Hi everyone. This morning on my way to work my wipers and wiper fluid turned on by themselves and ran for about ten or fifteen seconds before turning off. I tried the switch but it didn't respond. It turned off for a couple of minutes, then did it again. It did it a total of three times on my ten minute drive.

I'm leaning towards the switch being bad, but posts online say it's the motor going bad. Has anyone had this happen to them? Was it the motor or something else? How hard is it to change the motor?

Oh, it's an '05 XLT with the 4.0L.

 

If wipers AND fluid squirter BOTH came on then its the Multi-function switch

 

I heard that from someone else and it involves removing the dash. I hate doing anything involving removing the dash.
However, I unplugged the fluid reservoir pump and it hasn't happened since. It's been about two days now. Could a bad pump motor cause this?

 

If just the washer comes on then maybe but probably not, washer motor is grounded all the time, but where is it getting the 12volts from?
There has to be voltage on the one 12v wire for the motor to run, bad motor just doesn't work, bad motor can't "make 12volts" appear

Wipers shouldn't also come on regardless

To replace turn signal stalk, the multifunction switch, you just need to remove the Clam shell covers behind steering wheel

Google: How to Replace Steering Column Cover 98-12 Ford Ranger
Watch the 2min video

 

Thanks for the info and the video. That looks much easier. Now I'm off to Rock Auto to get that switch!