Wipers won't turn off, and overdome won't work on "door setting"

[1994SEV6]

First of all, my truck is a 1994, so keep that in mind. That's 17 for rust and corrosion to take its toll.

Last time there was a huge storm here, I realized that my wipers wouldn't turn off. I turned them on, and they worked fine in all 3 settings. When I went to turn them off, they just stayed in the low speed setting. I figured that if I push the lever halfway between "off" and "low" they would turn off. I don't remember how I eventually got them to turn off permanently. I think I slammed the lever into off and it worked eventually.

 

My overhead dome is doing the same thing. It will work when I put it on "on" and it will turn off when in the "off" position, but it won't work in the "Door" position. I like to have the light on when I open the doors. My mom and little brother are always messing with @!*%, so the switch would often be in the off position. When I would put it back into the "Door" position, sometimes it would work, and sometimes I would have to toggle it a few times. Now it doesn't work at all.

 

Who thinks this is corrosion on the terminals of the relay? What else could it be? Where are the relays for these things? Are they near the devices themselves, or are they somewhere else?

[sewebster]

Is the dome light switch only with one door, or all doors? If only one door (like the drivers) then it could just be the switch that detects whether the door is open.

[Towncivilian]

Yeah, check other doors. I drove around with 2 dead front door switches for around a year and was completely oblivious, somehow.

 

As for the wipers, it might be the front wiper amplifier, which is a brown box mounted on the firewall in the engine bay. You could probably get one of these for cheap from a junkyard.

Edited November 16, 2011 by Towncivilian

[Slartibartfast]

Sounds to me like the contacts in the control stick (forgot the proper name) are oxidized or dirty. I've taken apart the other one, for the headlights, and so long as you're careful, it's pretty easy to clean it out. The stick for the wipers should (?) be similar.

 

I don't think the dome light has a relay. The headlights don't even have a relay. The works/sometimes works/dead progression sounds like corrosion to me. I'd pop the cover off the dome light and clean the contacts inside. Make sure they're all touching right, then shoot some contact cleaner in there.

[Nefarious]

for the wiper issue that is your wiper amp that has gone bad. i had exactly the same issue with the same symptoms in my 240sx. it was a little green box in the engine bay, i think it's brown in the pathfinder. i would try replacing that first, i got mine or 5$ at the wrecker. for your dome light you might just have some loose or dirty contacts in the light? i also had a dome light that would only work sometimes with the doors but if i smacked the dome light itself a couple times it would work. just cleaned the contacts and it was fine. worth a shot??

Edited November 17, 2011 by Nefarious

[1994SEV6]

Wow thanks everyone. You all had pretty good advice and it seemed to be very consistent. Just another two things to add to my to-do list.

 

Oh yeah. It is both doors. It's not the door open switch.

Edited November 18, 2011 by 1994SEV6

[TerranoNZ]

 

 

As for the wipers, it might be the front wiper amplifier, which is a brown box mounted on the firewall in the engine bay. You could probably get one of these for cheap from a junkyard.

 

2nded... Mine is playing up too.... Must get around to fixing it