Wipers have no Power at Motor

[Kodachrome Wolf]

TecNickal and I currently working on my '87 Colony Park so I can get it home. The wipers and horn stopped working on him a while ago. The horn fuse was replaced and that works, but the wipers still don't. Wiper washer pump works with the switch, but the wiper motor is getting no power.

Any ideas?

[Tiggie]

Rain X if all else fails.

From my 88 EVTM
At the bottom of the steering column, check for battery voltage on a solid dark green wire that goes into the interval governor (a magic black box). If none, check circuit breaker number 2 in fuse
Box and check for open in the dark green wire.
If you got juice on the dark green, Next up check ground (black wire) at wiper switch.
If you have a ground, time to test the wiper switch.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Rain X if all else fails.

From my 88 EVTM
At the bottom of the steering column, check for battery voltage on a solid dark green wire that goes into the interval governor (a magic black box). If none, check circuit breaker number 2 in fuse
Box and check for open in the dark green wire.
If you got juice on the dark green, Next up check ground (black wire) at wiper switch.
If you have a ground, time to test the wiper switch.

Will do. I'll have to find a functioning multimeter. Unfortunately the one we had on hand this afternoon had junk leads and wouldn't even register voltage from the battery.

Needless to say, the windshield was Rain-X'd and that took care of getting through the rain on the way home. Still want to get this issue solved, though. :/

[Kodachrome Wolf]

So I'm wondering if the internal governor under the dash is a source of my issues. Today I hit the wiper switch and the wipers came on. I could get them to work with the washer, on intermittent, low, and high, but I had some trouble. Occasionally they wouldn't start at all, but you could hear the governor click. Sometimes you can get intermittent to engage, but not the other speeds. Usually the intermittent only issue results in a single swipe, you hear the governor click to cycle the wipers, but nothing happens and no more noise occurs. Sometimes the wipers only turn on when you set them to low or high, but you can get intermittent by going back down to it after the wipers are started. They park fine every time. I did have a moment where the wipers stalled on low in the middle of the return sweep, but I switched them off and they quickly parked.

Here's a quick video where you can hear me meddling with the switch.

[VicCrownVic]

'90+ is a different setup, but it sure does remind me of the worn Multi Function Switch on The Scab.
If it were a '90+ I would say change the setting until it stops working then jiggle the stalk a bit. Or if driving on a bumpy road (no shortage of those here in MI) makes it work that could also indicate something worn/making intermittent contact and likely the switch.
I'm not sure if that applies on '89 and older box. I DDed '89 and older boxes for more than a decade but it's been about half a decade now.

[sly]

+1 worn MFS. My 93 had very intermittent contact on the intermittent settings but worked on the constant speeds. Replaced it and have had no issues since.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

I've swapped the wiper switch from the original to one from an '88 or '89 Town Car.

[knucklehead0202]

'90+ is a different setup, but it sure does remind me of the worn Multi Function Switch on The Scab.
If it were a '90+ I would say change the setting until it stops working then jiggle the stalk a bit. Or if driving on a bumpy road (no shortage of those here in MI) makes it work that could also indicate something worn/making intermittent contact and likely the switch.
I'm not sure if that applies on '89 and older box. I DDed '89 and older boxes for more than a decade but it's been about half a decade now.

Similar issue I reckon. Both my '90s had the exact same issue. Twist the switch up, up, up, oh now they work. Sometimes they'd park when still on, sometimes work intermittent, jiggle it around and shit starts happening.

The earlier stuff doesn't have as fancy a multi-function switch, but it is still a potential issue. I'd start with a new one of those and work up. Just pulled my brand new switch out of the wrecked '90 and put it in the new one last week, just in time for the rain to end Still worth it though, working like it should.

[79lincolnlover]

These wiper switches get tired after years of use.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

These wiper switches get tired after years of use.

Might be worth trying another one?

The only reason I'm wondering if the issue is in the switch is because back in 2014 (?) I had borrowed the wagon for a week. I had to use the wipers once and I do recall the intermittent function did not result in the wipers coming on, but setting them to low did. They worked fine when switched back to intermittent, however. Fast forward to January, the wipers are inoperable, and I was fiddling with the switch, but got no action. FWIW, pulling the switch for the wiper washer has always resulted in the washer pump running, but originally the wipers didn't run. It wasn't until the other day the wipers actually got into the action when pulling the switch.

Back to the point, when the wipers are set to intermittent, you can hear the governor box click when the delay time has been reached and the wipers cycle. Sometimes you get the click, but no action from the wipers, but then no additional noise comes from the box and you have to turn off the wipers to get them started again.

On Sunday I should be at a junkyard and I'll look around and try pulling a governor box. I'd be interested to see if anything in the operation of the wipers changes.