crazy problem!, ELECTRICAL! PLEASE HELP! Options

[pittfirefighter]

ok so i was at work when a co worker was nice enough to tell me that my lights were left on... i figured interior lights since its impossible to leave your headlight on by accident in our cars... well i was wrong.. my headlights were on... i turned them off and figured the switch to turn them off (ground point at driver door) must have stuck whenever i opened the door and the lights didn't turn off... no big deal... well now here comes the problem

i parked my car at home and three hours later went out to find my headlights on and my windshield wipers going... the car was not on.... i turned the car on and turned off the lights but the windshield wipers keep going... and going and going... turning the switch does nothing... i even disconnected the switch at the column and pulled the fuse and they still keep on going... obviously there is a short somewhere... anyone have any ideas... i tried to trace it the best i could but its so hard with all the snow here.... please help with any ideas!! i don't see any pinched wires in the steering column near the switch...

[GriffGirl]

Is there a relay that these all have in common? I wonder if with the extreme weather you've been having over there, condensation formed and shorted out a relay.

[pittfirefighter]

Is there a relay that these all have in common? I wonder if with the extreme weather you've been having over there, condensation formed and shorted out a relay.

thats what i'm thinking... or junction box has froze over or become badly contaminated that all the contacts are touching each other but i have no idea where to start looking... and the weather is so bad thats its not very easy to look

[OnAllFours]

Is there a relay that these all have in common? I wonder if with the extreme weather you've been having over there, condensation formed and shorted out a relay.

thats what i'm thinking... or junction box has froze over or become badly contaminated that all the contacts are touching each other but i have no idea where to start looking... and the weather is so bad thats its not very easy to look

I looked at the wiring diagrams on our computer database at work and none of these have a common relay.

As I said before, the first thing to do is to one by one start pulling fuses from the junction blocks. If you pull one and the issue is still there then put it back in and go to the next one. If you pull one and the problem stops, then you know the circuit that is providing the power to whatever stopped working is connected to that fuse. Then if you can get a wiring diagram you can unplug connectors at whatever loads are in that circuit one at a time. Same idea, once the issue stops, you trace the power wires from that harness back to the fuse and somewhere in between there will be your short.

If however you go through all your fuses and the issue still does not stop, then I think what may be happening is that you are somehow getting power fed through your chassis which is then connecting backwards through your ground wires and making a closed circuit. We just had a 4Runner at work that had this happening to the rear wiper motor. Unfortunately I wasn't the one who worked on it, but I could ask the guy who did for more ideas.

If you need me to look up wiring schematics for you just let me know.

[GriffGirl]

Is there a relay that these all have in common? I wonder if with the extreme weather you've been having over there, condensation formed and shorted out a relay.

thats what i'm thinking... or junction box has froze over or become badly contaminated that all the contacts are touching each other but i have no idea where to start looking... and the weather is so bad thats its not very easy to look

I looked at the wiring diagrams on our computer database at work and none of these have a common relay.

As I said before, the first thing to do is to one by one start pulling fuses from the junction blocks. If you pull one and the issue is still there then put it back in and go to the next one. If you pull one and the problem stops, then you know the circuit that is providing the power to whatever stopped working is connected to that fuse. Then if you can get a wiring diagram you can unplug connectors at whatever loads are in that circuit one at a time. Same idea, once the issue stops, you trace the power wires from that harness back to the fuse and somewhere in between there will be your short.

If however you go through all your fuses and the issue still does not stop, then I think what may be happening is that you are somehow getting power fed through your chassis which is then connecting backwards through your ground wires and making a closed circuit. We just had a 4Runner at work that had this happening to the rear wiper motor. Unfortunately I wasn't the one who worked on it, but I could ask the guy who did for more ideas.

If you need me to look up wiring schematics for you just let me know.

^THIS is the guy to help! Yay and welcome new member, and yay again for GREAT value based feedback!