wiper knob and harness

[mycoolbeans]

After some searching, I found that the wiper control knob for my 2004 Winnebago Journey was indeed a Winnebago part and not a part provided by Freightliner. One of you directed me away from the Frieghtliner site back to Winnebago. I obtained the correct part from Lichtsinn Motors in Forrest City, again on the advice of one of our forum members. I was extremely satisfied with the parts service from David at Lichtsinn Motors. Now the fun part begins. The wiper knob and control is actually wired to a harness end. From wiper knob to harness end is roughly 39". So, today, I crawled under the dash and began to try to find the harness that this wiper control plugs into. This is going to take some doing I am afraid. The wiring under the dash and down beyond the steering column is densely packed. I have yet to find where the harness is located that I need to connect onto. I called service at Winnebago to see if I could find a less difficult means of finding the harness connection. Alas, I was told that I had to push all the wires around until I could reach it. I also considered splicing the new wires onto the old in order to eliminate the hassle of trying to get to the harness connections. But, upon reflection, I'm not sure that is a good idea. The space between the drivers seat and the under dash portion/steering wheel column is pretty tight for my petite 211 lb frame. I think my 5 year old grandson would fit in the space much better If anyone has any ideas of a good means of maneuvering through all the other wires and conduits to reach the harness connection please let me know. And, if you don't know, say a prayer that I might find the harness end.

[RKL]

found out it is very easy to remove driver's seat from pedestal , much easier to work under the dash this way and your body will eventually return to a normal position...good luck....RKL

[George Z]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RKL found out it is very easy to remove driver's seat from pedestal , much easier to work under the dash this way and your body will eventually return to a normal position...good luck....RKL

times 2

[mycoolbeans]

Well, thanks for the responses. I decided not to remove the driver's seat. I tried for a couple of hours to reach down through the jungle of wires to find the harness connection to no avail. After awhile, I gave up. I decided to instead splice the seven wires that go from the wiper control module to the harness. Found a great wire stripper at Radio Shack for about $16.00, called an auto stripper. The stripper can remove the outer wire cover even on very thin guage wires. One problem that occurs when stripping multi-strand wires is damaging some of the strands when trying to remove the covering. This did not happen with the autostripper. I stripped the ends off of 7 wires running the module, and the wires that I cut thru that ran down to the harness. Fourteen ends had to be stripped overall, and I did these without a hitch. I was going to use a splice block, but decided instead to butt crimp all the wires. I carefully traced each color coded wire on both sections that would be spliced. On the wiper control module, there were two white wires that had to be carefully traced. Once I got all this done, wires stripped, crimped, etc., I did the final test and turned the wipers on to see if everything worked. I'm happy to say that everything was successful and is now working properly.