My Wipers are possessed!

Okay here's the problem...

I have an 01 Tacoma. Went to work last night and everything was working fine, this morning coming home from work, my wipers randomly activate/de-activate and my washer fluid motor no longer works.
If I want to use the wipers manually I still have both speeds, but no fluid and if I turn them on they choose when to stop on their own when the switch is in the off position.
There has been no change to my driving or anything like that, just started happening for no apparent reason.
I'm kinda stumped as to what would be causing this issue as it's really annoying when driving.
I've checked the fuse under the dash and that's ok.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Read my post on Yota Tech

The only thing I can think of is dirt in the switch

Did you have things apart near the switch like the connector unplugged or damage to the wires ??

It is not shorting and also effects the washer motor as well

 

I haven't touched anything. It's too damn cold to do anything. One minute it was working, the next it was possessed. So I guess I'll have to take it into the shop and get the switch replaced. -20C is not the weather to be working outside.
On the other site you stated to replace the washer pump, but wouldn't it be the switch in the steering column causing the issue, not the washer pump under the hood?

 

Not an expert on this, but the same thing happened to me and my wipers would come on by themselves when it was wet out or the roads were wet and water got in by were the wires are down by the washer pump. I sprayed the wires down there with contact cleaner and the wipers would work fine until it got wet again. After taking everything apart, I found some of the wires had cracks in them so I sprayed them again and put heat shrink on the wires, so far no problems since.
I would check those wires down there and look for a short or bad wires maybe cracked or frayed. I think if you find and fix that you should be fine.

 

^^ This ^^

I was going to suggest Holy Water.

 

So I replaced the Wiper switch on the column and it's doing the exact same thing.
I'm gonna assume it's the wiper motor now I guess.

 

Physical damage to the wires going to the motor .

Could be any place

Now it also could be in the washer circuit when you energize the washer pump it does turn the wipers on as well

Thinking about this a little more.

I would think about testing the wiper motor before changing it

 

Ya i'm going to bang on the motor today and see if it makes a difference. If the wipers are not wiping, and I pull the switch to activate washer, the wipers go on and don't stop. With all the slushy weather we been getting lately, it's a real pain to have no washer fluid.

 

from what I can see, the intermittent wiper control is built into the switch itself so if changing it didn't solve this then it sounds like a shorted wiring problem, test the motor with it unplugged and see

 

I found out what the problem was...
Splayed wires on the bottom of the washer pump. Issue resolved. (I guess I tore it up from the last snowbank I went through)
Thanks for all the help guys!

 

glad to hear, them electrical gremlins can be a real PITA to deal with sometimes.

 

Nailed that one!! Glad you found it!!

Does the pump work now ??

 

I had same prob on my 98 gen 1 (now have 05 gen 2)
When I bought it I was 2nd owner first had removed the washer fluid reserve and pump. When ever there was rain or snow and temps where cold the wiper would come on .
I had to put a a bag over it and seal it until I got a replacement wash/reserve and pump

 

I had a similar problem after I SASd the truck. I removed the washer reservoir and didn't relocate the connector for the pump. Every time it rained, the connector would get wet and the wipers would run non-stop until dry.