Car Repair Success – Pulse Control Board

In my 2005 Chevy Venture van the front wipers would only work on high-speed and would not park. After doing some research on the internet the general consensus is to replace the pulse control board. A place called 1AAuto had it for about $40 and they also have many videos including a good one on removing the washer motor which was very helpful. Normally I don’t like buying parts and putting them in hoping they fix the problem, but I could not find anyplace on the internet that showed what the voltages should be on the wiper plug. In this case the problem could have been in the switch on the steering column or the pulse control board. Since I couldn’t find how to test the switch I decided to risk the $40 and see if it solved the problem, and I’m very happy to report it did. This was an easy fix that not only saved me money but it also saved me time. It only took about 20 minutes to take the wiper motor out, swap out the control board and put it back in. It would have taken longer than that to just get my car to a shop, plus I would have been without my car for a day. This way I could fix it on a Sunday afternoon that was surprisingly warm for the middle of December in Michigan.

Think about trying your own auto repairs, at least for the simple things. Usually some time searching the internet will turn up someone who had the same problem and you can decide if it is something you want to try. Plus it teaches you how to use mechanics tools.

 

Author: Jerry Ward

Working on creating a 10 acre urban homestead in S.E. Michigan. To pay the bills I work as a product manager/business analyst in the IT field. Now the admin of Save Our Skills