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Re: Windshield Washers
Posted by Loren Amelang - http://saabnet.com/tsn/forms/e.php (more from Loren Amelang - http://saabnet.com/tsn/forms/e.php) on Thu, 6 Mar 2003 20:50:39
In Reply to: , Kok Chen, Sat, 17 Dec 1988 12:00:00 

 > I sent this in a while back and did not get any responses - thought I would
try again.  The car is a 1986 9000 turbo.  The windshield washers started
working periodically, then not at all.  I have checked current at the pump,
and have 11.89 volts.

Current measurements are in Amps or milliAmps, and require inserting the 
meter in series with the load (as in battery+ to ammeter+, through ammeter, 
to ammeter- to washer pump+, through pump, to pump- to battery-). This 
tells you how much current is actually being delivered. If a known good 
pump isn't running, you can be pretty sure not much current is flowing. If 
some small amount of current flows when you switch the switch, you know you 
have a circuit, but one with excessive resistance somewhere in the path.

Voltage measurements must be done under specific conditions in order not to 
be misleading. When you read 11.89V at the + side of the pump motor, was 
the car running, with the battery charging and presumably at about 14V? And 
was the washer pump running? Or was the car engine stopped, but the 
ignition on and various accessories probably drawing the battery voltage 
down to near the 11.89V? And the washer motor off, so that it was not 
drawing any current?

If you measure the voltage at the pump+ terminal and it is just about the 
same as battery voltage with the pump not connected, you still could have a 
problem, because your voltmeter draws essentially no current. Maybe the 
washer switch is failing, able to connect the tiny load of the meter, but 
unable to maintain enough current to run the motor.

 > I even used the ground in the pump connection, so I
have good voltage at the pump with a good ground.

Same issue, you must measure the voltage while the pump is connected into 
the circuit and trying to draw a larger current than your meter would.

 > I have the old pump and a
new one.  Both pumps work fine when connected directly to the battery, also
using the ground in the pump connection.

That probably clears suspicion of the ground side of the connection.

 > Neither pump will work when I place
the connection on the pump - the same connection which shows good voltage and
has a good ground.  The connection fits properly as near as I can tell, and
there is no corrosion in the wire terminals nor on the pump.  I have taken
the wires out of the connection fitting and connected them individually to
the pump and it still will not work.

Check the switch, under load from the pump.

Loren

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