My windshield wipers didn’t work right. Everything was OK except the interval setting didn’t do anything unless I moved the moved the little wheel. Then, it only wiped once until I m over the wheel again. I lived with this for well over a year before I got around to googling for a solution. The likely culprit was the wiper relay. That’s a $100-part!

I was able to push, pull, rotate, lift, yell, and adjust enough to get my fingers on it.

A week ago today, I found where the relay is hidden under the hood. I took it out. It’s big and can be disassembled. I slipped two thin knives into the relay where I could see two locking tabs that hold the inside in the outer shell and easily pulled it apart. It’s a completely mechanical relay. The contacts get a carbon build up and stop working.

I cut a very thin piece of 1000 grit sandpaper and gently cleaned each of the two contact faces. I put it all back together, hoping for the best. The best was not to be…

The relay lives in a very awkward corner. I dropped it. It landed about three inches (75mm) below its socket. My fingers did not fit well. I accidently pushed it deeper. Frustrating!

Two days later I tried to get it out again. I used duct tape wrapped around the end of a ruler. I tried to tie a loop of dental floss around it. Finally, with a hacksaw blade I was able to push, pull, rotate, lift, yell, and adjust enough to get my fingers on it. All this only after removing two other wire bundles. This took two unhappy hours. But, I got it in the right place. The wipers worked.

I had to wait from Sunday until today (Thursday) to test everything in the rain. It worked. Yay! I saved $100!