RagTop69

For those of us who dare to drive our C6s in the rain, I have a question about the operation of the windshield wipers. The intermittent wiper setting has five different frequency levels with the top one being just short of full time low speed operation. When I have the wipers set on the highest frequency setting they sometimes begin to operate at the low speed constant level on their very own. If I switch down to the next lower frequency they operate at the high frequency level for a bit and then slow to the lower frequency. If I then shift to the higher frequency they will operate there normally until they decide to resume low speed constant operation. If I operate the low speed constant wipers and then switch to the intermittent function set on the highest frequency it will continue to operate in the constant low speed mode. This is the first car with intermittent wipers that I have ever had that "works" this way. Is it an intentional thing or just some sort of electrical whoopsie?

EVRose

Are you sure you don't have it set on the speed sensitive setting? The delay will decrease as you speed up and increase when you slow down.

C6ToGo

Intermittent Operation
Windshield wiper delay operation is a low speed wiper motor function with a variable delay interval between the wiper motor cycles. The delay interval is determined by a series of 5 resistors within the wiper/washer switch. The body control module (BCM) monitors the voltage on the wiper switch low signal circuit to determine the delay interval between the low speed wiper motor cycles.

If the wiper switch is moved from one delay interval to another, the BCM will command an immediate wipe cycle, and reset the delay timer.

RagTop69

Maybe my '09 1LT isn't equipped with the speed sensitive setting because it only seems to have a pull down for one time operation, push up for intermittent, push up again for low speed and push up yet again for high speed operation. Where would I find the control for the speed sensitive setting?

RagTop69

Yeah, OK. But mine doesn't operate either consistently or as one would expect. Your explanation of the normal operation is great, but it doesn't answer my question. I had trouble with a BCM on my 2000 Camaro and finally had to take it out and resolder a couple of joints on the PC board because the Chevy supplier had a wave soldering process that sucked. It was a common failure issue on 4th gen Camaros impacting the radio and power window operation. Hopefully this isn't a further example of BCM problems from Chevrolet.

blittle

Rain??? Windshield wipers???

RagTop69

You don't know if your wipers even work, do you? Unfortunately my other car is a '69 Mustang convertible that I don't drive in the rain, so my Vette is my DD and has to do the "wet work".

EVRose

On the lever it's the center position. Picture of the windshield with 3 dashed lines above it.

mbries

I experienced something similar once. I found the following statement online that helped explain my scenario.

"There is a feature on wiper intermittent delay fastest speed: When one goes over 50mph in this setting, the wiper automatically switches to constant on (normal speed). C6 has speed sensitive intermittent delay, but no rain sensor."

I'm not sure if it's accurate or not, but you can find the reference at http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/foru...d.php?t=165831. (Post #2, #16 in the list)

FortMorganAl

I am.

From the shop manual:
Nothing in there about changing intermittent speeds based on car speed. Yes, there are many cars that change speed based on vehicle speed. But the C6 is not one of them.

FortMorganAl

OP, if your wiper speed is changing without you changing the speed selection, then you have an intermittent loss of connection in the speed selection resistor array switch. Try just twisting it back and forth several times which may clear a piece of dirt or corrosion in the switch.

EVRose

FortMorganAl

Looks like it might depend on the year. What manual is that from? I see where the 2005 owner's manual said it would have speed sensitive wipers but they were never built. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ld-wipers.html and https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ng-wipers.html

So what years have this feature? I can't find any.

Itshakes

Our Grand Sport is 4 years old....never had the wipers on!

EVRose

That's from my 05 manual. Whether it actually works or not I have no idea.

07MontyRed

My 07 does not (and the manual makes no reference of it).

RagTop69

Ditto my '09. Sounds like Chevy published a discussion of some vapor ware in the '05 manual.

FortMorganAl

The owner's manual must be available when the first unit rolls off the line. That means it has to be sent to the printers before the design is finished. There are often errors in the owner's manual especially in the first edition of changes. Another example is the 07 manual shows the new FOB design which turned out to not work and was held until the 08's were built. The shop manual, on the other hand, is not published until almost a year after the model year goes into production. It, consequently, is more accurate although there will even be errors in it also.

It is rather easy to test. Drive slow in the rain and speed up. Does the wiper speed change? So far I have never seen anything that says any C6 was ever actually built with speed sensitive wipers. I know for a fact that my 3LT 07 doesn't have that setting and that 05 (prior to the first C6 being built) is the only place it was ever mentioned. But, yes, there are several people here that claim they have that feature and love it or hate it while others with the same year and model say it doesn't exist.

RichKiss

stop driving it in the rain!!

RagTop69

Really??? That's how you wind up with used cars with under 5K miles on the clock that were owned by people who were afraid to drive them and only ran them in and out of the garage. They're Chevys for crissakes.