Dodge Journey Wiper Problem

[Squishman]

I have a 2018 6 cylinder Dodge Journey that I use for my medical delivery route. Only about 76k on it. A couple weeks ago in the morning, my wipers were dead. Thought fuse. Nope. There are two relays for the wipers. I brought them in the house to test them with my motorcycle battery, which happens to be in the house on a tender for the winter. They were fine. I didn't know what the heck it was then. I put the relays back in and tried the wipers and they worked! Thought perhaps a relay just had a contact issue. Anyway, yesterday morning, same deal. I opened the fuse box to jiggle the relays. Still jack squat. Went to the store... came out and they worked! Do you guys think it's the switch? I cannot get it diagnosed unless it was dead permanently of course. I just watched a yt video and that switch replacement is literally a 4 minute job. Unreal. $79 on Rock Auto. What do you think? Couple of brands on Amazon for under $50. But shipping is not Prime. And if that is my issue, it'd be nice to get it faster. I could go find the plug for the motor and unplug/replug that. But I doubt that that is it. Or it could be the motor. If it is that, I am not willing to wait for it to go out completely.

 

[Squishman]

A friend suggested I take out the switch and spray electrical contacts cleaner in it and re-install it. I'll see if there is access to spray into it like that. The switch does turn signals, front and rear wipers plus wash on both. So it has like a million things it does. I'll go pull it out right now.

 

[TLS Guy]

A friend suggested I take out the switch and spray electrical contacts cleaner in it and re-install it. I'll see if there is access to spray into it like that. The switch does turn signals, front and rear wipers plus wash on both. So it has like a million things it does. I'll go pull it out right now.

That probably won't work. I would bet that vehicle likely has a body computer. The problem in which case is likely in a bad body computer. When you took out the relays did you disconnect the battery, in which case you rebooted the body computer. If the wipers work when you disconnect and reconnect the battery, then you likely will need a new body computer. All those switches on that control almost certainly go through the body computer on a vehicle as new as yours.

The fault codes for the body codes are not generally on the OBD2 codes, that can be accessed from an OBD2 scanner. The body codes are generally in codes such as the e-codes that only the dealer has access to.

A law was passed years ago that anyone had to have access to OBD codes. The dumb politicians only put OBD codes in the legislation so the manufacturers came out with another set of codes, the e-codes for instance, that only authorized dealers have access to. There are bootlegged e-scanners and such around that some freelance mechanics have. I believe these are not strictly legal, but who the H-cares?

 

[TankTop5]

That probably won't work. I would bet that vehicle likely has a body computer. The problem in which case is likely in a bad body computer. When you took out the relays did you disconnect the battery, in which case you rebooted the body computer. If the wipers work when you disconnect and reconnect the battery, then you likely will need a new body computer. All those switches on that control almost certainly go through the body computer on a vehicle as new as yours.

The fault codes for the body codes are not generally on the OBD2 codes, that can be accessed from an OBD2 scanner. The body codes are generally in codes such as the e-codes that only the dealer has access to.

A law was passed years ago that anyone had to have access to OBD codes. The dumb politicians only put OBD codes in the legislation so the manufacturers came out with another set of codes, the e-codes for instance, that only authorized dealers have access to. There are bootlegged e-scanners and such around that some freelance mechanics have. I believe these are not strictly legal, but who the H-cares?

Eek, you’re probably correct and BCM isn’t cheap. It is getting colder and where I am we see a lot of rabbits eating wires while trying to stay warm. We saved a couple rainforests S/ by switching from PVC to soy based insulators. Check to see if there’s physical damage to any wiring harnesses. If there is most dealerships are going to quote you many thousands of dollars to replace an entire wiring harness. There is absolutely no reason to do this as they can do what’s called it an overlay for a couple hundred dollars. BCM’s are generally not repairable or serviceable aside from software updates so I’d eliminate everything you can first