Date:         Fri, 3 May 96 12:18:38 bst
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Andy Erskine <a.c.erskine@lboro.ac.uk>
Subject:      Re: intermittant part II


>Here's what the '79 switch has:
>There are four wires that lead to contacts in the switch which
>correspond to the various positions of the wiper switch.  However, as we
>know it now (non-intermittant), there are only three positions:  the
>first position where bump it up a little and the wipers sweep once, the
>low position, and the high position.  That accounts for three of the
>contacts -- check me here, I'm not sure I know quite how the
>wiper switch works.
>
>If the above is true, then there is a fourth contact in the switch which
>is unaccounted for, which I assume is contacted when the switch is
>pulled back.  
>
>So, my query:
>Could I just drop in the intermittant wipers relay and have instant
>intermittant wipers or is there some wiring to the switch I would have
>to do.  I noticed on the switch that there is a blank spot where another
>contact is supposed to connect.  Would I have to run a wire from this
>contact to the new intermittant relay??

There was a thread about this a while ago, and since my switch moved to the
fourth position, but didn't do anything, I opened up a spare one to see if I
could get intermittant wipers with a bit or re-wiring. Unfortunately it
wasn't as simple as I'd assumed. This is what I found:
The fourth wire is the live feed that keeps the wipers going, with the
switch in the off position, till they park. Inside the switch there is a
place for an additional contact on the arm, alongside the existing one, and
a strip in the switch body. This must be for the intermittant position but
they, and their wires that are molded into the plastic, were missing. Sadly,
the only way to get intemittent wipers is to get the correct switch that has
the extra gubbins inside. However, this is one my '73, and things might be
different on a '78/79. Didn't they change the switch design between these
years? Even so, if there are only 4 wires on your switch it probably won't
have the extra contacts in it. Can anyone confirm how many wires come out of
a switch that has working intermittent wipers? I think it should be 6.

Andy E.

A.C.Erskine@lboro.ac.uk