Another question from a newbie, after a search turned up nothing. On my mother's 2004 Ion, sometimes the windshield wipers don't work, sometimes they do. When they do work, they work perfectly fine. When they don't work, they don't work at all.... as in when you turn the switch nothing happens at all. No low speed, no high speed, no intermittent, no anything. Seems to be no rhyme or reason as to when they work and when they don't. When they don't work, the motor is not turning on, so it's got to be something electrical.

Should I start with the multi-function switch, the motor, or...….?

 

Try operating switch back and forth on and off about 200 times. The goal is to sweep any corrosion off of the contacts. If you can actually see or access the contacts without taking things apart, you might want to try spraying a tiny bit of electrical contact cleaner in there to clean the contacts. Do not use anything but contact cleaner. Should be available at most auto parts stores. If not, electronics store, the mom-and-pop type.

Don't go crazy on the thing and break it. The goal is not speed but repetition.

 

Thanks derf, I'll give that a try.