2008 Dodge Charger wiper motor problem

Tiny
KPHIPS
  • MEMBER
  • 2008 DODGE CHARGER
  • 74,000 MILES
It all started when the starter solonoid relay crapped out. I drove to the store, and when I came back out the car wouldnt start. When I turned the key to on position I could hear the fuel pump kick on and everything power wise seemed to be ok. So, I went to the fuse box and swapped out the starter relay with the wiper motor relay (same relay type, 5 pin), and the car started up. I drove to autozone and got another relay for the wiper motor. As soon as I plug in the relay it blew the 30a fuse instantly with the car off. It did this twice. I blew the only two 30amp fuses I had. I happened to have a 50amp fuse, and I know your not suppose to do this, but I was curious to see if it would work. I switched out the relays again, putting the original relay back in the wiper motor slot and the new relay into the starter slot with the 50amp fuse in place and everything seems to be working at the moment. Time will tell I guess. Any ideas? Could a short in that system happen all of a sudden like that? The other thing is when I first put the new relay in the car was running, and that was a mistake I know, I had a brain fart. I was thinking maybe that dumb move could have caused a short?
Sunday, July 14th, 2013 AT 5:59 PM

2 Replies

Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
Hard telling what happened, it may have been some type of relay problem
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Monday, July 15th, 2013 AT 7:19 AM
Tiny
KPHIPS
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
It actually was a relay problem. The new relay I bought for the wiper motors doesn't actually work for the wiper motors even though that's what I asked for at AutoZone. It looks exactly the same as the 5 pin that went bad. I took the old relay out of the starter slot and put it back in the wiper motor slot where it came from, and put the new one in the starter slot. Even though it looks like they are same relay that fuse stopped blowing, and the starter fuse which is also a 30amp seems to be ok with the new relay. I did put back a another 30amp for the wipers. Since I swapped relays everything seems ok. Its kind of freakin weird. The starter can take a 5 or 4 pin relay. Maybe one of the leads on the new one was bad and it happened to be the one the starter doesn't need? Kind of a big coincidence of that's the case, but I guess stranger things can happen.
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Monday, July 15th, 2013 AT 2:23 PM

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