Restoring An Old Car - Phase 4

I think I have created a junkyard junkie.  I'm super proud of my girls.  They took the initiative on their own one day to head over to one of the local junk yards and pulled a part we needed off of a wreck they had.  Never having done it before they found what they were looking for and removed it.  With the kindness of strangers who lent then a screwdriver, as it hadn't occurred to them they might need some tools, they got it done.  Silly girls, but they know for next time - take your tools.  Why were they at the junkyard and what part did we need?  A wiper switch!

The Scion's intermittent wipers didn't work and when you turned off the wipers they stuck in position where they happened to be.  They didn't return to the down position.  We needed to fix that and replace the worn out wiper blades.  A quick stop into Wal-Mart for replacements and she had all she needed to complete this project.

Wipers used to get stuck wherever they happened to be
when you turned them off.  Slightly annoying.

After researching the issue and having watched a couple YouTube videos on how to do the repair we knew what we needed to do and what part was required.  Now we had it so we grabbed a flat head and a phillips head screwdriver, the keys and the "new" switch and headed out to the car.  You should've seen the look on her face when I told her she was going to do this repair while I watched.

I figured if you can pull the part off a wreck you can certainly do the repair and I was right about that.  After a quick lesson in auto electronics and how not to short things out or shock yourself she was ready to go.  She did a great job.

After removing three screws she was able to easily remove the column shroud.  Then all she had to do was unplug the connector and pull out the switch.  Putting the "new" one in was as simple as going in reverse order.

Now the wipers return to the home position and the intermittent option works too!

We put the key in and gave it a turn to the auxiliary position and she tested them out.  She let out a whoop!  They work!!  She was so excited.

All done!

Everything works too!  That's always good!

We took the opportunity since the shroud was off to do some much needed housekeeping in that area before putting it back onto the column.  Then I showed her how to replace the wiper blades.  I did one side and she did the other.  After another test she was even more excited.  And super proud of herself as she well should be.

New wipers installed
I feel so much better about her safety driving in the rain now

You'll love this part.  To have the repair done at the dealership would run $249.00.  To purchase a new switch would be $149.oo to $179.00 depending on where you bought it.  To pick up a used one off eBay was running between $19.00 + shipping upwards to $99.00.  To go to the junkyard was $1 admission per person and $11.oo for the part.

We saved a gob of $$ on this project

The wiper blades were $5.87 each so her total for this project = $24.74.  That is a 90% savings over having the repair done plus she included new wipers.  Now that is a HUGE savings!  Learning how to do some things yourself and being resourceful = priceless!