In wales in September is not when you want your wipers to decide to have some time off. spent the afternoon in a rainswept campsite fiddling with wiring under the dash Luckily there wasn’t anything better to do… They’re working now but would not be surprised if they are not tomorrow sometimes just turning the ignition switch off and on will get them going again other things I noticed… there was washer fluid leaking at the junction piece - it’s possible this may be responsible in some way there is power to the connector that goes to the switch unit this wire also has a scotch connector to take off power to the aftermarket rev counter, which also works and fails in exact unison with the wipers. They don’t share an earth. Oh, the ignition switch has been a bit intermittent at times too, though if that was the culprit, wouldn’t I get failures on other circuits like the lights? (Which I’m not) Any insights folks?
The ignition switch has three outputs Cranking - feeds the solenoid on the starter motor, and double relay on an FI bus. This is on only when in the "cranking" position. Ignition - feeds the coil and anything vital to start the engine. This stays on when the switch is in "cranking" position, and also when the switch is in "run" position. Accessory - this feeds anything that isnt needed to start the engine , it turns off when cranking, its only on in the "run" position . The headlamps and windscreen wipers, are powered from this one. So headlamps will drop to sidelight when cranking to "help" the battery, and the windscreen wipers will stop because they are also a significant load. Look at the connector block that comes from the ignition switch. Inside it are several spade connectors insulated from each other by the plastic block. One of those may be loose. The fact that fiddling around under the dash changes the story points to one of these connectors. Also give all the fuses in the fuse box a twiddle, to try and clean up the contacts.
Thanks @mikedjames for explanation of ignition switch operation. It all makes sense now - the switch was sometimes sticking in a kind of 2 and a half position where power to the wipers and lights (which were only showing sidelights when I checked more carefully) was still cut. how fiddly is it to remove and replace an ignition switch? Looks like it might be more awkward than it deserves to be
I'd start with the fuses as @mikedjames mentions first. They can oxidize and come loose - there's a good reason no modern cars use this design of fuse.
It’s easy enough to remove the ignition switch but there’s a knack to removing the barrel on your model year. It does take a fair bit of dismantling the column etc but doable for a competent novice!
If it’s a later bay with a multi plug connector then if you hang upside down Pull off the multi plug Using a cross head screwdriver remove the screw that holds the ignition switch Then with long needle nose pliers you should be able to pull the switch out.
