Help me figure out wiring?

[BlackJohn]

Great pics, thx, helps a lot.

So do you have the battery neg cable disconnected? If so, it's time to take the panel off that holds the two wiper switches. You should find there those same 5 wires on the left and right switches, but we are only concerned with the right for the moment.


If you do that I will have further questions as to how these switches get fed their power.

[EastCoastCB]

The right and left switches have diff colored wires going to each. Does that matter?
I'm gona disconnect the neg terminal right now and pull that panel off again.
I have to take my moped across town, I left the multimeter in my car and Roxy took it to work.
I had a snap on blue point multi they made us buy at MMI/UTI... But it broke long ago somehow, and I never was very good at messing with electrical stuff.
I think the Craftsman is sorta "mine" now, my buddy has no use for it he said.
I think I may try hooking the right wiper switch to the left wiper motor and see what happens.

[EastCoastCB]

After pulling the switch panel again in better light, I'm not sure I wanna mess with trying to switch wires around. THe right and left switches have completely different looking wires at the connectors, and I'm really confused.
Gona go get the mulitmeter when I can.
God, this is painful. A wiper has me beat!

[EastCoastCB]

Both switches have a four pin connector, but the right side only has two wires in it, left has all four, and they're heavier gauge.



Then they both have these also different per side-

[BlackJohn]

Easy there CB, they may have different looking wires but they work the same.
Can be intimidating but just follow these steps. Take more pics with panel off and so I can see the wiring and condition of it.
Have to go out for a while before big snow storm hits here. The reason the wires going back to the switches may be different in colour as they likely go to a junction block somewhere in the dash area. Not to worry.

[EastCoastCB]

I can't get the panel any further out without taking ALL the switch wiring off of everything.
I can't find any junction blocks, the wiring all goes into a giant loom of wires inches thick and covered in that black plastic wiring covering stuff. Then it goes all up under the back side of the dash into a pile of mess on top of the big heater by the service door.
Sorry I'm so bad at this!!!! You're awesome, man. My 92 Ward has about as much wiring in the whole bus as this stupid thing has for the damn wipers.

[EastCoastCB]

Best I can do with 2 megapixels of potato vision and the limited access.




This white wire, presumably a ground, wasn't connected to anything. Connecting it to virtually every available tang has no effect at all-

[DoubleO7]

since the right switch has less wires going into the switch then the left wiper switch, is the right wiper low/high/off only ?
The way busses are ordered, it would not surprise me that a customer could order the wipers with intermittant for the driver and not pay for it on the right.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by DoubleO7

since the right switch has less wires going into the switch then the left wiper switch, is the right wiper low/high/off only ?
The way busses are ordered, it would not surprise me that a customer could order the wipers with intermittant for the driver and not pay for it on the right.

Possibly, I've no clue, man. Intermittent hasn't worked on rt side since I got it, but the switch feels the same and has the same range of clicks and motion. There are five wires going to each wiper motor as far as I can tell. I've always been horrible at this kinda stuff.

[EastCoastCB]

I've got the multimeter.

[EastCoastCB]

Being that the radio and pa quit all the time, the wipers have a mind of their own, and the heater only works for 45 seconds, there has to be some magic part that they're all connected to that's gone bad. One of those solenoids or coils?
I can't believe how many wires are on this bus, its just silly to me.

[BlackJohn]

That's great, good buddy you have!
All I have are the munchies now while looking at these latest pics.
Ok, thee right switch has a locknut on the front of the panel to hold it in.
If the batteries are unhooked now everything should be dead. Everything! So no risk of frying anything yet.
See if you can take off that locknut and gently pull the switch up out of the mounting hole. That knob should slide straight off with a good pull.
This will give me a better look at the connections just on that switch and then we can do the left if necessary. Don't remove any wiring connectors from anything, be gentle in there.Put up pic of that.
Also, is your fuse box inside or out of the bus.
Just how do you turn on the intermittent use of the wiper, on the switch or on the directional signal handle? I still think they are 3 speed motors, H, M, Low.
See how much money you have saved already, lol!

Bye the way, this is not electronics at all. It is dc circuit troubleshooting.

[EastCoastCB]

I took the left side panel up to get a better view. Took the switch off yesterday. should I take the back plate of the switch off?
I can get a pic of the wires on the back of the switch without taking it off, unless you want me to pull the plate off the back of the switch.
I'll disconnect the battery.
There isn't a fuse panel to really speak of. there's a panel with a bunch of breakers, and a few fuses here and there.

Intermittent is adjustable when you turn the knob initially it clicks to on, and you can adjust the intermittent from slower to faster, then you can turn the button another click to low speed regular operating, then one more for full blast.
I'm 99.99999% sure this is the exact switch-

http://www.midwestbusparts.com/index...roducts_id=662

[BlackJohn]

Radio and pa sounds like bad ground to me. Not to hard to trace but first things first.
The heater motor is likely bad ground too or fan motor is tripping the breaker then cools off and will run the next time for 45 secs or so.
Yes everything works off of those two solenoids.
The constant vibration in a running bus will get to all those things eventually without some attention to proper maintenance.

[EastCoastCB]

The back of the switches. The wires come out the sides, both look identical.
Right knob doesn't click until the "low" setting. nothing on intermittent.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by BlackJohn

Radio and pa sounds like bad ground to me. Not to hard to trace but first things first.
The heater motor is likely bad ground too or fan motor is tripping the breaker then cools off and will run the next time for 45 secs or so.
Yes everything works off of those two solenoids.
The constant vibration in a running bus will get to all those things eventually without some attention to proper maintenance.

the radio, front right heater, pa, and cruise control only work once per outing. Bus has to shut off and sit for any of em to work after they quit. CC ONLY works one time per drive, ever.

[BlackJohn]

Ok, thx for the intermittent explanation. That works like a dimmer switch for a light, called a rheostat. No repairing that I 'm pretty sure.
No sense taking the back off the switch.
But two sets of wires there each in a connector as will yours be.
Just had a look at your parts link. Can you get a make and part number from yours?
Pricey things, any wreckers around or rv dealers?

In the meantime take the right switch out so we can see better which wires on it are jumpered to the left switch only. You may need a sharp knife or scissors to cut back that black shrink wrap on the wiring to the connector from the switch. Do both I guess then we can figure out what to test.

[BlackJohn]

Hold on now CB!
No intermittent then means bad switch. Power goes right thru it to low speed. Time for a change of switch. Disregard my instructions on removing them both.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by BlackJohn

Hold on now CB!
No intermittent then means bad switch. Power goes right thru it to low speed. Time for a change of switch. Disregard my instructions on removing them both.

That's what my suspicion was/is.
Should I start looking for a new switch?

[EastCoastCB]

They're made by Cole Hersee and stamped 1898.