Wipers... Can I catch a break?

[bwalke]

I was driving to work this morning and Sophie, my 300cd, was humming along at 75mph. My car has been starting in sub ten degree weather and it hasn't gotten stuck in the snow and I am going to drive it to Michigan tonight... a 200 mile trip. what could possibly go wrong?

I turned on my wipers and the are not working at all.... Nothing. The windshield washer doesn't work either. Up until this morning they only worked on low and high speed but not intermittantly. I am just praying now that it doesn't snow on the trip or I get an obscene amount of road spray. Any suggestions? Could it just be a fuse? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

[Maxbumpo]

Bernhard,

Indeed a fuse could be the culprit; if possible, replace all of them on principle (even though they look fine, they get flaky, especially if 20+ years old).

My next guess would be the multi-function column switch. Mine began to act up by activating the wipers at random. I removed it from the car and took it apart (the end of the stalk is a cap which can be carefully pried off), cleaned it up with spray contact cleaner from Radio Shack, and re-installed. Problem solved. The official MB repair is to replace with new, but I'll bet a new switch is over $100 now.

[bwalke]

Thanks for the response. I am on the repairs today.

As for the trip.... I dodged the snow on the way up, but I was armed with windex and paper towels.
However, on the next day the wipers started working again, which was very fortunate because lake effect snow can come at any time. Otherwise what a great car...500 miles in 24 hours and it hummed along at 80 miles per hour the entire time.

[Maxbumpo]

Cool beans, let us know how the repairs go.

I know this is too late, but Rain-X can be a fantastic crutch to lean on when the wipers don't work, especially if all driving is highway speed.

[bwalke]

Thank you for all the responses and advice. I have been waiting for a warm spell here to replace the fuses and I found it yesterday when it was 18 degrees and the sun was shining which probably bumped it up to a balmy 19. I put on my work coat, went to the auto parts store, bought all the fuses they had and then had a discussion with the sales associate about the pluses and minuses of driving an old diesel. I said, "Engine and trans are indistructible, but the electrics on this particular car could be better."
He responded, "Dat's all cars, kid." So I left feeling like I wasn't alone in this world.
I replaced all the fuses according to the recommendations on the top of fuse cover, went inside the car to turn on the ignition and the wipers worked once again! There is nothing like victory on a cold day. I went inside to get my girlfriend because we were going to attack the mall and try and get some presents. As we started off, I wanted to check if everything worked. Unfortunately, now the blower motor is not working which has not given me a problem yet. I figured it was just a fuse that needed to be fiddled with, but since we were running late, I put it off until later and we took her 97 corolla with a 5 speed to the mall. ( I have to admit.. I like her car too except for the fact that it's lavander). We got back to my house and I said that I was going to mess with my car but as luck would have had it, the lock froze shut sometime during the day and now I couldn't even get in the darn thing. I was frustrated... it was 12 degrees by that time and now it is still sitting pathetically on the street. I wasn't even going to try to open it considering it was one degree this morning... Yes, one degree without windchill. Needless to say, I feel betrayed and frustrated this cold morning. However, at least my wipers are working again.