Windshield washer stays on... HELP!

[jawilder]

I baught a 79 K20 a while back and the windshield washers didn't work. It looked like it had a new(er) washer motor, so I opened it up and found a broken spring... no problem. I stretched the spring to fit and played with the sprocket inside it. It seemed to be locked, so I got it moving.

After about an hour of tinkering with it I got the washer to work. Great! But now the miserable thing stays on whenever the wipers are on. At both speeds I get squirt, squirt, squirt...

Any ideas?

[Shtudwn]

Have the same issue. Thinking is is mechanical but I have read more than a dozen posts without anyone actually diagnosing and solving the problem. Lets see if this post triggers more responses.

Thanks.

[Wgesnerjr]

Once a long time ago (mid 80's) my mom had a caprice that had this problem. Took it to the shop and was told that when this happens, tthe wiper motor needed replacing. new motor with old pump took care of it.

I couldn't understand how the wiper motor affected the pump. Was told that the pump gets power through the wiper motor. The motor was not shutting off power to the pump. He said it takes a couple of rebuilt motors to get on that works right. He thought it was because when old motors that ran perfectly well but didn't stop the pump were sent back as cores, the rebuilder tested them for wiper function, thought they were fine, repainted them and sent back out; never testing the washer circuit.

[Greenlee]

Originally Posted by Wgesnerjr

Once a long time ago (mid 80's) my mom had a caprice that had this problem. Took it to the shop and was told that when this happens, tthe wiper motor needed replacing. new motor with old pump took care of it.

I couldn't understand how the wiper motor affected the pump. Was told that the pump gets power through the wiper motor. The motor was not shutting off power to the pump. He said it takes a couple of rebuilt motors to get on that works right. He thought it was because when old motors that ran perfectly well but didn't stop the pump were sent back as cores, the rebuilder tested them for wiper function, thought they were fine, repainted them and sent back out; never testing the washer circuit.

In my experience, this is true. My wipers would not turn off immediately when the switch was turned off. I replaced the switch first and nothing changed. I replaced the motor and they worked better, but would not park at the bottom of the windshield when you turned them off. I ended up changing the switch again and still no change. Finally, I took the motor back and exchanged it. After the second motor the wipers work like they are supposed to.

[rgunlock]

My 78 has the same issue with the washer pump not shutting off after a few squirts. Replaced the wiper/washer (integrated unit in 78) and it worked for a while and started doing the same thing again. I think it is just poor quality remanufactured wiper motors. I think my next attempt to fix this will be using a separate, dedicated washer pump.

[RedBed]

I had the same problem with junky replacement motor/pumps. I did replace mine with an aftermarket "universal" pump. No more problems.

[Robert Crandall]

I had that problem with my 1978. It took weeks of looking, but I finally figured out the problem is mechanical. There is a wheel with a cam that operates with the windshield wiper motor. You activate the washer, the wheel makes one revolution, and a cam turns the pump off. On mine the cam is worn, so instead of turning the pump off, it bypasses the pump switch, and the pump runs continuously. The only fix was to buy a new windshield wiper motor, which I will not do until I need one for the wipers. I let it pump dry maybe 20 years ago, and never filled the water bottle. It may still pump when the wipers are on.

[Robert Crandall]

Forgot to note: I bought the truck new, and it is the original wiper motor that had (maybe still has) the problem.