Wiper Relay Question

[tka1]

Lately I've been experiencing intermittent wiper failure. By intermittent I mean they work great when the sun is shining and not at all when it's raining. Last weekend I pulled out the wiper relay, beat it around a little (in case there was some mechanical stickiness in there) and tugged on the wiper arms a little while I was at it. I cleaned the contacts on the relay and put everything back together. Voila! Everythihng worked fine after that. Today, I get in my car at lunch and it's raining. Flip on the wipers and nothing. I tried every position on the wiper switch and pulled back on it several times. As I continued to jiggle the wiper switch I noticed I could sometimes get the windshield cleaner to work for a couple squirts, then it would stop (reservoir is full).

Does the wiper relay also control the windershield sprayer.

I have not checked voltage at the motor yet. Will tonight. Having those two components fail at the same time leads me to believe the motor probably ok and I'm dealing with a relay/electrical issue. When relays fail, are they intermittent?

[Lidodrip]

My guess would be the relay. I had an Audi with a bad window/sunroof relay that would intermittently give out and then eventually stopped completely. On the advice found on a Audi forum I took the cover off the relay and found a break in the soldering which I could easily repair. With my touring I had a similar problem with the rear window wiper and traced the problem back to corroded wiring in the tail gate. Since neither your wiper or washer work, I agree that it is probably the relay or wiring.

[Doru]

Here is a link (http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2106374&postcount=1) for a DIY wiper relay repair

[tka1]

I took out the relay last night and smacked it around a little. When I put it back in everything worked great. My guess is it will work fine for a couple days then freeze up again. Off to the parts store today (maybe the dealership -uhg!) to pick up a new relay.