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1997 - 2003 Ford F150 General discussion on the Ford 1997 - 2003 F150 truck.

Wipers doing funky things...

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Old Mar 13, 2011 | 03:53 PM
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jeffreypca's Avatar
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Default Wipers doing funky things...

Wipers only work when in drive or reverse, and when i press the brake, they shut off....what does the brake have to do with the wipers?
Any ideas? I sprayed the wiper switch but still has nothing to do with the brake.
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Old Mar 13, 2011 | 09:48 PM
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pickupsrule's Avatar
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Could be a poor ground on the wiper motor which means the wipers are only getting full juice when you are not using anything with big amps. When you put the brakes on, the lights pull power and the wiper motor doesn't have enough juice to keep going.
I don't know about the F150, but other cars I have worked on had the motor grounded to the body by a bolt that holds the wiper motor to the body. Rust and crud gets between the motor and body and reduces the circuit. I had a car with a very slow wiper. When I took the motor off to match it with a new one, I noticed it was rusted and corroded where it met the body. I cleaned the area on the motor and body with sandpaper, put the motor back on, and it was like a brand new wiper motor.
This may not be your problem, but it is something to check.
You can loosen the motor bolts a little and jiggle the motor back and forth to try and clean the connection, then tighten it back.
I don't know about the drive or reverse issue, but I would guess a bad ground somewhere. A loose wire (ground or positive) can shift and make contact when you put the vehicle in gear and the engine torque tilts the engine.
I guess the wiring cluster in the steering wheel assembly could be messed up, but that's a major thing to go into the steering wheel and then you have the explosive air bag to deal with. I would mess with that only as a last resort.
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