96 Ford Ranger truck wipers come on by themselves. A friend has the same truck one year younger with the identical wiper issue. An internet search on ‘Ford Ranger wiper problem’ brings up tons of people having the same problem (with/out variations of dome light, interior door alarm, dash lights). How do I get this fixed and shouldn?t this be a recall issue due to an apparent defective electrical component?
I have called the local Ford dealer, Ford Corp Cust. Serv. and National Dept. of Highway Safety (complaint # 10384411) and seem to get nowhere. Dealer wants $230 to run diags. NDHS stated there aren?t enough complaints (I counted about 50 on their site).
Truck has 107k; I am second owner.
I?d appreciate some help on how to proceed and what the fix might be?and thanks in very much in advance!
Is any fixed mentioned in all those discussions?
So you’re expecting a 15 year old, 100k miles+ truck to be under warranty forever? That’s not the way it works.
Try the multi-function switch.
AND, very commonly , the grey funny shaped gang plug in the back of it.
Many times the little tines that hold in the wires will break free allowing the wires to be loose.
There are allot of “I’ll try that and get back to you…” and thats where the strings end. here are some notes I’ve taken:
Loose connector, Fuse (30 amp on #16), Wiring harness, Cleaned or replaced wiper relay, Turn Switch, G107/G104 ground wire (under driver side fender/panel), Multi Function Switch.
Loose connector could be anywhere along the harness which looks in-tact to my untrained eyes. I’ve checked the fuse (fuse remains pulled on dry days as this happens every time i drive). I haven?t tried cleaning or replacing switch or relay. The ground is up and behind a fender panel I would need to take off to access. Before time and $$ I wanted to see what this discussion board would produce.
Unfortunately this is an issue with Explorers as well and dates back to early 90’s. So, theres allot of seemingly wild info and ‘fixes’ around with no real consistency thus I’m not sure what works and what doesnt. (thnx for the response!)
Did you buy your ranger with the expectation that the warranty would be 15+ years? I think this is unrealistic. Ford made and sold tons of Rangers. A problem that effects less than 1% of those sold would result in “tons” of internet postings about it.
What percentage of vehicles sold have to have the same non-safety problem show up after 15 years before it should be a recall?
I’m not certain how the wiper motor is wired on the Ford Ranger. On my 1978 Oldsmobile, the ungrounded (positive) side to the motor is live as long as the ignition switch is on. The motor is controlled by completing the circuit to the chassis (negative) through the switch. There is a resistor between one terminal in the swtich and ground to give a slower speed. If your Ranger has a similar set-up, you could put a switch in the positive lead to the motor. This would kill the current to the motor when the switch is off. You could mount the switch in a handy location on or under the dashboard and run wires from the wiper motor terminal. It wouldn’t be stock, but yur truck is 15 years old and this would save some money. I’m cheap and would do it this way if I could. However, I would mount the switch in the dashboard rather than have it under the hood where you would have to stop and open the hood to turn the wipers on and off.
If the 96 is like the 2001 Ranger, then the wipers are controlled by the GEM. The GEM also controls the other things that the OP mentioned.