Okay guys so I just bought this truck 2 weeks ago, and it's been great till yesterday coming home from church when I couldn't get the wipers to turn off. I had them on very lowest intermittent setting, and then turned them off when it stopped raining. But every few seconds the wipers are still making a pass! The truck is an XL model, so it shouldn't have the rain-sensing wipers, should it? If it does, then where is the sensor, and is there a way to disable that feature? But the goofy part is that when I got in it this morning to go to work, it was fine. I turned the wipers on intermittent again for a little bit to get rid of residual rainfall from overnight, and they worked fine. It's worked fine all day. I thought about calling the dealer back where I bought it from to see if there was anything they would do to warranty this seeing as I just took delivery 2 weeks ago, but never did. I figured if it's not going to replicate the problem, then they're not going to be able to fix anything. They won't know what to fix if they can't physically see what it's doing. The Ford dealer I bought this truck at is about 90 minute drive, so I would probably need to take a day off work sometime this week to deal with that. Another reason why I hesitated to call them.
I'm referring to my red beast, the 2012 F-150 XL 4x4, 3.7 V6/auto. Like I said, this truck shouldn't have the rain-sensing wipers should it? Not being the XL model? If so, where is the sensor(s) located at? Because the only water I could see on the glass was off to the sides, out of the reach of the wiper blades. As I scroll through the settings on the Information Center between the gauges, I don't see anything to activate/deactivate rain-sensing wipers. Is there a way to disable that, if I have that feature? Are these trucks common for multi-function switches going bad?
I used to have a Dodge truck back in the 90's, and musta' replaced about 3 of them in that stupid truck! In the 4 years I had it!! I'm afraid of a repeat experience in which I'm chasing down electrical issues for the next 10 years.

 

Your truck does not have rain sensing wipers, heck my Limited doesn't even have them. I believe they only came on platinum trucks (maybe King Ranch?) so that's not a concern on the XL model.

Sounds like you may have an issue with the multi-function switch. Had an issue like that on my Dad's '99 explorer every time you'd make a turn the wipers would come on haha but a $40 replacement fixed that issue about 7 years ago (knock on wood)

 

If your truck did have the rain sensing wipers you'd know it since the sensor is quite large and located just under the rear view mirror. And the turn signal stalk would say auto in the intermittent speed settings. But since your truck is an XL you don't have that feature. Also since you bought the truck at a Ford dealer you should have gotten a factory certified warranty with the truck. Assuming it has less than 50,000 miles. And with the FCW you would have a 12 month 12k mile bumper to bumper warranty. At which point you just need to take the truck to your local Ford dealer for the repair. Either way it could be several different things causing this issue. So you should have it looked at sooner rather then later.

 

I don't think I bought it as a Certified used vehicle though. That's usually spelled out explicitly isn't it? It only has less than 29k miles on it but not every used vehicle is a certified vehicle. Dealers like to charge extra for that. I'll call the dealer though.

 

My 2011 needed a new one of these:


Motorcraft SW-6874 Windshield Wiper Switch Assembly

The copper contacts in the switch short out between OFF and position1 once they get worn.
It was 25 bucks or so from Amazon. If I recall, there were 6 screws to removed to get at the switch. A pretty simple job if you're comfortable taking it apart. Theres probably a video online somewhere. I think it took me under 10 minutes to do the swap.


And yeah...pretty annoying NOT being able to shut the wipers off.

 

Thanks ThirdAsCharm I'll keep that in mind if it is not covered under any kind of warranty. That sounds like the problem I'm having. Still better for the dealer to pay that $25 than me though.
I'm not real comfortable with the thought of digging into the steering column myself with the airbag wiring right there too.

 

If it wasn't listed as a CPO then you don't have the warranty. It is an as is no warranty sale. This also means I highly doubt the dealer will do anything about your issue free of charge.
Dealers do charge more for CPO vehicles because they have to pay the Manufacturer to list them as a CPO. The crappy thing is the manufacturers don't check to verify that the dealer has gone through the vehicle per their checklists to qualify the vehicle as a CPO.

 

I called the salesman who sold it to me and according to him, they'll cover it. So I have an appointment for Friday afternoon. I'll have to leave work early but oh well. If the service department tries to charge me for it, I'll pull the salesman into it. It's supposed to rain all week so we'll see how it behaves till Friday

 

When mine was going, it was intermittent. Most times, if I rocked the switch back and forth a few times, they'd finally stay off. Glad to hear they're covering it.

 

I'll report back on Friday to let you guys know what they found and how it goes. Thanks for the help.

 

I have the same issue with mine, I just turn them to the highest setting then off and that seems to do the trick. Ill replace the switch when I have more time.

 

I tried both tricks to get mine to shut off, because they started acting up on me again today. Neither trick worked to get them to turn off. What did seem to work for mine was letting the truck sit overnight from Sunday to Monday morning, and then they worked fine until today. I'll leave the beast home tomorrow while I drive Hoss (the blue '06) to work. Then Friday I've got a half day off so I can get the red beast up to the dealer.


Jroady, do you mind if I ask what year your truck is? Just trying to determine what model years are affected if this is something common.

 

After reading a few other posts in other forums on this site, I'm starting to think that most dealers don't want to do anything that's under warranty. If they're not getting paid for it, then they're not going to do it. I hope my experience on Friday is better, otherwise I'll be reaching out to Crystal to see what she can do to help.

 

We'll be here if you need us, Pgh Rebel! Keep us in the loop with how your dealer trip goes.

Meagan

 

Thanks Meagan. The trip to the dealer went well today. They did replace the wiper switch assembly at no charge to me, and the wipers do seem to be working... for now. Part# BC3Z-13K359-BA Switch Assy.-Direction. Unfortunately I was told that since they didn't charge me, there is no warranty on parts or labor.
I don't mean to sound combative, but I've kinda lost my trust in the dealer network. And I realize it's not just Ford, but it's everyone. What my wife and I went through to buy her used Mercury 2 years ago from a local Honda dealer should be a crime! If there's anyone on here that works for a dealership, particularly the service department, please set me straight!