Some years ago I swapped out the standard xB wiper switch for a wiper switch from a 2010 Toyota Prius. This upgrade gave me variable-speed intermittent front wiper control. The Prius wiper switch also has a High and Low position for the rear wiper, but only the High position works on the xB (it runs the rear wiper continuously). I've always wanted to add an intermittent wiper circuit to my xB to make the Low position work for the rear wiper. Here's how I did it.
(This mod took place on April 9-10 2015.)
On the right is the rear wiper electrical connector. On the newscionxb.com forum, Paul1114 posted that by adding a wire to position #4 and connecting it to the wire at position #3, the Low switch position activates the rear wiper just like the High switch position.
By doing some additional testing, I found out that when the rear wiper switch is in the Low position:
ground was provided to the pin at position #4
jumping wires #2 and #3 together activated the rear wiper
when the jumper was removed the rear wiper parked
Perfect! Now I needed to get a intermittent wiper (aka "wiper delay") module and add a wire contact to position #4.
(To the right is Paul1114's picture, I added the numbers)
A co-worker found this intermittent wiper module for me on eBay, it was $13 shipped. (Also on Amazon). It has an adjustable delay between 3-30 seconds via a rotary control which also incorporates an On/Off switch. When on, the module pulses the SPDT relay for about a half a second between delays. While the relay is active, the red LED illuminates. The wire connections for the green connector block from top to bottom are:
Normally Closed (NC) (relay not energized)
Common (COM)
Normally Open (NO) (relay is energized)
Ground
Power (+12v)
search for "12VDC windshield wiper timer car motor"
US quarter shown for size comparison
If you've ever built your own desktop computer then these front panel electrical connectors should look familiar. When removed from their plastic casing, they happen to be a perfect fit for the blank socket at wire position #4, and make good contact with the pin in the Prius wiper switch.
To help protect the intermittent wiper module I put it in a case. I couldn't find a case that I liked, so I hacked up a old plastic candy box to make my own case. I drilled holes to access the wire connections then secured the module and glued the top cover on.
Run 4 wires from the module and connect to the car wiring as follows:
NO taps into (but does not interrupt) #2
COM taps into (but does not interrupt) #3
(the above two connections act as a jumper, so NO to #3 and COM to #2 would work just as well)
+12v taps into (but does not interrupt) Ignition (the gray wire under the steering column)
Ground to #4 (the new orange wire in the picture)
(The connections in bold above are to the module.)
After this photo was taken, I taped up all the wires, then plugged the rear wiper connector back into the Prius wiper switch.
This picture shows the rear wiper electrical connecter, unplugged and hanging loose under the steering column. All four connections are visible.
I tucked the intermittent wiper module up in a corner near where the hood release cable enters the engine firewall. I set it for the maximum delay of ~30 seconds.
It works great! When the rear wiper switch is on Low (- - -) the rear wiper sweeps once (then parks itself) about every 30 seconds. The High setting ( - ) runs the rear wiper continuously, just as it did before.
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You can send your questions or comments to BrickPig2011xb@gmail.com