My car (86 Fiero) has always had the ghost wipe since the day I bought it. Sometimes you would start the car and it would wipe. Other times, I would hit either blinker.... it would wipe. Hitting bumps would make it wipe as well. Just a few minutes ago I fixed the problem. No, I didn't buy a new switch or replace the switch at all. God knows the problem will come back eventually, but I want to post what I did and see if it helps anyone else on here.
-First off I removed the blinker stalk, which pulls straight out. The first thing I tried to spray inside of the switch was contact cleaner. I followed up with some brake cleaner, then hit it with compressed air. I put the stalk back in, and noticed no improvement.
-Secondly, I grabbed some liquid wrench and marvel mystery oil. I then got the idea of grabbing a small pipe cleaner brush, which I think helped tremendously. I removed the stalk once again, dipped the brush in marvel mystery oil and went to town on the switch. I must have done this 3-4 times, and followed it up with liquid wrench. More brake cleaner, some compressed air, and I reinstalled the stalk once again. I could wiggle the switch without getting the ghost wipe, but if I hit the blinkers it would go off. Hmmmm....
-So on the third series, I dipped the brush in some more marvel mystery oil, scrubbed the switch some more, and then put the stalk back in. I went back and forth between both blinkers, while wiggling the switch. I thought this might knock some debris loose and work the oil in a few more spots. I repeated this a few times, shot the switch with some more brake clean, then compressed air once again. I must have missed a spot with the compressed air, because when I pulled it out of the stalks hole, a big blast of brake clean shot out from somewhere and startled me. I installed the stalk yet again, only to find that I had no ghost wipe at all! I couldnt believe it!
I know this all sounds confusing, but if you have a flaky switch like I do, try messing with it like I did and see if you get any good results. Use a pipe cleaner brush and some various solvents/cleaners, and tell me if it worked for you! I know many of you are going to say it will come back, and I wouldn't doubt that. This is why I want others to try it and provide the results. Get to work people!

Just for a side note, I checked once again after I got done writing the post and there is still no ghost wipe. Maybe it will work after all?

Good luck with your fix, but the phantom wipes are supposedly caused by faulty diodes and the only permanent fix is to replace the switch with one from / for a 1988 model car:

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/076132.html

It's hard telling. I've heard of everything from bad capacitors on the motor circuit board, along with diodes, and the switch itself being bad. I'm just hoping some other try this and get the same results.

Try here:
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...070315-2-069885.html
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...041015-2-052401.html

Call it cheating but I had one Fiero with a ghost wipe I couldn't seem to get rid of.

What I finally did was to install a switch in the line from the wiper fuse. Switch off, no ghost wipe, ever. Have to turn the switch on to use the wipers, but I don't have a ghost wipe!!!

Max

Haha, I've thought about that too, along with installing some other sort of variable switch. I just tried to clean this wiper switch for the hell of it, and I still cant believe it worked! Im not sure what good I could have done, but Im hoping it lasts.

By the way, my wipers still work normally, just in case anyone was wondering.

[This message has been edited by toadson (edited 09-06-2007).]

Let us know if it lasts more than a week. That's how long mine would last when I used just contact cleaner. I didn't put any lubes in though.

my worry is the brake cleaner. it can be pretty dang hard on plastics.

I'm aware of that. The only reason I was using it was to dry up the stuff I was spraying in there. I guess you really wouldnt need to do that, but I did it just in case.

I have no ghosting problem but something that I've noticed recently and did'nt realize (maybe others already know) is that the wiper control can be rotated backwards slightly to produce a single cycle of the wipers. This seems to be very sensitive, not requiring much of a twist at all. You don't suppose this feature (or defect) with some age and wear or debri involved, could be part of the problem do you?

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RickN
White 88GT 5spd
White 85GT Auto
White 99 F250SD 7.3PSD 6spd
1956 Ford 860 w/ Freeman Loader

I know what you're talking about, but I have no idea if that would cause the problem or not. I haven't ever taken that into consideration though, so it might be something else to look into. Good thinking!

Just another update. Drove the car at least 50 miles today, and did not have a single ghost wipe.

RickN, that is actually a feature if you were wondering. It's supposed to be for mist or light rain where you don't need the delay feature. Is it necessary, or even especially useful? Not really. I like it just because I'm in the habit of using it. One the neon I used to drive you could move the wiper stalk up to any of 4 positions to run the wipers normally (like using the turn signal), or you could just pull the stalk towards you with a flip of the finger (like turning on the brights) to manually control them one wipe at a time. The positions for the delay function were not well defined so I found it easier to just do it myself unless it was really raining hard; and as they say, old habits die hard.

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Don't look now, but I think the idiots have taken over the asylum.

AIM: JSAL86

quote Originally posted by Toaster_Man: RickN, that is actually a feature if you were wondering. ...One the neon I used to drive you could move the wiper stalk up to any of 4 positions to run the wipers normally (like using the turn signal), or you could just pull the stalk towards you with a flip of the finger (like turning on the brights) to manually control them one wipe at a time. ...

I have had two Neons and a three Ford trucks and knew that they had the feature. I like it too, especially the headlights, on the trucks both the brights and dims come on at the same time. I've had GM products for decades but never knew that feature existed on the wiper switch.

quote Originally posted by James Bond 007: Try here: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...070315-2-069885.html https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...041015-2-052401.html

A link cited in the first archive http://members.cox.net/2dry4u/links/wipers.html is dead, replaced by http://webpages.charter.net...09/links/wipers.html

Can you all believe its been almost two weeks and I haven't had one single ghost wipe?

I spoke too soon. Turned on the brights tonight and had a ghost wipe. It isn't doing it nearly as often, but it is back. Damn the luck.