olecarman

2002 Lexus ES300 with rain sensing wipers.. The wipers on my wife's ES300 will not return to the resting position when you turn off the wiper switch. They stop wherever they are at when you turn off the wiper switch.. So you have to time it just right to turn the switch off when they are in the down(resting) position. So in a previous post, I was told the logic for this was in the wiper motor. So I put in (3) different wiper motors from Autozone, and none of them returned the wipers to resting position. I did the diagnostic from Lexus on the motor and the wipers would return to resting position by connecting some of the wires at the motor per the diagnostic instructions. So that lead me to believe it was in the switch. So I get new Lexus wiper switch located at the steering column and replaced it today with no luck. The wipers still stop wherever they are at when you turn off the wiper switch. So 3 motors and 1 wiper switch later and the wiper will not return to resting position. So before I take it to the Lexus dealership which is over an hour away, I thought I would post this to see if there are any Lexus wiper experts out there that have any clues as a last attempt to resolve this issue. The wipers work fine, just will not return to resting posistion. I just wondered if the "rain sensor" at the top of the windshield has any control over this function? I guess I've about run out of ideas and need some advice... Thanks for any thoughts...
olecarman

ViPeRs103

You should stick to OEM on that wiper motor I own a 01 ES300 myself, but I work at a Lincoln Dealership and this same problem you're having happened to a Ford Freestar as the motor wouldn't wouldn't park the wipers. The man did the same thing you did, "Purchased an aftermarket motor!." We threw away that Autozone china nonsense and installed a Motorcraft® Unit & sure enough that did it!!

speedkar9

Have you tried swapping the wiper relay? That's the only other piece of the equation...

PuReChaos

Rain sensor has no control over where the arms come to rest. As long as the wipers are moving, its generally not the motor unless the movement is staggered or slower than normal. In this case, I would actually think it was the wiper switch itself. There seems to be some sort of memory/command issue going on.

Just short of replacing the switch itself, theres a note on the (Lexus) problem symptom table that says "inspect wiper arm and blade set position." However, I can't really guide you further than that as I have no experience there. Sorry, hope this is at least some what helpful.

Update: Sorry I clearly missed the part where you replaced the switch. Just curious what happened to the previous wiper motor that made you replace them? Also after replacing the wiper switch itself did it at any point work in getting the wipers to go to the resting position?

olecarman

Vipers103: I thought about that very thing using OEM motor. That's kind of the reason I tried 3 Autozone brands that were actually rebuilt in Tenn., but your probably right that the OEM might be the answer.. I just figured after 3 motors that surely one would have worked..
speedkar9: Not sure where the wiper relay is, but I will dig into my service manual to find it.. I thought that was in the wiper switch..
PuRechaos: The wipers never parked after each motor replacement nor after replacing the wiper switch at all..
Thanks all.

jseda

Your wipers won't go down because they are winter mode,Stand by the drivers side of your wipers and grab the wiper firmly and push them downward to the resting position and walla ..
Winter mode lets you pull your wipers out when it snows because they are 3-4 inches up from the resting position ... If you ever want to return them to that position just pull them firmly upward again