Title says it all. I put new rails on my rear window, so I had the tailgate fully apart. Took the truck for safety inspection today and one of the things it failed on was tailgate wiper not working - it was definitely working before I did the work on the tailgate - did I do something simple/stupid?

 

It's definitely possible that you just knocked a connector loose or something. I would open it back up and check everything in there before loading the parts cannon or anything like that.

 

Thanks for the reply - sorry if this is a stupid question: Is there wiring in the gate that would affect the wiper - like an interlock or something, because I'm assuming all the actual wiring for the wiper is in the body?

 

There are no stupid questions, just stupid people that don't ask questions! That's what we say in my trade anyway.

As to your question, I don't know. If you can post up all the pertinent info about your truck, year, engine, trim package etc. someone may be able to help. You could also search for the wiring diagram for your truck and take a look at that. I'm not terribly familiar with the workings of the rear wiper, they've never worked on any 1st gen 4runner I've had. I've removed the wiper altogether on my current 4runner.

 

Oh yeah, i guess some specific information about my truck might be useful - not sure why I didn't think of that...

1991 5-spd 3.0 GLX trim.

Wiring diagrams hurt my brain, I'm more of a hands-on person. I guess I can try sticking the multimeter on the motor contacts and see if there is 12v there though.

 

I'm pretty sure on of the limit switches on tailgate affects it. For example, if window is not all the way up,wiper would not work. Unfortunately I have a 22R-E and am not familiar with second gen wiper control.

There you go,always indicate what truck-model-year-engine-transmission-trim you are working on. i suggest you put in your signature.

 

Thank you. I will check if glass is actually all the way up, or just looks like it, tailgate warning dash light isn't on though. Rear defrost light is also not coming on, sigh, definitely hooked that back up when I put the glass back in.

Will create a model sig, good advice, thank you.