get wet from sitting in the puddle, just about anything is possible; but only Mach 1 wiper speed is a good indicator.

You may be able to remove the motor and open up the electronics to dry them out and use dielectric grease on the contacts. Clean the debris from the inlet and enlarge the drain hole so that water and junk doesn't collect under the motor and saturate the electronics. If none of this works, then you'll probably have to replace the wiper motor. This is a very common problem on the Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, Town Car, and Marauder. They are more susceptible if the car sits outside and collects debris from trees and stuff.

[tylerdurden2816]

They are more susceptible if the car sits outside and collects debris from trees and stuff.

This is my exact situation. The Marauder is currently not my primary vehicle so I only drive it one or two days a week. Time for an investigation... Has anyone posted a video or step by step on taking the wiper motor all apart, cleaning, greasing and installing again?

[CoreyM75]

This ^^^^^ is a common symptom for the "Wacky Wipers". So is pumping the windshield wiper reservoir dry. When the electronics on the bottom of the wiper motor get wet from sitting in the puddle, just about anything is possible; but only Mach 1 wiper speed is a good indicator.

You may be able to remove the motor and open up the electronics to dry them out and use dielectric grease on the contacts. Clean the debris from the inlet and enlarge the drain hole so that water and junk doesn't collect under the motor and saturate the electronics. If none of this works, then you'll probably have to replace the wiper motor. This is a very common problem on the Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, Town Car, and Marauder. They are more susceptible if the car sits outside and collects debris from trees and stuff.

Huh, I learned something new. Thanks for the advice and help, I appreciate it. I ordered an new wiper motor, I'll replace it this weekend. My car doesn't sit outside, it's garaged year round so I don't think the drain is clogged.

[Bluerauder]

Time for an investigation... Has anyone posted a video or step by step on taking the wiper motor all apart, cleaning, greasing and installing again?

Richy04 posted a step-by-step "how to" for this back in October 2008 that is now a Sticky in the Garage DIY section >>>> http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=47864

There are some pics and ctrlraven posted the debris clean out pics.

[Turbov6Bryan]

Huh, I learned something new. Thanks for the advice and help, I appreciate it. I ordered an new wiper motor, I'll replace it this weekend. My car doesn't sit outside, it's garaged year round so I don't think the drain is clogged.

When you unplug it from the motor, make sure some of the pins don't stick in the harness

[fastblackmerc]

Huh, I learned something new. Thanks for the advice and help, I appreciate it. I ordered an new wiper motor, I'll replace it this weekend. My car doesn't sit outside, it's garaged year round so I don't think the drain is clogged.

You'd be surprised what will find it's way in there.

[tylerdurden2816]

Awesome guys! Thanks a lot! I'll take a look at it when I get a chance now!

[ByronRACE]

Once you replace the wiper motor/controller and clean the connector and drain/clean out the junk tray, remove the stupid flapper at the bottom that prevents debris from falling through and turns it into a lake. I removed mine years ago and it has remained clear and trouble free for over 100K miles.

[CoreyM75]

When you unplug it from the motor, make sure some of the pins don't stick in the harness

Thanks for the tip, I'll make sure that I don't pull any of the pins.

[CoreyM75]

You'd be surprised what will find it's way in there.

When I swapped out the wiper motor on my Sport, I swear I felt like an archeologist with all of the old leaves, chucks of black walnut and sticks under the motor.

[Turbov6Bryan]

Thanks for the tip, I'll make sure that I don't pull any of the pins.

The pins just tend to rot away, so if you pull it apart and you don't inspect for missing pins... You'll shove excess pins into the harness

Just a friendly tip :)

I use finger nail clippers to retrieve

[GoldPanther]

This is super common to happen.
A tip, open the new motor and really seal it. That way it won't ever get moist inside.
Here my little horror story.

http://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=207167&Number=2908558#Post2908558