Reasons Your Windshield Wipers Stay On
Your vehicle’s windshield wipers are pivotal to your driving safety. You expect them to come on when you need them, but what’s usually not expected is not being able to turn them off when you don’t need them. If you can’t get your windshield wipers to turn off, here are a few reasons why.
Car Care: Tips for maintaining a service schedule for your vehicle
According to The Family Handyman writer Steve Maxwell, if you have problems with your windshield wipers not turning off, there are typically three causes.
Component problems
If your windshield wipers are acting up, the relay, the internal electric switch mechanism, may be faulty.
“A failed relay can mean the wipers won’t work at all, or they may continue to work even when turned off. Changing the wiper relay is the easiest approach and it might solve your problem. Wiper relays usually cost less than $20,” according to Maxwell.
If the switch that controls the on and off activation of your wipers is broken, this is a bigger problem to fix as the component is complex. Since replacing the switch requires taking the steering wheel column apart, you might want to trust this procedure to a trusted mechanic.
If the park switch of your windshield wipers is faulty, most likely you’ll need the motor replaced completely, according to Maxwell.
“When the park switch fails, the system no longer tells the wipers to stop at the bottom of the windshield, and they often won’t stop at all,” he adds.
Visible damage
Windshield wipers have a relatively short lifespan that can be lessened by severe weather or conditions. Take a close look at your windshield wipers and check to see if the rubber edges are intact. If they are torn, your wipers will not work well, according to YourMechanic.com. Accumulated ice and snow can affect the performance of your wipers, too.
DeAnn Owens is a Dayton transplant by way of the Windy City, yet considers herself to be a California girl at heart even though she’s only visited there once. To get through the dreaded allergy season unique to the Miami Valley, she reads, writes, complains about the weather, and enjoys spending time with her husband, two sons, and their newest addition, a Boston terrier puppy that is now in charge of all their lives. In the future, she hopes to write a novel and travel through time. See more articles by DeAnn.