Motoman399

hey all, my name is Alex. this is my first post here, but not new to forum's and am also a mechanic in arcata ca.

on to my issue. i have an 87 pickup with all the bells and whistles.. a/c, power mirrors, windows, locks, antenna,cruise control, ect. almost every option but automatic and a turbo.. haha i bought the truck in rough condition. it had a blown engine and about 20 years worth of dog hair and forest floor. well after cleaning it up and rebuilding the engine its time to focus on some of the little things. so i started looking into fixing my intermittent wipers. the wipers work in the 2nd (low) and 3rd (high) positions just fine. but the 1st (intermittent) position doesnt work. and also when you push the washer button, it sprays but doesnt wipe at the same time, like my old truck did.

i printed out a wiring diagram at work and a relay location. went searching for the relay yesterday and could not find it for the life of me. i tore apart most of the dash looking for it on both the driver and passenger sides. first i started with the pass kick panel and behind the ecu. i found 3 relay's, the light reminder, fuel pump, and door lock control. from what the papers show me and from what i have read searching on google there is supposed to be a green box that controls your intermittent wipers. it is nowhere to be found

does anybody have some light to shed on this? i know its not the average topic that toyota guys worry about, but its quite annoying.. haha

thanks all!

chads87sr5

I have the exact same problem on my 87 4runner with similar options let me know what you end up finding out on yours.

arlindsay1992

iTrader: (8)

I do not believe that the wipers are activated by the mist button. I think that the mist button activates mist, and you must activate the wipers separately.

Motoman399

Unfortunately I got wrapped up in other projects and didn't get anywhere with this.

I'm more concerned with the intermittent part rather that the mist future. Although I'm pretty sure my old 84 toyota pickup ran the wipers when you hit the mist button...

slow-mo

I have an 1987 as well and I swapped out my 2-speed wiper stalk for the variable intermittent one. From what I recall, the relay itself is built into the base of the stalk where it pivots on the assembly. It is hidden inside the steering column housing.

The previous style had that green relay box mounted the the passenger kick panel.

jerry507

After looking at FSM schematic, the washer button ONLY runs the washer motor. If you push the stalk forward, it should run the washer motor and run the wipers at the LOW speed. It appears that not all trucks had the mist position, and for sure not all had the INT wipers (mine does not ).

Sadly there is a lot to check in the INT position. Yes, the relay could be bad but there is also some electronics inside the wiper combo switch that could be bad as well. Also, there is a switch inside the wiper motor that could also be bad. The combination switch is what actually comes out of the steering column.

The FSM doesn't actually say anything about being able to replace that relay, so I bet it's soldered directly onto whatever PCB is in there. The most likely course of action is replacement of the whole combo switch assembly.

slow-mo

I would say yes as well. Even the parts fiche shows it as one replacement switch. Part number 84650. The picture shows just the simple 2-speed with mist but there are other part number versions for the intermittent wiper switch.

http://www.utoyot8.com/FullImage.asp...8&ppInfo=(8308-++++)

jerry507

I was thinking about that circuit too, and the INT version uses a special circuit to actually do the variable speed. The circuit is pretty complex because it involves this special lobe driven switch inside the wiper and I'm not exactly sure how that works mechanically.

But the relay would cycle pretty often, once per wipe at least. I've never heard any clicking inside the tree of a vehicle with variable wipers so I bet that relay is actually a reed relay or something.

slow-mo

I noticed it being very quite as well.

Many years ago, before knowing I could do this swap, I bought an aftermarket intermittent wiper gizmo. After installing it worked as it should but it went CLICK.....CLICK.....CLICK, every time it engaged.

Very annoying. I eventual removed it because it was so loud.

malvagio yota

I think i may have the same problem, looking for the wiper relay. My wipers only have one speed and that is fast. I was wondering what you guys think since this is along the same lines

yota81

so is the relay on the passenger kick panel or.....? is that just for the 84/85 or 79 to 85, or....?

Motoman399

I figured out there are two different main styles of intermittent wipers with these trucks. One with an external relay (non tilt column) and one with a built in relay (tilt column). I have the non tilt wiper on a tilt column so I had a wire that was supposed to the relay which is non existent. Hope that helps you guys. And I'm not certain about the tilt vs non tilt but I am certain there are two different styles. Good luck all

yota81

well after reading some threads, it appeared that the relay was on the passenger kick panel (behind the ECU?)...but then people have said they have fixed it but can't remember....and were throwing out assumptions. I have a tilt column on my 86, but when I use the intermittent wipers I hear a click on the passenger side....I haven't dove into looking yet, my intermittent wipers just quit this morning. They will come on, go half way up the windshield and then stop. Won't return to the rest position unless I turn the wipers all the way on. Hopefully there is some type of servicable part to fix it.