i have a 93 toyota pickup with standard wipers and would like to change to intermittent wipers -when i bought it new i seem to remember that the salesman said he could install new switch to acomplish this-i could not afford it at the time - when i went to toyota they didn’t seem to know what i was talking about- would it work to change just the switch to get delay wipers?
Unlikely. I suspect there’ll also be a relay and small wiring harness that’ll need to be also installed. It might even require some new steering column parts, like perhaps a “clockspring”.
Can it be done? In all likelihood the answer is yes. You’d need to get a schematic and a wiring diagram on the wiper circuits.
You’ll need to do some of your own research on this one.
You might check the J.C. Whitney catalogue. At one time, they had universal kits.to adapt any electrical wiper.to an interval wiper. It seems to me that there was a little box that hung under the dash with a knob to adjust the length of delay. I don’t know if these interval wiper kits are still available but you might go online to the J.C. Whitney website and check.
My 1947 Pontiac and my 1950 Chevrolet pickup truck had interval wipers. They operated from engine vacuum and only swiped the windshield when you let up on the accelerator.
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Edit: Never mind.
The intermittent wiper relay and timer are integrated into the wiper switch for that truck, there isn’t a separate module or relay needed.
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i appreciate your answer - i am pretty sure you are right - should i order a new one
A 1950 Chevrolet almost killed me on a trip. A woman who owned the car was afraid to drive in the dark and rain in hilly country so I volunteered. We were leaving Williamsport Pa , going South on US15 which is straight uphill all the way and the wipers didn’t work once all the way up the hill. I saw the T intersection just in time to make a 45 mph 90 degree turn. Come to think of it, I have never driven anything made by GM that I even remotely liked.
I remember we had those vacuum wipers in our 60 Ford Falcon. Step on the gas and the wipers quit. I guess it was the forerunner to intermittent wipers.
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I agree with Nevada
In fact, I’ve done this with Toyotas, in the past, around the same vintage, early to mid 1990s
I’ve installed intermittent wiper switches on cars that weren’t originally equipped with it
To be clear, I installed used Toyota parts, not new aftermarket. I got the swtiches at pick a part, so they were dirt cheap.
it was literally plug and play, no modifications required, whatsoever
@oldtimer-11 Many cars with vacuum operated wipers had a vacuum booster section on the fuel pump. This kept the wipers going even under wide open throttle. I would agree that vacuum wipers could put the driver and passengers in danger. The school bus I rode had vacuum wipers and n heavy downpours, we would jerk along as the driver would have to keep letting up on the accelerator to clear the windshield.
My dad once owned a 1940 Chrysler and it had electric wipers. I always wondered why it wasn’t standard in all cars. It would seem that it would cost no more to have electric wipers than to have vacuum wipers with a dual stage fuel pump. My only guess is that the electrical system wasn’t adequate on many cars to handle the added load of the wipers when the headlights​ were on and the old vacuum tube radio was playing. I do know that back in the 6 volt days, Chrysler products had higher ampere output generators than many other makes and were the car of choice by ham radio operators with their tube type mobile radio gear.
I like to look at old cars, but I’ll take today’s cars with interval wipers. I remember on some Ford products, multiple speed wipers were an option. Standard equipment was one speed electric wipers.
Yeah maybe the electrical capacity was the issue. I dunno. We had a 60 Falcon and then a 62 Falcon as a 2nd work car and I can’t remember which one but I had it one Friday night driving around town. He told me DO NOT USE THE RADIO or it will drain the battery. Did I listen? No. Sure enough when I parked it, it wouldn’t start again. I got a jump, turned the radio off, and never told him when I went home. So obviously the electrical system couldn’t handle lights, heater blower, and radio all at the same time.