Help! Wipers possessed after battery swap

[Austin Gillespie]

Hello, I have a bit of a electrical issue which is not in my wheelhouse and something I consider to be a wholly witchcraft field. I swapped the battery on my '95 cap and first time I started it, my wipers came on. I went to turn them off via the stalk and no response, I turned the stalk all the way down to full wiper speed and no response, wipers wiping away regardless of being on or off and not responding to speed. When this issue happened I also started having the new battery drain very fast, within 4 hours the car would not start again without a jump. Any help would be much appreciated and any recommendations for a good electrical wizard are always welcome. Thanks!

[Ian Linden]

I suspect a short circuit either in the stalk unit or the wiper motor. The connecting wires could also be involved.

Can't help with an electrical wizard where you are, but take him a copy of the relevant page from the Service Manual (Page 8-29)

[Austin Gillespie]

Found a spare wiper motor on the cheap luckily and tried that but same issue so that would lead me to believe it's a stalk module issue. Is there anything else I should check before I look into getting one of those?

[Ian Linden]

Assuming your parasitic drain is associated with the wiper problem, it sounds like partial shorts to ground on the supply AND on the connection to the motor (the Bl/R wire), thus bypassing the switch. These shorts could be in the switch or the wiring. Refer to Page 8-29. I suggest you use an ohmmeter to check insulation to ground on the relevant wires before buying a replacement switch.